Category: Trend Watch

I paid $220 for my wedding dress. My colleague Jennifer? Got hers for $125. Since we were both footing the bill for our own weddings, there was precious little in the budget for our gowns (I had to make sure there were enough offerings at the pasta bar to satisfy my Italian relatives!). We both looked lovely, by the way, even without spending 2 two months’ rent on our wedding attire. Here are some of our dress-shopping secrets:

In real life, you may run around in Crocs or Adidas, but for the wedding aisle, you want to dress your tootsies to the nines. Wedding accessory boutique Perfect Details (in Santa Cruz and online) has your feet covered…beautifully.

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.

It would be great if you could turn your entire wedding wish list into reality, but in this tough economic climate it’s not always easy to do. So rather than trying to get everything perfect, couples are striving for a more realistic goal: making just one detail of their wedding so memorable that guests will be talking about it for years to come. I like to call this the “wow” factor.

I was both maid of honor and wedding coordinator when my sister got married last year. Because so many of the guests were coming from out of town, we decided to combine the bachelorette party and bridal shower into one fun-filled weekend to save on travel time and ensure that everyone could attend.

If your personality is more backyard than ballroom, you’re in good company this year. The New York Times says that casual food and a relaxed setting are the latest trend among couples who either don’t have the money for a fancier wedding—or just don’t want to look inappropriately lavish in this economy. Whatever the reason, an at-home, casual wedding is always appropriate, IMHO.

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.

At Here Comes The Guide headquarters, we love our treats. So imagine our delight when adorable tins and containers filled with M&M’s and Jelly Belly jellybeans arrived at our offices, each with customized messages and images (including photos!).