Congratulations

A big congratulations, goes out to my friend Alena and her new husband Kennneth. They jumped the broom in beautiful Jamacia this past Saturday. I am sure it was a blessed day for all.

My Invitation Must Have Gotten Lost In the Mail

Congratulations to the new Mr and Mrs. Marc Mezinsky. My invitation must have gotten lost...like so many. Wishing Chelsea and Marc all the best.

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Congratulations

Congrats go out to my friend Lynnette and her now husband Carence, on their wedding that took place last Saturday in Key West. Hope that you are having fun on your honeymoon.

Real Weddings: Lisa and Todd

I have been helping my friend Lisa over the past few months, with her wedding. I am her day of coordinator. She is gettting married next week. Over next week or so I will be posting about projects and ideas that you might want to use from her wedding to yours.

Their love story began over 4 years ago, when they met at a friends picnic and became inseperatble the rest of the evening. Even though they had to have a long distance relationship, love prevailed. I am so happy for them and the new start of their life together.

Happy 7 Months

Hard to believe that I have been married for 7 months....it seems longer. Just kidding, it has been a good 7 months and I am looking forward to the next 70 years. That would put us both at 106 years old. I think that I can handle that.

Wedding Blog of the Week

Soon To Be Mrs. Patti, is recent bride turned newlywed. Her writing is witty, funny and insightful. I have really enjoyed reading about her wedding process. Check her blog out to see how her she went from being Ms. Patti to Mrs. Smithville.

The Tale of Two Hildebrandt's

Could you imagine marrying someone with the same name as you. Well, Mr. Kelly Hildebrandt can when he marries Ms. Kelly Hildebrandt in October. Click here to see how there love story began.

Congratulations!!

I would like to give wedding wishes to the following bride bloggers....

• Bona Fide Preppy Bride
• The Buckeye Bride
• Nautical Wedding and Nursing Tales
• That Engaged Girl

Wishing everyone getting married this weekend great weather and happiness. Enjoy each moment because it will go fast.

A $6,000 Wedding

I read the magazine Essence and occasionally read the website. I found this article about Tavon Ferguson who spent $6,000, for her whole wedding. I thought I would share this information with others.

ESSENCE.COM: Congratulations, newlywed! So, were you one of those little girls who started planning her wedding at 12?

TAVON FERGUSON: I really didn't even think I was going to get married until I met my husband. It wasn't until we started dating that those dreams actually came about. I had ideas of things I wanted to do, but I hadn't been to a lot of weddings so I was very open to the things that I wanted to have for my own.

ESSENCE.COM: So spill the beans, because sisters want to know-how did you pull this off?

FERGUSON: (Laughs.) I live every part of my life with the motto: I'd rather have more for less. So, whether it's shopping for clothes or the house or even tuition for school, I follow this and the wedding just became an extension of that motto. I was able to get my photographer and deejay for free. I found the photographer, another graduate student, on Craigslist.com. He was trying to get his name out as a wedding photographer. Our engagement and wedding pictures were free. The deejay was the boyfriend of a friend and he was also trying to get into weddings. A lot of people don't realize that most vendors will work for free when they're just starting out as long as they're able to reference you. A friend of mine is a makeup artist and she did my makeup for free that day as my wedding present. One of my husband's friends is a caterer and he hosted our rehearsal dinner for free as well.

ESSENCE.COM: Amazing! What other ways did you save money to jump the broom?

FERGUSON: I purchased my wedding gown from Craigslist.com. I got a $650 David's Bridal dress for $200 with the tags still attached! I was able to purchase 100 invitations from Party City for $30. I hosted a party with dinner and drinks one night and had my bridal party help me assemble them. I got my flowers from Costco and rented a cake for my pictures but served sheet cake to my guests at the reception. We held the ceremony and the reception in the same place and everything: the food, linen, drinks, chair covers, the cake-cutting fee, wait staff was all $5,500. Everything else was only $500. And I even saved on our honeymoon. It was $1500 for the entire trip; eight days and seven nights at an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic. Our airfare was included. [Editor's note: The honeymoon costs are not included in the $6,000.]

ESSENCE.COM: Very impressive, but it seems like it was a lot of work. How did you avoid becoming a bridezilla to your friends and family?

FERGUSON: It is a blessing for people to agree to be in your wedding. I didn't think that it was a privilege for my friends to participate. I didn't want my bridesmaids to spend $200 on a dress that they would never wear again. Knowing that people may not have a lot of money, I went out of my way to find a dress they would all like. I knew I had succeeded when one of my bridesmaids asked if she could wear her dress before the actual ceremony. They were from Delias.com on sale and I got free shipping. I also purchased their bridemaid's gifts, sterling silver engraved bracelets, for $8 from Weddingchannelstore.com.

ESSENCE.COM: What do you have to say to brides who still think they need a year's salary to plan their own dream wedding?

FERGUSON: I think the biggest thing is that your wedding should be more about you and your husband and not about the price tag of the things you think you have to have. If you focus more on it being the perfect day for you and your husband, you will have a lot less stress. You won't compare yourself to your friend that just got married or Star Jones or some other celebrity. That way you're able to add and subtract and create a wedding that is really your own. The type of wedding where people leave and say, "Wow, those two really love each other." Concentrate on making it about you and your husband.

Information found here

Rachel's Wedding

A few months back I posted about my friend Rachel. I talked about her bridal shower. Today I attended her wedding. Today was the culmination of a month full of wedding fun. Rachel and Tom were married on 8-8-08 and then spent 2 weeks in Mexico and had another beautiful ceremony there. Today celebrated with their family and friends with a reception.

This is their beautiful cake. It had Asian accents along with some pretty red flowers on it.

Instead of having a traditional guest book, Rachel had a piece of fabric and Sharpe markers for guest to put their well wishes on. While guest signed the fabric, they couple view the pictures and a slide show from their trip to Mexico.

The good old garter toss. Tom come out, come out where ever you are.

Here is my friend Ben, waiting for the garter toss. He really was not interested. He was more interested in the disco lights on the floor.

Ben and his mom.

Ben and I.

Rachel and Tom cutting the yummy cake. It was so good and lemony.

A great kiss during the first dance.

Rachel's wedding had an Asian theme with the red lanterns, chopsticks and these great favors. These Chinese food boxes were filled with yummy buckeyes. Tom and Rachel are Ohio State Buckeye fans..which was apparent when Tom came in when they were introduced and he yelled "OH" and the crowd yelled back "IO"

The father/daughter dance. They laughed the whole time they were on the floor. Oh look, the back of my photographers head. Thus that is why she is a photographer and not me.

It was a beautiful and fun wedding. Congratulations Rachel and Tom.

Bridescision 2008

I know that this is a wedding blog but there is an election process going people. To keep with my wedding theme and mix it with a bit of politics you can go to a new website where you can get both..it is called Bride Decide. Within this website you can keep up with current politics and find out about your favorite candidates courtship and wedding. Check it out, it might be a great way to make the political process fun, interesting and get you more involved.

(Barack and Michelle Obama on their wedding day 19 years ago.)

Oh...by the way, Michelle gave an excellent speech at the Democratic Convention last night. You go girl!!! For more information on her and Barack, check out his website .

If you have not registered to vote click here. Make your voice heard...or do not complain about it.

Soul Food Star Marries D-Nice

Malinda Williams from the TV show, " Soul Food" married Derrick "D-Nice" Jones on August 23,2008 in an intimate ceremony in Newark, New Jersey. The couple chose a "vintage-mod" wedding theme with different shades of browns and champagnes. The bride wore a champagne Maggie Sottero dress and Christan Louboutin satin pumps. It is beautiful. Congratulations!!

For more on this wedding click here.

(photos from Essence magazine)

Ellen Gets Married

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi were married on August 16, 2008 in an intimate ceremony at their home in Los Angeles. They have been dating since 2004 and decided to get married when gay marriage became legalized in California. Congratulations.

For more pictures and the full story, please pick up the recent copy of People magazine.

(pictures courtesy of the Ellen DeGeneres website)

"Sister, Sister" Gets Married

Actress Tia Mowry, from shows Sister, Sister and The Game, married longtime sweetheart actor Cory Hardrict, from Lincoln Heights, on April 20, 2008 at the Four Seasons Biltmore Resort in Santa Barbara, California. The couple made their union official after 7 years of dating, when they exchanged vows in front of 170 guest.

The bride comment that, " When you declare it in front of the people that you love, it just renews the whole relationship."

(Pictures from InStyle Weddings)

The Velvet Teddy Bear Jumps the Broom

American Idol star Ruben Studdard made Zuri McCant his wife in a southern style wedding on June 28, 2008 in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. The couple celebrated with 400 guest in a lavish, but simple affair.

I love the bling!! So how much does an American Idol winner make? Apparently alot.

To read more about their love story click here. What are your favorite celebrity weddings? Share.
(All photos from Essence)