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The Savvy Winter Bride is starting her own event & wedding planning business!!! Please follow the new blog at www.yoursavvysoiree.com as updates will no longer be made here!

Thanks!
Savvy Winter Bride

DIY Shoe Bling

Finding the PERFECT bridal shoe can be a pain. Depending on your personality, you might want to match your dress, you might want to wear hot pink shoes that pop, or you might want to bling it out. Regardless, it's hard to find the ones you've been dreaming of.. especially if you're on any type of budget. Well, here's a solution so simple than even the non-craftiest bride can do: Add rhinestones to your own shoes!

From plain

To Sassy!

complete tutorial here

V Day - Pink & Black Inspiration

No words necessary --- here's some black, white & pink inspiration for Valentine's Day! I hope you get to spend it with the ones you love!

seen here

Video of the Day

Absolutely love this hilarious video by Digital Princess at the Broke Ass Bride! Who couldn't love something set to the theme of Fresh Prince of Bel Air?

Fresh Hubby of LA from Digital Princess Productions on Vimeo.

Chicago Photographer with Creative Curve

I love looking at wedding photography, and today I came across a Chicago based photographer that really gives an edgy style to the photos. So, if any brides are planning their nuptials in the Chicago area, consider Jai Girard photography -- of course you might have to book 2 years in advance, but hey, wedding pictures last forever!

Valentine's Photoshoot

Happy Saturday! And Happy day-before-Valentine's Day! I'm so excited to be sharing this beautiful photoshoot from you with Simply Bloom Photography. It's a modern day twist on an old love story -- a beautiful woman falling in love with Cupid! Enjoy... and take some inspiration for your engagement photos and/or wedding photos!

Wedding Traditions

After dating my boyfriend (now husband) for 3 months or so, I went with him to his cousin's wedding, and of course met the ENTIRE family. While waiting for the bride to make her way to the aisle, my future mother-in-law said, "I don't even know why girls wear white these days. It means nothing." I had no idea what to say. I think I laughed it off. A plethora of thoughts crossed my mind: is she serious? does she think this bride is unpure? Is she hinting that she thinks I am unpure? I then sat, watching a beautiful couple tie their vows, while I silently wondered what the heck does this mean?!? That got me thinking of wedding superstitions and their genesis. If the white dress traditionally is meant to symbolize purity, where do all of the other wedding traditions get their roots? I did a little digging, and here's what I found out {my real-life items listed after the description}.

• Something Old: The bride is supposed to wear something old as a sign that even though the wedding symbolizes a new beginning, the couple is not forsaking their friends and family even as they step into a new life together {my deceased paternal grandmother's pearls were draped on my wedding bouquet}.
• Something New: The bride should wear/have something new to show a symbolic reference to the new life she is embarking upon, which will bring her health, happiness, and success {practically everything I was wearing was new}.
• Something Borrowed: The bride and her family reaffirm their love & affection with each other with this tradition. By borrowing from her family (or close friends), the bride shows she is close to them, and by returning what she borrowed, she wishes them luck {my maternal grandmother's rose pin tucked into my bouquet}.
• Something Blue: Wearing something blue is meant to be a throwback to ancient times when the color represented fidelity and consistency. The bride is thus reinforcing her commitment, symbolically, to the groom {Blue Sapphire ring -- lucky me, my hubby gave it to me as a wedding gift}.
• The groom's bout matches the bridal bouquet: By the groom wearing a flower from the bridal bouquet, he is showing that his bride is his lady and declaring his love for her. This is from an old custom when knights roamed England and wore their ladies' colors to show their love for them {my groom wore a burgandy callalily which matched my bouquet}.

and finally.... the white wedding gown has 2 stories of its creation

• White wedding gowns: 1) White is the color that represents purity, to show that the bride is a virgin. A bride is never supposed to wear green since that is the color that shows "loose morals" -- women who rolled around in the grass with various men would get green grass stains on her dress. 2) In the olden days, white linens were very costly. Women didn't tend to wear white dresses because they would often get ruined very quickly and thus would have to be thrown away, resulting in a waste of money. So, by wearing a white gown, the bride's family was declaring that they come from high society and can afford a dress to only be worn once {ivory is also an accepted color and much more common these days --- and was worn by yours truly}.

Any other traditions I left out? Feel free to let me know!

Worst. Wedding. Guest. Ever.

Someone fed this girl one too many drinks. Remember, ladies -- at ALL weddings, you MUST stay classy! You do not want to be this girl... or have that girl at your wedding!




For some reason, I don't think they're very good friends anymore...