What is a Trunk Show?

A Trunk Show is a  a special event at which a wedding dress designer (or representative from the company) visits a bridal boutique on a set day with his or her entire line of new dresses. Brides schedule appointments to try on the dresses and meet with the designer.

Since most bridal salons often only carry a few dresses from a select group of designers, trunk shows allow customers the opportunity to see and try on dresses that they wouldn't ordinarily see at that store. If you find a dress you like during a designer trunk show.

The bride benefits because she has the opportunity to talk to the actual designer, to discuss the gowns and any changes she may want to make to the one she's considering for herself. Designers benefit because they get to watch brides try on their gowns and listen to their comments. It's a great opportunity for them to learn directly from the consumer what they're doing right -- and wrong!

Call local bridal boutiques and department store bridal salons to see when and if there are trunk shows scheduled, and with which designers. Trunk shows are planned well in advance, so stores should be able to give you a list of dates. The shows last from one to three days, and appointments book up quickly. Call early!

Understand that a trunk show is not technically a sale. The dresses are not marked as discounted. But, most trunk shows do offer a discount for placing your order on the spot, sometimes up to 20%, so don't be shy about asking. Even if the salon doesn't offer a discount, the designer may throw in a few extras (buttons down the back, additional length on the sleeves or the train) without charging you more. This relatively small savings could make a big difference if you're working with a tight budget.

WHO is the Wedding Party??

Maid of Honor is single and the Matron of Honor is married or a widow, she is the bride's right-hand for the duration of the planning process -- she's there to supply a second pair of eyes and provide emotional support as needed. They head up the bridal shower and handles numerous wedding day details, which might include toasting the bride and groom, signing the marriage license, adjusting the bride's train at the altar, holding her bouquet during vows. She also should help the bride get dressed, and learn how to bustle the wedding gown.

Best Man is the groom right and left hand through all stages of wedding planning. He's a bachelor-party master of ceremonies, and commander-in-chief of the groomsmen brigade. His duties include getting the groom to the ceremony on time; signing the couple's marriage license; and holding the bride's wedding ring at the altar. He also is famous for his toasting skills.

Bridesmaids are gal pals and female family members who form the bride's entourage. They are a support team for the maid of honor, helping with pre-wedding tasks when asked (addressing invites, making bridal shower favors, planning the bachelorette party, and more).

Groomsmen a group of male family and friends who assist the groom in planning and preparing for the big day. Help the best man plan and pay for the bachelor party and to support the groom. It's also common to have groomsmen do double duty as ushers, leaving their posts in time to process with the rest of the bridal party. They also get to decorate the getaway car.

Flower Girls aged three through eight who walk down the aisle before the bride, scattering flower petals from a basket (or carrying a pomander). Most flower children sit with their parents after completing their stroll.
 
Ring Bearer a young boy (or girl) aged four through eight, who walks down the aisle just before the flower girl (if there is one), carrying a small decorative pillow with two wedding bands tied to it (usually fakes, in case they are lost

Input on Wedding Party!!

The wedding party consist of many people, with many titles, and many roles. The average wedding party is usually made up of Maid/Matron of Honor, Bridesmaids, Flower Girl(s), Best Man/Men, Groomsmen, and Ring Bearer. That is your normal line-up. Now sometimes you may include, Junior Bridesmaid and Junior Groomsmen, Bible Bearer, Mini Bride and Mini Groom. I could be here all day listing the titles of different wedding party roles. The question that I get asked often is "who should I have in my wedding party?" my answer to that is always, "whoever you would like to have stand in the presence of your exchange of vows that bring nothing but positive energy. Everyone should know by now, that I am truly outside of the box, and there are no rules and regulations, when it comes to things of this nature here is examples to what I mean....Do the amount of the ladies, have to equal to the amount of the men NO....the worst thing is to ask someone to be in your wedding party only because you need to even out a number....Do I have to even have a wedding party at all NO... wheter you have two people standing at the alter with you, or twenty people standing at the alter, it will not make or break the significance of  your wedding vows.....Do I have to include all titles in my wedding party, like do I have to find a flower girl, a junior bridesmaid and etc. NO....when it comes to selecting a bridal party, in which is suppose to be a joyus occasion, not a nail bitter because you do not want to offend or hurt anyone's feelings. At the end of the day, if their true reason is to be able to witness the union between two people in love, they would just even be honored to be invited.  (HINT) Be very cautious and do not feel pressured, when persons just put themselves in your wedding party! HHHMMM

Groom's Cake

I wanted to elaborate on "The Groom's Cake" due to the fact that over the past couple of months I have been ask time and again exactly what is it. A groom’s cake started out as a down South. Some people use to see it as an unnecessary expense,  so people start shying away from having a groom's cake and leaving this just for the elite southerners to partake in. Well now this down South tradition has expanded, to the North, East, and West. It is considered as a gift from the bride to the groom and 95% of the time is a big surprise to him. Now traditionally it was usually dark, made of all chocolate, and sometimes soak in liquor to symbolize, that it was masculine, which was totally opposite of the pure white flower adorn wedding cake. Not anymore, now the groom's cake is made to represent his favorite football team, hobby, job, candy, cigars, just about anything and usually comical.

You can showcase it at the wedding or dessert at the rehearsal dinner or later cut and put into boxes for guests to take home. Now there is suppose to be an old folktale  that years ago single women are supposed to sleep with a slice under their pillow the same night they receive it -- and if they do, they'll dream of their future husband, and in my opinion you will be dreaming about that mess up under your pillow.

Did You Know? (Bread)

Everyday when I learn something new I want to pass it along to others. I grew up testing a loaf of bread by pressing down on top of it and if it felt soft and was slow at springing back up, then this was a fresh loaf, but if I press on the top of it and the bread was firm and did not move, then this was considered as stale.  I found out that all along, my mom, grandma, and all of us have been wasting our time, because bread has a code to let you know when it was baked, and the code is the colorful twist ties on the bread. Bread is delivered fresh to the stores five days a week, which are  Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. And each day has a different color twist tie. They are...........................

Monday - Blue

Tuesday - Green

Thursday - Red

Friday - White

Saturday - Yellow

I went to the grocery store and the bread wrappers do have different colored twist ties, and even the ones with the plastic clips have different colors. 

So today being Tuesday, I want a green twist tie (fresh delivered this morning) - not red which is Thursday (almost a week old)

The colors go alphabetically Blue - Green - Red - White -Yellow,  which match towards the day of the week, Monday thru Saturday. Very easy to remember. Post a note in your wallet so you will not forget.

Cosmetics for $1.00

Some of you may already be aware of this, and then I thought some may not, but there is a website that you can get quality cosmetics for just $1.00. the company is called E.L.F. which stand for Eyes, Lips, and Face. This website offer a large variety of products like lipstick, gloss, concealers, foundation, eyeshadow, brushes, and even mineral makeup. Some items like the gift sets are more than a $1.00 but not expensive at all. The website is http://www.eyeslipsface.com/

Cell Chargers / Car

Of course if you have a Soc. Sec. # more than likely you have a cellphone. One bit of advice that I want to pass on to you, is that please invest in a cellphone charger for your car. The week of your wedding you will be on your cellphone pertaining to the wedding , more than you would have in one month. Wheter it is calls from friends and familes who have last minute, questions, concerns, or congrats. You will also be very mobile for some reason that week, going from point A to B and back to Z. The one good charge that you put on your phone that morning, that usually lasts you about 2 days, you will notice will last you barely until mid-afternoon. I have seen it so many times, that clients want to contact me, their mom, a friend, or vendor, then they cell phone dies, and they are hours from being back home, but it never register in their mind to stop at a Wal-Mart, Target, or even Gas station to buy a car phone charger, so that way they want feel so detached from the rest of society for those few hours. It is a good investment, because, you will still use it after the wedding. *Hint* If you have have a GPS system, especially by Garmin, and a Blackberry, check the charging section of the cord, because they will charge the GPS and your Blackberry. Test it out first and see if it works for you.

SKYPE

There are so many new high tech ways of keeping in touch, with family and friends....you got Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and the list goes on. Another form of communicating that I really like is thru SKYPE. You have probably have seen SKYPE used on various shows like Oprah, Today, 20/20, MTV, and a lot of reality televison shows. SKYPE is more so a visual form of communication. It is so easy, all you need is a webcam, and go to the website http://www.skype.com/ and register, and that's it! The best part is that it is FREE! I think it is very reliable way of communicating with family, friends, co-workers, and even vendors, especially if you are not able to make a meeting or a consult, and you would like to have more so of that face to face conversation, when it comes to expressing your concerns or ideas. So I challenge you to try it and pass the word along to others. If you do sign up for SKYPE, my screen name is...... msrocky4u  so put me on your list and we can connect.  

Dinner Napkins

A very easy and affordable way to add decor and elegance to a table, is with dinner napkins.  Dinner napkins can be folded and shaped in so many different styles and designs. When getting away from the traditonal white and ivory and using colorful napkins to match your decor, this really pops out on a table setting. There isn't really one napkin fold that out ranks the other, because each fold need to reflect your style and theme.  My favorites are the Opera Fan in which from an aerial point of view can be seen on each table as hint of decor and the French Pleat which is good to slide your menu cards in, or even a single rose.

Happy Birthday

I just wanted to take time today on November 3 and wish a Happy Birthday to ME!

Color Combo for November

My color combo pick for this month is orange, yellow, and pink.  This combo of colors are very bright, vibrant and fun, in order to use these colors I feel you must have the personality to match! These three colors can be used in so many creative ways, when it comes to decor, you can use fruit in your centerpieces, (oranges and lemons) or serve sorbets in these colors for dessert, and there are so many cost efficient flowers that share these colors. The colors can all be used equally far as which one will be the dominate color, or you can choose to make one a little more dominating than the others.  Have fun with this combo, you have no other choice!