Fashion: In bridal fashion, there will be a distinct return to classic elegance for 2012 weddings. Bridal gowns featuring long lace sleeves (yes, like Princess Catherine’s), sheer illusion necklines, and charming cap sleeves will be all the rage. We will see fewer plunging necklines, and one hopes, fewer wedding dresses with sheer bodices. While birdcage veils are still in fashion, a lovely trend in 2012 wedding accessories is the return to long veils, especially those edged in fine lace. Wear it with a soft chignon and delicate bridal jewelry. For the groom, the classic tuxedo with a bow tie is coming back in style (not that it ever went out of style), replacing the super casual, “I know it’s my wedding, but why should I wear a jacket and tie?” fashion statement.

Bridesmaids: For the 2012 bridesmaids, mismatched dresses will continue to be a strong trend. Allow your bridesmaids to express their personality in their dresses, bridesmaid jewelry, and shoes. It is far better than forcing them all to wear an identical dress with dyed-to-match pumps. (Forget 2011, that look is so 1980s!). White or ivory bridesmaid dresses will be surprisingly popular for 2012 weddings, as will more vibrant hues like canary yellow and tangerine. Soft blush hues are hot for both bridesmaids and brides this year, just not in the same wedding. As gratitude is always in style, be sure to thank your friends for being in your wedding with fabulous bridesmaid jewelry gifts.

Photography: In keeping with the return of classic elegance in bridal gowns, we will also see more classic photography come back in style for 2012. A fantastic new trend is the panoramic shot of the everyone at the wedding reception, done in tasteful black and white. Funky effects like histamatic photography and weird camera angles will be taking a step back in popularity. I was thrilled to hear the prediction that 2012 will signal the end of the “trashing the dress” photo shoot. The new hip post-wedding photo shoot trend is to wear your wedding gown in a restyled way. Think different hair, makeup, jewelry, and so forth to express a different side of your personality. It’s always fun to have an excuse to wear your wedding dress again, especially when it won’t get destroyed in the process.

Food: On to 2012 wedding food trends: think exotic meats. International cuisine is on the menu for this year, including specialties from Morocco, Mexico, Greece, and the Middle East. Basic “chicken or beef” will have no place on your menu if you want to be on trend. As for the wedding cake, an intriguing new concept is a cake with a one-of-a-kind hand painted design. Out of style is an ostentatious wedding cake that is taller than the bride and groom.

Flowers: What would a wedding be without flowers? 2012 wedding bouquets promise to be exquisitely beautiful. The trend is towards soft hues like blush, pale pink, white, and ivory, rather than the intensely vivid hues we have seen in recent years. Choose a loosely arranged bouquet of garden fresh flowers accented with plenty of lush greenery to capture the trend to the fullest. Such a romantic bouquet will be the perfect accent to one of the beautiful lace bridal gowns that will be in style for 2012 weddings. It sounds like we all have a lot to look forward to in weddings this year!

Bridget Mora covers all the latest wedding trends, styles, and fashion for Silverland Jewelry. For bridesmaid jewelry that your attendants will love, visit Silverland Jewelry today!

Inevitably, planning a big event will lead to some stress, but organising your wedding doesn’t have to be a nightmare. Here are ten tips to help keep your wedding as stress free as possible.

1. Organisation is key. The earlier you start planning your day the better. Make a wedding timetable before you do anything else and work out when each element of your wedding needs to be confirmed by. Your timetable will allow you to easily see exactly what has and hasn’t been done, so there’ll be no danger of forgetting anything.

2. Research wedding venues on the internet before you visit. Alternatively, give the venue owners a call and ask them about whether they can meet your requirements. That way you won’t end up wasting time visiting unsuitable venues.

3. Delegate your planning to your wedding party. Part of a bridesmaid’s or ushers job is to help with the planning and organisation of the day and most people who accept the job will expect this. As long as they know exactly what you want, you should be able to get your wedding party on board to help you do things like pick up the flowers and bridesmaid dresses or research wedding bands and DJ’s.

4. Try to make preparing for the big day fun. One great way that you can do this is by choosing handmade wedding invitations which you and your bridesmaids can make yourselves. You can buy all the bits and bobs you need for making invitations online and it could create a lovely opportunity for you and your bridesmaids to sit down, relax and enjoy each other’s company.

5. Let your bridesmaids choose their own dresses. If you have several bridesmaids then the likelihood is that they will be all different shapes and sizes and will feel comfortable in different types of dresses. One solution is to choose a colour and allow your bridesmaids to pick a dress for themselves that matches your colour choice but that they will feel comfortable in. This will make organising your bridesmaid’s outfits easier and will also be cheaper than buying four or five versions of the same dress.

6. Don’t feel obligated to invite people that you haven’t seen for years. If it’s been an age since you’ve seen someone then there’s probably a good reason for that. You don’t need to feel obligated to invite people you don’t want to, after all, it’s your day so why shouldn’t you be able to organise it as you please? Keeping the number of guests down will help to de stress you and will also reduce costs.

7. Make sure your hen night and your groom’s stag do is at least two weeks before your wedding. That way everyone will feel able to relax and let their hair down without worrying about feeling awful on the big day. This will also reduce the danger of any of your wedding party (especially the groom!) turning up with a black eye, twisted ankle or a face full of permanent marker!

8. Scrap the seating plan. Although a formal sit down dinner can be nice it’s stressful to organise seating plans and try to make sure that you sit the right people together. So instead of going for the formal option why not choose a buffet and forget about the seating plan. This will free up your time to organise other things and help create a much more relaxed atmosphere at your venue.

9. Hold off on the honeymoon. There’s no reason why you have to go on your honeymoon straight after your nuptials. Organising yourself for a holiday is stressful enough without having to plan for a wedding at the same time, so why not wait a while and plan your honeymoon later on? It’ll give you a chance to get used to life as a married couple and will give you something to look forward to after the anti climax of your big day being over.

10. If you know someone who’s handy with a camera you could ask them to take photos for you. Wedding photos can often be overly formal and stiff, not to mention that traditionally, guests spend a lot of time waiting around for photo sessions to end. To give your photo count a boost, place disposable cameras on each table at your reception and allow the guests to be your photographers. Once your photos are developed you’ll end up with some great snaps that truly reflect what a fun day everyone had.

Lucy Pitt is a blogger and copywriter who writes on various subjects across the web. For more great tips about shopping for your wedding, visit her blog.

A Theme Park

If you’re getting over excited at the thought of committing to the person you love on board Space Mountain then you need to calm down! Weddings at the resort offer an experience that is more befitting of a Disney Princess than an adrenalin fuelled junkie. Weddings at Disney World Florida take place in the beautiful surroundings of the Wedding Pavilion, which has become an iconic and desirable venue for brides and grooms the world over.

If you’re thinking this all sounds too boring then it’s worth knowing that the married couple and all the guests often come dressed as famous Disney characters. And yes, you do get to go on the rides when the ceremony has finished.

On Board a Second World War Battleship

HMS Belfast might not be the most romantic setting for a wedding, but it’s certainly an impressive vessel and is steeped in history. The ship served in both the Second World and Korean Wars and is now moored in London not far from Tower Bridge. It’s licensed for both traditional ceremonies and civil partnerships, and has a lovely view of the city. It’s the perfect venue for a pair of war enthusiasts.

Underwater

It’s not unheard of for people to get married whist scuba-diving, but the Jules Undersea Lodge in Florida can give you the full hotel wedding experienced under the water. You’ll have to scuba down to your temporary residence, but it’s only 21 feet below the surface so you don’t have to be an expert.

And it’s not even crazily expensive, as you can hire the whole lodge for yourself for less than two thousand dollars which even lets you stay for the honeymoon. Has that ‘wet’ your appetite?

In Hell

This one’s very dark, and arguably goes against everything that marriage is going to be about. Seven Floors of Hell usually offers a particularly terrifying day out to its visitors but the haunted house, located in Ohio, is also a potential wedding venue. At one couple’s wedding (which took place in the graveyard of course) the minister was even persuaded to dress as the Grim Reaper and receipt the Lord’s Prayer. That’s certainly unusual.

On Top of the World

In June 2005 a Nepalese couple said there I ‘do’s’ on top of Mount Everest, which unsurprisingly was a first. The bride and groom did their best to make it a celebratory atmosphere as they briefly removed their oxygen masks and put Hawaiian style garlands around their necks. The newlyweds only managed to stay on top of the mountain’s peak for ten minutes, but this was still long enough for the vows to be exchanged and for a few photos to be taken.

It’s been said numerous times that this marriage made at 29,029 feet is the closest anyone is ever likely to get to a literal match made in heaven!

Amy Carter is crazy about weddings. she works as a copywriter for Find Me A Gift, the best place on the web to find unusual wedding gifts and presents.

Be it a summer or winter wedding, its main elements remain the same. Winters, however, offer you more room to give a personal touch to the ceremony. Following are ten fun ways to jazz up your winter wedding.

1 – For winter wedding reception, an indoor setting may appear the only option. But even for the indoor weddings, you can choose from countless themes. You can host your wedding at a trendy restaurant. Use contrasting colours as they will draw more attention. For those who find restaurants a little too unconventional, a church hall, or a wedding hall can work just as well.

2 – For the menu, you can choose to be as lavish as you like. Spicy BBQ, grilled food, baked items and deserts and a wide variety of other foods is that you can choose between. Beef, lamb, chicken, ham, and fish, all forms of meat cooked to perfection will make your wedding feast memorable. Try it with gravy and stew along with baked potatoes and noodles.

3 – For a winter wedding, you have a wide variety of drinks to choose from. Use real fiery drinks to warm up the night. From milk shakes to martini and from brandy to hot chocolate, all the options are at your disposal.

4 – The indoor functions are a blessing for those who wish to watch over each and every work to make sure it’s done well. Chandeliers, sconces, net curtains, decorative lights, candles, table covers, napkins, carpet, and cutlery can all speak for your taste so make the most of this opportunity.

5 – Since contrasting shades standout in a winter wedding, flowers too can be picked in various colours. Tulips, roses, freesia, lilac, aster, calla lilies, orchids, daisies, stephanotis, Amazon lilies, African tulip, angel wing begonia, caladium, and bleeding heartwine are some of the flowers, which are a must for making your winter wedding standout among the rest.

6 – Be more elegant with your wedding gown for a winter wedding. Instead of showing flesh, you can focus on accentuating your body curves. The variety in winter fabric is quite wide. You can use fur on the cape of your gown’s train.

7 – Be it gold, silver or diamond, winter presents the perfect chance to show off your jewellery. Big earrings, heavy bracelets, showy necklaces and many of those good old rings, it is time to put them all on. For bride, heavy jewellery is a big NO-NO. Brides should always remember that no mater how tiny their necklace or earrings are, they will be remembered for years to come.

8 – Classical instruments like violin, saxophone etc has a soothing and calming affect on people and they discard the very idea of having some wild fun. Country, rock, instrumental, and contemporary music are more for of a summer wedding thing. Make a play list of the songs, which suit you and your mate the best and at the same time maintain the formal yet warm air of your memorable winter wedding.

9 – Winter season is followed by winter vacation so getting married during winters means EVERYONE can attend your wedding. Make the most out of this opportunity and do not miss out anyone. Let your distant relatives celebrate your big day and just how exactly you made your special day extra special despite the bone chilling cold. Remember, the more the merrier.
10 – For a warmer honeymoon in winters, the entire world is open to you. Choose any tropical destination and have an old-fashioned honeymoon in luxurious suites. Tropical countries are a popular destination for newly wed love birds who flock to warmer climates to enjoy a blissful time with their mates.

Author Bio:
Sasha Gibbs is a professional writer, she is keen to write on topics related to UK Wholesale Suppliers , wholesale clothes and wedding arrangements.

In a difficult economy, many people don’t have tens of thousands of dollars to put into their big day.  But how do you cut corners without compromising style or beauty?  There are hundreds of little tricks.  Below are some of the easiest and price cutting ways to ensure you a smooth ceremony.

FRIDAYS ARE NICE

By changing the day of the week of your wedding, you can save $1000.  Weekdays are much cheaper for vendors and venues.  Even going with a Sunday can save you money.

STAY PUT

Have your wedding and reception at the same location.  This will save you transportation costs and hourly wages for the move.  You can move guests out to the lobby or courtyard for a toast while the ceremony room is changed to a reception room.

RSVP ON THE WEB

Save on postage by having your guests RSVP on the internet instead of sending them a postmarked envelope.  Or they can call you if they don’t have access to the internet.

DIY FLOWER BOUQUETS

Instead of paying thousands for premade flower bouquets, consider going somewhere like Costco and buying flowers from there.  Then gather some friends and family matters and have a flower bouquet party.  You will save a ton of money and have a fun time creating your own unique bouquets.

SKIP THE CATERER

Caterers are a huge part of your wedding budget.  Try going with a family owned restaurant.  They are often much cheaper and you will already know that you love their food.

CUT THE CAKE

Consider doing something different for dessert.  Gourmet doughnuts or cake pops look scrumptious and are a less expensive route then a large custom cake.  And they are much more fun to eat.

DON’T HIRE A PROFESSIONAL

Photographer that is.  There are a lot of talented photographers just graduating school.  Consider hiring one of them.  They will be hundreds cheaper and there’s a good chance you’ll get more unique photos than the cookie cutter ones a lot of professional wedding photographers do.

Make sure your special day is glorious and not gloriously stressful.  And don’t be afraid to ask for help!  A cost effective idea for announcements is a ‘Save The Date’ magnet.  You can customize it with your wedding date and a picture.  It’s an ingenious way to remind your guests of our upcoming nuptials.

Lisa Coronado is a web content writer and editor for advertisingmagnets.net.

1. Get to know your mother-in-law. There is no limit to the horror stories and jokes that have been made about mothers-in-law. This is a universal phenomenon but here’s the thing, you don’t have to be part of the statistics. You can be the exception. Make an extra effort to get to know your mother-in-law. Be sincere and spend time with her. As daunting or frightening as that may sound, you may just find that she is just as lovable as the man that you chose to spend the rest of your life with.

2. Learn the names and faces of your husband’s extended family. Get one step ahead and come prepared for the inevitable family reunion. Whether enlisting the aid of Facebook, old family albums or a family tree, learn the names and faces of your husband’s extended family beforehand. This will definitely endear you to his relatives and your husband will certainly appreciate your efforts.

3. Learn how to cook your husband’s favorite meal. As the saying goes, “The fastest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”. Romance your husband by surprising him with his favorite meal after a long day at work. This will surely win his affections and make him grateful he chose you to be his wife!

4. Set aside time for yourself each week. There’s nothing quite like burnout to kill the romance in marriage. Take a break each week from household chores and the daily grind to spend hours soaked in a bubble bath or getting pampered at your neighbourhood salon or spa. This way, you are recharged and ready to be a fun, energetic wife for your hubby.

5. Fight for your husband, and not with him. The first year of a marriage is often called the honeymoon phase. Keep the fire burning by fighting for your husband and not with him. When you find yourself tempted to pick a fight, remember all the reasons you married him and try to understand what exactly about his behaviour is upsetting you. Then talk to him about it in a calm, respectful manner. Defend your husband in front of other people and never criticize him publicly.

6. Make an effort to look beautiful and eat healthy. Despite the fact that you’ve already won your husband’s heart and know that he’s legally yours for all time; don’t become lax with your physical appearance and your health. This doesnt mean that you need to sleep in your make-up, rather its just about maintaining your already stellar health and beauty. Be discriminating with your food choices and prepare meals that are healthier for the both of you. Make health and fitness a journey you do together.

7. Understand that you don’t have to win every argument. While we women are notorious for always wanting to have the last say in everything, don’t let that attitude find its way into your marriage. Learn how to apologize when you know you are in wrong and keep quiet in the heat of the argument unless there is something that really needs to be said. This will save you from saying things that you don’t really mean and that you will regret in the future.

8. Leave sweet notes for your husband to find. Leave sweet notes in unlikely places for your husband to find. Whether kinky, sweet or simply thoughtful, this small but beautiful gesture is sure to leave a smile on your hubby’s face.

9. Accommodate his hobbies and pastimes. No matter how much basketball bores you or how you just can’t understand how the stock market works despite your best efforts, listen intently as he raves or rants or sit down and watch the game with him. Your husband will surely love you all the more for it.

10. Show appreciation for him every so often. Sweet talk your husband and tell him how much you appreciate him and the things that he does. Whether it is his hardworking ways or how he’s always available to fix things around the house, tell him how you feel and express your appreciation.

While the first few months of marriage may seem heavenly, there’s no harder work than working on a marriage. These are only some resolutions you can make as you enter 2012 as a bride. Give these resolutions a personal touch or better yet, come up with your own.

Citations:

• Photo Credit

Olivia Nicholas is a writer and blogger with Storkie. She has been writing articles and blogging for the wedding industry for over 10 years.

Determine your Budget

If you go shopping for a ring without a budget in mind, the sale person can convince you to buy just about anything, even if it means spending a whole year’s salary. The rule of thumb, as far as buying engagement rings is concerned is to spend two months salary.

Find out the Size of her Finger

There are many ways of finding out the size of your girlfriend’s finger without asking her. For instance, you can take one of her rings from her jewelry box and measure it or ask her best friend. If all else fails, measure her finger while she’s sleeping!

Select the Metal

If you know your partner well, you will have an easy time with this step. Look at the jewelry she wears everyday. If she likes silver jewelry, then she will love platinum or white gold. On the other hand if she loves yellow gold, stick to that. Note that platinum rings are durable but expensive to repair if damaged while gold rings are less durable but abrasions and scratches are easily repaired.

Choose a stone

While the jeweler will try to convince you to pick a preset ring, it is possible to select a loose diamond. However, like choice of metal, your choice of diamond should be influenced by what your sweetheart likes. The most popular shape is the solitaire but there are other options including round, pear and marquis. Be sure to read up on the four Cs of diamond quality- Carat, Clarity, Color and Cut – in advance.

Choose your setting

Once you have the metal and the diamond, you can now choose the setting. You have to decide whether you want the popular prong setting which makes the ring appear as if it’s hanging thereby allowing light to create a beautiful sparkle on the diamond or a cluster of smaller diamonds. Other setting options include the bar, channel, flush and invisible.

Get a Certificate of Appraisal

As earlier mentioned, an engagement ring is an investment. For this reason, you should obtain a certificate of authenticity for your investment; you will need this certificate in order to insure the ring. The two most popular certifying organizations are the American Gem Society and the Gemological Institute of America.

Get a Warranty

Buying an engagement ring from a jeweler who doesn’t offer a lifetime warranty or guarantee is not such a good idea. Diamonds require repair, cleaning and maintenance every once in a while and your jeweler should be able to provide this preferably at no extra cost.

Once you are done with the all the above steps, you can now happily propose to the love of your life and hope that she loves the ring that you picked. However, even if it turns out that the ring isn’t her style, she will appreciate the effort that you put into picking out the perfect engagement ring.

The sooner you pick out the engagement ring, the sooner you can begin choosing place cards and party favors for your engagement party and wedding with the help of Ashley Nelson, the author of this article.

According to Simply Weddings, the average cost of an Irish wedding is €20,000 (with the cost of the engagement ring coming in at a whopping €2000). We wonder if perhaps the falling number of marriages can be chalked down to the recession, with more and more couples waiting until they’re financially sound before embarking upon a life together.

It also might be something to do with trends. If our neighbours in the UK are anything to go by, many more people are choosing to dash off to a sunny destination to say their vows. This is understandable; who wants to risk being caught in a summer shower on the most important day of their lives?

Without those summer showers, however, we wouldn’t have our lush green hills and gorgeous landscape. We might be biased, but as far as we’re concerned Ireland is still one of the best places to get married. Flights to Dublin and Belfast are usually well-priced, and more importantly, there are usually a decent number of direct flights to each of the airports. What’s more, despite the recession, nobody knows how to party better than the Irish, making Ireland a great place to celebrate the most important party of your life.

You might not be able to get married strolling along a beach or on a scenic hillside, as our laws prevent outdoors wedding (again; perhaps the surprise summer showers have something to do with this?) but as for wedding photographs there are so many beautiful areas to choose from.

There are also hundreds of country houses and castles littering our countryside, giving you the chance to have a dream wedding that might not be possible in other countries. There are even fabulous tools you can use such as Wedding Dates; this works like a flight or hotel booking engine, but instead of telling you when and what flights are available for your chosen date it shows you which wedding venues are.

In fact, as abroad weddings rise in popularity, perhaps people from other countries should consider getting married in Ireland? Think of it this way; it will be far cheaper to book family onto flights to Dublin airport rather than somewhere more exotic such as Fiji or Cyprus. And that means more money to spend on an amazing honeymoon. Changes in the law have even made it easier for non-Irish nationals to get married over here, so there’s no excuse not to.

James writes for Skyscanner.net, a UK-based flight comparison site. For more info about the company, take a look at the Skyscanner page on Linkedin.

Online wedding planning sites are mushrooming, providing a choice of related, approved suppliers for everything from the civil ceremony through the wedding breakfast, the evening dinner and the guest accommodation at carefully selected hotels. Invitations, car hire, the wedding cake, the photographer, the groom’s sartorial elegance and the bride’s dress, hair, accessories, make-up and bouquet, and not forgetting the bridesmaids’ couture, are all catered for. Some companies even offer wedding insurance packages – just in case!

Picture perfect weddings

Another option is to first choose a picturesque location, then approach a hotel in the area which is able to provide wedding services. Many country hotels now offer a choice of tailored wedding packages including gourmet meals, fine wines and champagnes, and all the trimmings, including the honeymoon suite and guest transportation to and from local airports and rail stations, saving wedding guests the hassle of finding the venue.

Sussex is a large county with a plethora of scenic locations on the coast as well as inland, giving a great choice of suitable venues for the big day. Weddings can be held in extravagantly floral marquees, upscale golf clubs, old manor houses, the ballrooms of former mansions, country clubs, historic house hotels and even castles, many of which are set in areas of outstanding natural beauty with stunning views.

Upmarket weddings in Sussex

For a seriously upscale venue, Midhurst’s Cowdray Park, the home of the millionaires’ sport of polo, offers a Walled Garden retreat with two luxurious reception rooms, although accommodation is in the village. Other offerings include spa hotels, with beauty treatments included in the package if required. Old barns in the grounds of luxury hotels are a popular choice for wedding venues in Sussex and imposing Wadhurst Castle, near the Kent border, offers a variety of venues within the property.

For couples looking for a historic venue, Slaugham Place, the dramatic waterside ruins of a moated Elizabethan manor house, offers a marquee wedding in 12 acres of luscious gardens with stunning views. Medieval, moated Hurstmonceux Castle in East Sussex is set in Elizabethan gardens and is a fairytale location for any bride and groom, with guests entering via an ancient bridge spanning the wide moat.

Easy access from London and Tunbridge Wells characterises the early 18th century Buxted Park Hotel, with its 312 acres of landscaped and wooded grounds, luxury suites with four-poster beds and gourmet cuisine. For Victorian splendour and a sea view as well as wood-panelled walls and antique furnishings, the Renaissance-style Grand Brighton Hotel hogs the centre of the promenade and is known for its wedding packages.

Timeless style

One of the most famous heritage buildings in Sussex is Brighton’s Royal Pavilion, an Asian-style fantasy created between 1787 and 1823 for the Prince Regent, later King George IV. For an unforgettable wedding, the Pavilion’s Historic Red Drawing Room is the place, with the reception provided by approved caterers in either the King William IV Room or the Queen Adelaide Suite.

For a smaller occasion, the 200-year-old George Hotel in the charming Cinque Port town of Rye hosts bespoke weddings in its romantic Georgian ballroom, taking care of all the details. For a more unusual venue, the English Wine Centre’s 17th century Oak Barn hosts the ceremony and offers organic cuisine wherever possible for the reception.

John writes for Elite hotels who offer some of the best Sussex wedding venues at The Grand Eastbourne and Ashdown Park in Sussex

If you ever saw the movie “27 Dresses,” you’ll understand.  So many of the brides in the weddings Jane had been in had chosen dresses for their bridesmaids without any thought as to how they would look on the women themselves.  Some of them looked good on Jane, but others looked absolutely hideous.

The question of course is, how can you choose a style of dress that will suit a range of ages and shapes for your bridesmaids?

It is a fact that a person’s age and body build will have an effect on how they look in certain styles and colors of dresses.  For example, a tight-fitting sheath dress may look awesome on a 22 year old bridesmaid, but show every bulge for the 40 year old matron of honor who has had two children.

Color is another thing that needs to be taken into consideration.  Not everyone looks good in the same colors and shades.  In fact, you may have four bridesmaids, each of which looks good in a different color or shades of the same color.  While a certain shade may be exactly what you want for your color scheme, if it doesn’t look good on the bridesmaids, it will still detract from the overall beauty of the ceremony.

One of the best ways to accommodate all of your bridesmaids is to allow for a little flexibility in the choice of dress style and colors.  There is nothing that says that each of your bridesmaid’s dresses has to be exactly the same color or even the exact same style.

In fact, many companies have a “line” of dresses that have varying hem lengths and dress styles and colors while still having the dress made out of the fabric and having complimentary trim and/or a theme (such as shading or texture) that ties them all together. By taking advantage of these “tied together” lines of dresses, you can choose the dress that will look best on each bridesmaid while still maintaining the integrity of your color scheme.

You can also opt to have your dresses made by hand.  This may cost a little bit more, but you can also be a tremendous way to make sure that each dress fits the bridesmaid instead of making the bridesmaid fit into the dress that you pick.  By having the dresses handmade, the seamstress can fit the dress to the bridesmaid, making adjustments in the style as needed to ensure that it looks great on her!  Sometimes all that is needed are a few tucks or pleats, but sometimes a change to the style itself is needed in order to accommodate a larger or different body shape.  But by having the dresses hand done, you can keep the differences to style at a minimum and still have harmonious lines and looks.

Of course this is your wedding.  You’ve planned and dreamed of this for months, maybe years, and you want everything to be perfect.  However, by allowing for a little flexibility in your bridesmaids dresses you won’t be detracting from the overall beauty of the wedding, but will be improving on it, for you’ll be allowing the inner beauty of each woman standing up with you to shine through.

This article was written by Sarah Rigos, founder of leading online wedding registry website Starlight Registry.