Category: Fashion

No one wants a cookie-cutter wedding, but sometimes when browsing the ad-packed wedding glossies or bridal bonanza expos, it feels like your wedding is doomed to be generic.

We all love “new,” right? New cars, new clothes, new guy (Ok, you’re probably past that one.) To prove our love of all things “new,” we’ve added a fresh crop of bridal salons and places to buy your wedding rings, wedding jewelry and fashion accessories to HereComesTheGuide.com.

When Queen Victoria married in a white gown, who knew it would spark such a lasting trend? In 1890—a full fifty years after Victoria said “I do”—white wedding dresses became the norm in America. Before then, practicality won out: During the time of the California Gold Rush, for example, a woman probably wouldn’t have the luxury of wearing her wedding dress only once, so something like this blue silk number from 1868 made much more sense.

Who says a vineyard wedding means you have to use bunches of deep purple grapes to decorate your cake, centerpieces, and bridal bouquets? For a garden wedding, I’d rather take my cues from a tossed salad: crisp greens with tomato and carrot-colored blooms. I’ve been in love with this cabbage leaf arrangement from Panacea Event Floral Design since we posted it. It makes me hungry just looking at it!

At the upcoming Ulla-Maija “Made To Measure” Trunk Show at San Francisco bridal salon Marina Morrison May 29-30, brides will not only be treated to a preview of the latest Ulla-Maija collection, hot off the New York runways; they’ll also get to work directly with Ulla-Maija designer Charles W. Bunstine II.

Are you still lugging around that tired old suitcase your Aunt Stella gave you for a high school graduation present? You’re not taking that relic with you on your honeymoon, are you? Think of it: Your traveling outfits rock, your face is still glowing from your pre-wedding facial, you’re already sporting a deep bronze tan (thanks, tanning salon!) and you haven’t even made it to Maui yet. You look hot…so shouldn’t your luggage be haute, too?

It’s a shame, really. All that time, effort and money spent on finding the wedding dress, and you really only ever wear it the one time. Fashion designer Hanna Hartnell of HARTNELL Santa Monica feels you, and has come up with an ingenious solution—the Double Dare Gown.

After you’ve tried on your umpteenth wedding gown, you may come down with a common affliction rarely talked about outside of the fashion world: Fashion Amnesia. “What did that slinky Kirstie Kelly wedding dress cost?” “Where did I find that dreamy Sarah Houston number that made my top five list?”