The Wired Bride

Kim Kardashian has filed for divorce from Kris Humphries after only 72 days of marriage (Source). I guess a $10 million fairytale wedding and a 20+ carat ring doesn’t buy happiness! Who knew?

(OK! magazine)

Maybe the third time’s the charm for her.  Oh, did you forget? She got married in the year 2000 at the age of 19! She eloped to Las Vegas and married some dude named Damon Thomas. Even though this particular marriage lasted three years, it was supposedly a violent marriage where he physically, verbally, and emotionally abused her (bless her heart)! (source)

Anyway, back to her and Kris Humphries…

KK got a fancy celebrity divorce lawyer and is asking the court to deny spousal support.  Thank goodness she made him sign a pre-nup! 

I bet this will boost the ratings for their new show.

I wonder what her former flame, Reggie Bush, thinks of this news?  Will he be her rock of support? Time will tell!

To continue the Halloween-themed posts, I bring to you a zombie engagement shoot!  If you follow wedding blogs, you have probably already seen this awesome shoot by Amanda Rynda Photography via the Huffington Post! If not, feast your eyes on this awesome-ness!

Love it or hate it, you can blame Ms. Kim Kardashian (or should I say Mrs. Kim Kardashian Humphries) for the rise in popularity with the bridal hairpiece! I think it screams 80s but who am I but a measly little nobody compared to KK!

(Source)

Now that it is an “in” thing, are you going to jump on board and rock this look on your wedding day? Although you most likely won’t be able to have the $10 million headpiece Kim Kardashian wore, you sure can imitate it! I found this faux diamond one for $78 from Crystal Bridal Accessories!

What is a backlace? It’s a necklace for your back.  Also referred to as lariats or back drop necklaces!  It will be the perfect bridal accessory for all the backless dresses coming off the runway from Bridal Fashion Week!

Source

Since your guests will be staring at your back the majority of your wedding, be daring and dress it up! You’ve worked hard to show off your bridal body with all those Bridal BootCamp classes and the bridal diet that nearly starved you so be proud and sparkle!

Can’t you just imagine this necklace with an open back dress like this?

Source

And because you know I have a love affair with Etsy, a quick search for “back drop bridal necklace” yields you these results for as low as $33!

If you have worn one of these or plan on wearing one for your wedding, send me a picture! I would love to see it on a “real” bride!

Yep, that’s right! I am GIVING AWAY my original unworn and unaltered wedding dress to one lucky bride! That means, it is Free to you!  My loss is your gain as I clear out my closet post wedding!

(Source)

The Details: 

Sizing - I do not know the exact size of the dress because there are not tags. I do know that it fit me like a glove and since I am a street size 2, my best guess for measurements is the following:

*Bust: 34

*Waist: 25

*Hips: 36

Contest Prize - Up for grabs is this beautiful wedding gown by Davinci that was purchased for $250 at Filene’s Basement Running of the Brides!  It is unworn, unaltered, and in perfect condition.  

Deadline - Friday, November 4, 2011 at midnight!  I will ship it free of charge to any location in the U.S. on Saturday, November 5th!

How to win -

Send an email to wiredbride@gmail.com and tell me why you want this dress!

For extra brownie points, Tweet “@WiredBride, I want to win your dress giveaway on @BridalBuds!

****Best answer (chosen by me) wins! Good luck!

If you are in the midst of planning your wedding, one piece of advice is to forget the phrase, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.”  Everytime someone told me this or downplayed my panic attacks and bridezilla moments, I wanted to smack their face. 

How dare you tell me that this upsetting situation won’t matter a week from now! In fact, I know that after I gripe about it to a few people and maybe shed a tear or two, I will be over it and it won’t matter.  But guess what, I don’t want to hear about how insignificant my stresses are…especially not from you (enter anyone who said anything to me except, “WOW! That sucks!”)

Does this sound familiar to anyone out there?

Anyway, the truth is planning your wedding is stressful! It doesn’t matter if you splurged on a celebrity wedding planner or you are going the DIY route. You put so much time and thought into it that it is perfectly normal to freak out if the invite lady forgets to include the belly bands with your invitation suite (you know, the little strip of paper that wraps around the invitation, RSVP, and direction card to hold everything neatly in place)!

At the end of the day, you will be on Cloud 9 on the day of your wedding.  Things will happen.  The big things that I can remember is that the DIY cigar bar we had was over in a matte of 10 minutes…it was that big of a hit! The problem is that my photographer didn’t even have a chance to snap a photo so there isn’t any proof! Dang!

Another thing that went wrong is that we were supposed to have a cocktail reception. We didn’t have assigned seating because we wanted the band to play and we wanted the night to be focused on dancing.  Well, it did end up being a seated dinner and the band didn’t play until everyone finished eating.  It ended up working out well even though unplanned.  The most annoying thing was that “white christmas” and another xmas jingle played during our dinner.  Not only is it weird because it was a September wedding but weird because we had a Jewish wedding!  

In the end, it really doesn’t matter. Sh*t happens.  Truth be told, you are in such a web of happiness that those mishaps will not even phase you! Trust me!

So stress away my fellow brides to be.  Just please leave it at the door on your actual wedding day!  Take deep breaths and mental pictures. Enjoy!

During your wedding planning process have you ever thought, “I just can’t wait to be married!”  Well, you may not have to wait any longer! The Hotel Monaco in Alexandria, VA had a cancellation for the lucky date of 11/11/11.  Their loss is your gain…if you are willing to get married in the next three weeks.  

(Source)

For $111 per person (plus tax and gratuities), you’ll get a half-hour ceremony with an officiant, a cocktail hour with hors d’oeuvres and drinks, a signature cocktail at the bar, a plated dinner, a four-hour open bar, a dance floor, a bridal suite for the wedding night, and a special room rate for guests of $111 on Friday night—not a bad deal in this town. There’s a maximum of 150 guests (from the Washingtonian).

**The Hotel Monaco is dog friendly so you can include your furry four legged friend!

You can also find more information at the wonderful capitolromance Blog!

Did I peak your interest? If so, contact Allison Manning at the Hotel Monaco. Her email is allison.manning@kimptonhotels.com and her phone number is (703) 519-6850.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

Black is the new white…just ask Vera Wang!  At New York Bridal Week, she unveiled her new line of wedding gowns. Or should I say, black wedding gowns!

Surprise! No, she isn’t catering to a Gothic bride. She is pushing the envelope, per usual.  You know the popularity of blush colored dresses? Yep, that was from Vera. It’s pretty obvious but she is an industry leader. I can’t wait to see these black gowns on a real bride!

If you are a daring bride, don’t be afraid of the old poem about how the color of your wedding dress will influence your future: “Married in white, you will have chosen all right. Married in grey , you will go far away. Married in black, you will wish yourself back. Married in red, you’ll wish yourself dead. Married in blue, you will always be true. Married in pearl, you’ll live in a whirl. Married in green, ashamed to be seen, Married in yellow, ashamed of the fellow. Married in brown, you’ll live out of town. Married in pink, your spirits will sink.” (Source)

Are you seeing this?  This 5 carat sparkler costs a cool $459,999.99…and it’s from Costco!  

Yes, that is right, Costco! I am in shock!  When I think of Costco, I think of housewives and coupon clippers. You know, the people who are trying to get the best bang for their buck!

Did you read the small font?  ”Only one available.” Um, I would hope so!

Now let’s discuss the $229,999.99 emerald cut engagement ring and those 4.68 carat diamond earrings - they are online exclusive items! Please tell me who would pay that much money for something they have never seen?  This is beyond ridiculous!  Who is their marketing person? They need to be fired!

tomyfuturespouse:

I plan to lie, cheat and steal…just so you know.

I’ll lie and say you look beautiful when you’ve been sick for three days, just to see you smile.

I’ll cheat at those boardgames you love so much so you can win and have the satisfaction of rubbing it in my face for days on end.

I’ll steal your heart as soon as we meet, and I’ll never give it back.

Yes, it’s true! We had wedding crashers! How cool!

When Beetle and I got back to our hotel room after the wedding, we were so high on life that we couldn’t sleep so we decided to read our wedding cards!  

About halfway through the pile, we saw an envelope that read “The Wired Bride.” Beetle said, “well I guess that one is just addressed to you.”

I quickly opened it up to see this cute little card! The card reads, “You may now kiss the bride.”

The inside of the card had a sweet little message…

and this sweet little note…

I have no idea who K+K is but thank you for the sweet note! Also, good luck to both of you planning your DC weddings next year. It is stressful but the pay off is worth every single tear you shed during the process!

Now that my groom has seen my pretty white dress, I can dedicate a post to it! Can I just say that I am obsessed with my dress?  And to think, I almost didn’t go dress shopping! I originally bought a dress at the Filene’s Basement Running of the Brides event in July 2010.

Remember this one?

It’s the “original” dress that was perfect for the initial plan of having a New Year’s Eve wedding but a terrible fit for our eventual decision to have an art deco styled wedding!

In November 2010, my family and I went to Alfred Angelo to look for bridesmaid dresses. I sort of highjacked the appointment to try on wedding gowns. It turns out, I needed the “dress trying on” experience after all! 

Once I had this dress on, I didn’t want to take it off!  It was such a magical moment! I felt gorgeous! I felt grown-up! I felt like a bride!  

I thought long and hard about whether or not I wanted to spend the money on a second dress.  I had already allocated the money I would have spent on a wedding dress to pay for a wedding planner! I was stressed about spending the additional dollars!  

In the end, I couldn’t pass it up! I wanted to go home and “think it over” but I just couldn’t step down from the riser in front of the mirror. I loved every single detail on the dress and most importantly, I loved how I felt in it.

What brides don’t tell you is that even though I felt all these emotions when I tried it on and when I purchased it, I had doubts as the months went on!  I watch way too many episode of Say Yes to the Dress and I wanted almost every single dress on the show!

Eight months went by from the time I bought the dress until I put it on my body again for the first dress fitting.  Once that dress was on my body, every single thought of doubt I had about it being the right dress went out the window.   

The best part about the dress is that I could move in it!  I didn’t want to take it off at the end of the night…that is how much I loved my wedding dress!

Now, I just need to figure out what to do with it! I’m sure I will eventually get around to selling it but it just seems so hard to think about saying goodbye to such a beautiful dress!

Our Bridesmaids and Groomsmen are an impressive group of individuals and they proved that to us yet again during our wedding weekend! I can not say enough amazing things about this group!  From running last minute errands to providing tissues and bottles of champagne, they were there at the drop of a hat…no matter what!

The Girls: I must take the time to brag about my bridesmaids! They are the most beautiful girls in the world, inside and out!  On the day of the wedding, they were drop dead gorgeous!  A patron at our hotel told Megan (the beauty second from the left) that they were absolutely beautiful! She responded by saying, “Oh yeah! You should see the bride! We are sixes next to her!”  

The Details: The bridesmaids wore long black gowns, chose their own chunky necklaces, and had their hair & makeup professionally done by an on-site beauty squad (Hair by Jewels and Kim Reyes Makeup)!  Their bouquets were the masterpiece of Shelly Bagdasian at B Floral & Event Design and included a mix of white roses and ostrich feathers.

The Guys: The groomsmen were a complete hoot!  From providing comic relief during group photos to tearing up the dance floor, they made the night so much fun! Not to mention the fact that they looked good!  Don’t they look so sharp?!

The Details: The guys wore black suits from Macy’s.  Believe it or not, they were less than $100 and they looked like expensive suits!  They wore black skinny ties I bought from Ebay for $5 each.  Their art deco boutonnieres were from Lilies and Lemon Drops Etsy shop and were a huge hit! I heard a groomsmen or two make the comment, “These are the coolest boutonnieres I’ve ever seen!”

Their Chuck Taylor shoes were from Nordstrom and a gift from the groom! Not exactly art deco but we wanted to show off the groom’s personal styles and add a touch of uniqueness!

Beetle and I knew from the beginning of our engagement that we would participate in the tradition of exchanging gifts to each other to commemorate the special occasion and to celebrate our new life together!

We set a limit of $1,000 each and planned to exchange them the night before the wedding!

Beetle got me these beautiful, black Louboutins that I have been lusting for (these deserve their own post)!

Even though he couldn’t really look at it in front of our guests, I got Beetle a photo book from a boudoir photography session I did with the talented, Genevieve Leiper!

Are you scratching your head wondering what a boudoir session is? Well it is a photography session that could be rated as PG-13 because it is “implied nude.” You may not be wearing anything but you aren’t showing anything either!  

I highly recommend every bride do this!!  It is a day of feeling like a celebrity! You work with professionals for your hair, makeup and photography. If you ever wonder how Kim Kardashian feels being pampered on a daily basis, you will know after an experience like this!

My dream came true when I was able to work with the “dream team” of Victoria Stiles and Genevieve Leiper! Victoria Stiles is a celebrity hair and makeup artist and was a blast to work with!

Genevieve Leiper is an amazing photographer and a fantastic person! She could tell I was nervous at the beginning of the shoot so she gave me a glass of wine and took my mind off being exposed in front of a camera by creating small talk.

What made me do it? Being a bride, I was in the best shape of my life so it seemed like the perfect time to get comfortable in front of the camera.

Since the photos are for “his eyes only,” I will share one that didn’t make it into the book and seems to be the most appropriate!