Recession or no recession, you may want to wear designer wedding dresses on your wedding day. And who can blame you? It is your moment of glory, after all, and moments of glory deserve only the finest finery!

With that being said here are the three S of getting your manicured hands on cheap designer wedding dresses.

Sample Sales

When you were a single lady, you probably heard of brides-to-be stampeding into stores in search of the Holy Grail of wedding dresses, designer or not. You probably thought, too, that there is no way on Earth you are going to be one of the masses, figuratively speaking of course.

However, now that you are about to add another ring to your finger, then you need to consider sample sales to save on wedding costs. Simply put, sample sales are events where stores sell their wedding wares at a discount, a hefty discount. This happens about once a year so you need to tap into your network of family and friends to be on the alert for these sales.

Here is how it works: You line up very early in the morning in front of the store. You then join the throngs of brides-to-be who dress and undress themselves in designer wedding dresses at the speed of light. You choose the dress and you pay for it.

Some tips: Go in your bathing suit to save on the hassles of getting into fitting rooms. Bring along a friend to help you with the process. Have an idea of your wedding dress to save time on looking at dresses that you will not like anyway. Most importantly, try to be a size 8 to 10 because that’s usually the largest size available.

Second-Hand Shops

There is absolutely nothing wrong with wearing second-hand designer wedding dresses especially when these are heirlooms. Think vintage and you can become one of the most fashionable brides on the block.

When you buy from second-hand stores, however, always opt for those in upscale neighborhoods for better finds. Or better yet, go to consignment shops. You can usually find better dresses in these stores since they only accept items in perfect and near-perfect conditions, which means more bargains for you.

Be sure to check if you can afford the cost of alterations and repairs since most second-hand shops don’t have return policies. Even if they profess to accept returns, put it in writing.

Sites over the Internet

Yes, the Internet is one of the best ways to save money on designer wedding dresses. Usually, websites will offer lesser prices than brick-and-mortar stores mainly because the profits of the middlemen are eliminated.

And then there are the auction sites like eBay, of course. You must proceed with caution, however, as there are Internet scammers who will not hesitate to rob money from starry-eyed brides like you.

When looking for the perfect designer wedding dresses to make you the glowing bride, you should never settle for less but you must balance it with your finances. Besides, who will know that what you’re wearing is cheap for a designer dress?

BestForBride.com offers the best selections of wedding favours, wedding cakes and affordable designer wedding dresses. Visit them today!

Whether you are the one getting married, are part of the entourage, or simply helping the couple in sending out wedding invitations, you need a few simple tips on the do’s and don’ts of these little cards and envelopes. Since the era of the town crier has long elapsed, then you must learn enough about the trade of modern wedding invitations.

1. Have the final list of guests. Especially for those who are operating on a tight budget, the number of wedding invitations purchased should be equivalent to your number of visitors. At least an estimate will do so in case there will be a few glitches or errors, you are still within the safe range.

If the design of your wedding invitations is one that needs an envelope, then purchase extra envelopes. This is to avoid shortage in case you commit typo errors while addressing them.

2. Use the proper titles. Weddings are sort of a black tie event. Thus, to keep up with the “theme” and to show your guests of your intention of keeping it a formal occasion, you must write their names with the correct titles. Know who should have the following labels: Ms, Mrs, Mr, Dr, Fr, Honorable, etc. There’s nothing worse than giving out wedding invitations that have sloppily written guest names.

3. Get involved in the designing process. Needless to say, you need to be there to sign off designs and font styles and sizes. This is especially true if you are having your wedding invitations printed. Even if you are buying generic and pre-formatted wedding invitations in your local bookstores or bridal shops, you still need to have a say on the design.

4. If you don’t want children in your reception, be polite in saying so. Since you want to imply this fact in your wedding invitations, then you must be prudent with your words. You can either not include their names in the invitation. For instance, you can put in Mr. and Mrs. Smith instead of Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Family.

If you think this would not suffice, then you can place the phrase “adult reception” in your wedding invitations. Spreading out word regarding your preference of not including children in the ceremony is also a good idea.

5. Don’t forget to put the dress code for the occasion. Some weddings are strictly formal, others are not, especially if it’s a garden wedding. For any guest who’s invited to a wedding, his or her first question would always be: what should I wear?

Thus, to make them feel at ease and make them excited about the wedding, inform them what you expect them to be wearing. Surely, they would be more than happy to receive such an additional piece of information.

Wedding invitations are essential part of any wedding ceremony. Without them, the word about an upcoming union of hearts would not be formally announced. Of course, your guests would not be properly informed of your preference to have them grace an important affair of your life because they don’t want to be a gatecrasher either. Thus, since you’re already spending for wedding invitations, then you might as well do it right.

Find wedding dresses in Mississauga, and cheap wedding dresses at that, at BestForBride.com. Need suggestions for wedding invitations designs? We can help you on that too! Visit us for more information.

There are many superstitious beliefs attached to weddings. And this is not only true to the wedding ceremony itself; some superstitions travel as far back as wedding preparation.

Yes, you can claim to be a 21st-century individual and you can contend that superstitions would no longer apply these days. However, your parents, your groom’s parents, and your grandparents will never run out of reminders regarding these beliefs — however crazy they may sound when put in today’s context.

Here are a few superstitions about weddings in general and wedding dresses in particular. And by their nature, these beliefs may or may not have explanations. Let’s revisit some of them.

1. It is said that it is unlucky for a bride to make her own wedding dress. While this may come as a very attractive idea to hit up on those savings, you might want to think again.

However, borrowed wedding dresses are lucky — for you, at least. Seriously though, would you ever allow someone to borrow your wedding dress? A keepsake of one of the most important days of your life? Well, this whole wedding-dress-practice is mostly seen among mother-daughter or grandmother-grandchild relationships. In these cases, wedding dresses can be labelled as sort of an heirloom.

2. Worried about the weather? Well, when it rains during your wedding day, you don’t actually have to panic. Many cultures consider it as lucky because the pouring rain signifies blessings –the heavier the downpour, the more blessings for you and your husband!

The worrisome part comes in because of the fact that no one would feel comfortable wearing wet and dirty wedding dresses. This issue would be more pronounced especially if you are having a garden wedding!

3. “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.” Ever wondered what this famous phrase is for? A new bride should have some “things” old, new, borrowed and blue. But there’s actually another phrase that’s been deleted, and this is: sixpence for my shoe. What do all these mean?

“Old” symbolizes the bride’s life before the wedding; “new” is symbolical of new beginnings; “borrowed” is all about luck — especially when such an item is borrowed from another bride; “blue” actually represents the color of pre-Victorian wedding dresses. Lastly, “sixpence for my shoe” denotes wealth and financial stability.

4. In some Asian cultures, in the Philippines for example, wedding dresses should only be worn on the wedding day itself. Otherwise, something bad will happen and the wedding will not push through. With such a belief, the need for proper fitting and careful measurements are paramount. Imagine wearing a wedding dress that’s inches bigger than you!

Despite the modernity of our times, some superstitions still survive. In fact, they are practiced still. It may be sound unscientific if you believe and practice what superstition says about weddings and wedding dresses. However, there’s no harm in abiding by them right? You will not lose anything.

On the other side, if you completely ignore what the “oldies” believe to be true, you might feel guilty and you may become anxious. Of course, when something bad happens, your parents, or grandparents would then blame you for not believing in superstition.

Therefore, to make everyone happy, why not accept these superstitious beliefs as they are? This way, you can dress for the occasion, and for tradition.

Where can you find a better selection of wedding dresses than in our online bridal store? BestForBride.com is an online bridal shop that caters to your every wedding planning need.

There’s no stopping the Internet. This powerful and modern fountain of information could even be of service to you if you are planning and preparing for your wedding and looking for an online bridal store.

Yes, weddings are special moments and it is but proper that you deal with the planning stage with careful and meticulous eyes. As such, you need the services of a bridal shop that has a physical presence. But who says that an online bridal store cannot do this task as dutifully as your local shops? In fact, online bridal shops have advantages over the traditional wedding stores located within your vicinity.

Let’s take a look at some of them.

No Need for Tedious Shortlisting

With an online bridal store, you can accomplish a lot of tasks in no time. And the better part is, you don’t have to physically hop from one shop to another just so you can get what you want. You don’t even have to spend for transportation or lunch because your feet grew tired of walking.

If you employ the services of an online bridal store, you can view numerous selections of wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses and even wedding favours in less than an hour.

You may contend that some things would look different on photos and in real “life.” Yes, this is true but you could always use an online bridal store in doing your shortlist. You don’t have to decide on what wedding dress to choose by merely looking at pictures. This internet-based service is there to cut the selection process short, and an online bridal store can do this job effectively.

No Need to Deal with Physical Stress

Needless to say, some of the stress associated with wedding preparation has to do with the physical aspect. You need to visit a number of shops and malls just so you will find what you are looking for. With an online bridal store, however, you don’t have to do this.

In addition, if you are someone who is not comfortable with face-to-face interactions, then you could truly make use of an online bridal store. This service merely requires a few exchanges of emails, some chat or a number of phone calls, at most. Therefore, you can do away with physical stress all in all.

No geographical limit

The beauty of employing the services of an online bridal store comes with no limits. In this sense, you are not bounded by geographical limitations, weather conditions, or even language barrier. With an online bridal store, you can take advantage of the wedding dress designs of the whole world.

Imagine using your local bridal shop and then find yourself being told that only their other branch — located on the other side of the world — has the design that you want. If you use an online bridal store, however, this would not happen to you. You simply have to order it from another online provider, and viola, you will get what you want in no time!

Sometimes, using the Internet is way better than doing it the traditional means. And sometimes, using an online bridal store would prove to be more efficient and less costly — this is especially true when your specs are not that common, and you don’t have the luxury of time to plan for the wedding.

Best For Bride is an online bridal store that provides you with great designs on wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses. Visit us now.

Looking for the perfect store to shop for your wedding necessities, such as bridesmaid dresses, mother of the bride dresses, and of course, your wedding gown, is not easy. You could always choose to go searching for those items the traditional way, i.e. hopping from one shop to another. Or, you could make use of the Internet to make your job easier.

But from thousands of online bridal shops, how do you know which one to choose? How do you ensure that you did the right thing in choosing a particular online bridal shop?

Well, make this task handy by taking the following suggestions:

1. Get Referrals

As with anything else, the referral system is one of the best ways in properly choosing an online bridal shop. If you know of people who have done the same thing, ask them. They would be more than willing to share what they know about online bridal stores.

If, however, you don’t have friends and other close acquaintances that have been into the same endeavor, then let the Internet do the talking. Surely, the websites of these online bridal shops have promoted themselves through customer feedback.

Sometimes, however, relying on customer testimonials alone is not that objective since normally, no online bridal shop would put in negative feedback on its site. That would be negative advertising for them.

Don’t worry though as there are a number of wedding forums available. Still using the internet, you can search for reputable wedding forums, sign up and ask for the best online bridal shops. Surely, they will have various responses but if you are just patient enough, then you’ll find yourself dialling the number of the best online bridal shop in no time.

2. Go for Functionality

Online bridal shops differ from each other according to their flagship products or services. While most of them promote wedding dresses, some actually focus on other wedding items, such as wedding favours and wedding invitations.

Therefore, when choosing your online bridal shop, get the one that can properly address your need. For instance, if you are letting a celebrity designer in your locality to make your wedding gown, then don’t look for online bridal shops that specialize on wedding dresses.

3. Get an easy-to-remember name

Most of the time, online bridal shop names are easy enough to remember. After all, that is their way of landing themselves on top of the page ranks. Therefore, take advantage of this marketing strategy. Online bridal shops that have the URL’s of “onlinebridalshop”, the “bridalshop” and “shopofbrides” are stores that would easily retain on your memory. Choose them.

Thanks to the Internet, you don’t have to go from one shop to another, spend at least three hours in every shop and go from one state to another just so you’ll find the perfect wedding items that you need. The Internet is truly a wonder.

And since every modern individual would take advantage of modernity, get into the groove as well. There’s barely nothing that the Internet cannot do. Therefore, make use of it. Hire the services of an online bridal shop now.

Our online bridal shop can give you the most fabulous designs of bridesmaid dresses and mother of the bride dresses. Visit Best For Bride.com today.

As bad as it may sound, sometimes, things would not really go your way. Sometimes, things would not come out according to planned. This is especially stressful and nerve-racking when this happens during your wedding.

What do you do when days before the big day, your supplier for your wedding favours tells you that they cannot deliver your orders on time? Or worse, what would you do if upon follow-up, you get the response: “I’m sorry madamme, but I’ afraid that we don’t have a record of your order.”

Of course, your initial reaction would be to burst into flames. While it is rational to have an emotional outburst and probably file an official complaint to the representative that has handled you, there’s another side of this story that needs to be taken care of as well, and fast!

Yes, you need to have a backup plan. You need to come up with emergency wedding favours! Nobody would blame you if you don’t have wedding favours to distribute during your big day but you definitely would not want this possibility to even surface. Thus, you need to gather yourself and be in the game of planning again — this time, focusing on wedding favours.

Here are a few ideas:

DVD’s

This is something that is personalized and easy to come by. You can distribute DVD copies of the highlights of your life as a couple. Of course, you can also put in baby pictures of you and your groom, and some basic wedding details, such as the venue, date.

Giving DVD’s as wedding favours is also convenient. You don’t even have to contact a professional just so these will be reproduced. As long as you have a laptop, some blank DVD’s and a printer, then you’re good to go. This type of wedding keepsake is truly a do-it-yourself item.

Scented Candles

Yes, you may rant at how common and how ordinary scented candles as wedding favours are. However, if you just put in a dash of creativity into these candles, then it would look like these simple items were not really your second choice after all.

You can even buy these little babies in bulk in your favorite department store so you don’t have to deal with another supplier. After which, you can hire the services of a candle expert so he/she can then put a creative touch into these. In a matter of days, these common mall displays will cease to become ordinary and will be transformed into great wedding favours.

Porcelain Figurines

There are little shops in the malls that sell cute figurines of various designs — bride-and-groom, dolphins, cakes, flowers. Name it, they have it. All you have to do is pick a design and print little tags. These tags would then bear your names (yours and your husband’s, of course) and the date of your wedding. Viola, you have come up with fast but effective wedding favours!

Yes, it would have been better if things ran according to planned so you don’t have to be forced to deal with an emergency situation. But, if bad luck comes to you, then you don’t fret. You use that opportunity to turn things around and make the most out of the situation, especially if that happens on the most important day of your life, your wedding day!

Wedding planning, especially when you really take charge of the endeavor, could really take its toll on you especially when you don’t have time as your ally. Sometimes, you find yourself running out of fresh ideas on wedding themes, flower arrangements, wedding favors and even reception venues. When this happens, pushing yourself hard and forcing your brain cells to work is actually a bad idea.

So, when you find yourself not being in the mood to think about favor ideas, what do you do? How do you ensure that you still get to prepare everything on time? Here are a few suggestions.

Take a Break

Just when you think it is impossible for you to take a break from all that’s related to planning, that’s exactly when you should do it. The human brain can only take so much. Your body, including your brain most especially, has constraints. It has its own mechanisms in telling you that it needs to recharge. You must listen to this.

When you think that you go on circles and cannot seem to move forward, then it doesn’t hurt to close your eyes for a while. Perhaps, you can even take a walk and keep your mind off the planning, especially on scouting for favor ideas. If you want, you can even watch a movie or read a book. These will help you regain some of your creative juices.

Refer to your Wedding Theme

When you feel like “thinking” again, then the first thing that you have to remember in deciding on favor ideas is your wedding theme. If you are into a garden wedding, for instance, then you can toy around flowers, flower-shaped candles and other cute garden items. You can always make use of the internet for things that would relate to your chosen wedding motif.

Make a Survey

No, you don’t have to really create a questionnaire, subject it to sophisticated statistical treatment and standardize it before you can run it. You simply have to make use of your friends and other close acquaintances to help you come up with great favor ideas. You’d be surprised to know that they too have unique items on their list, in preparation perhaps for their own weddings.

Hire a Wedding Planner

Well, if all things fail, then you don’t really have to force yourself to produce those unique favor ideas. This is the time when you have to consider hiring “outside help.” After all, “you cannot see how thick the fog is when you’re inside it.” Wedding planners can surely help bring in fresh favor ideas.

Coming up with great favor ideas may look easy — but it may not always be so in reality. The human brain requires you to have a fresh, open and happy perspective for you to be truly proud of the wedding favor ideas that you have thought of. When the brain is stressed or anxious, creativity oftentimes eludes you.

It is therefore important that even while still planning your wedding, you’ve already learned to relax and not be too controlling about it. Once you’ve done this, handling the stress and anxiety during your actual wedding day would only seem like a mosquito bite.

However way you spell them: wedding favors or wedding favours, these little keepsakes would really mean much to your guests. Therefore, make sure that you have the freshest favor ideas. Visit Wedding-Favor.ca and be awed with some fabulous finds!

Did you know that in ancient times, the task of informing guests regarding the details of an upcoming wedding is not done through wedding invitations? Yes, back when paper and stationery sets are not yet invented, spreading the word about tying-of-the-knot events were done using different means.

The Town Crier

When the printing press was not yet in existence, weddings are announced using a Town Crier. Typically, he is a gentleman with a loud voice and who roams around town to inform everyone about an upcoming wedding. Basically, everyone who has heard about such an announcement is invited to the wedding. In other words, one’s sense of hearing is a guest’s wedding invitation.

Calligraphy

Then during the medieval era, illiteracy was rampant. Because most people cannot read and write, the use of wedding invitations was only limited to the members of the nobility and to the affluent. Wedding invitations are done by using the services of monks and other people who are skilled in the art of calligraphy.

Because only the rich and affluent could afford the services of these skilled professionals, those in the lower and middle class had to make do of the town criers still.

Engraving

When engraving was invented in 1642, quality wedding invitations became accessible to the middle class. Engraving here means handwriting the text in reverse to any metallic object with the use of a carving tool. This engraved metal is then used to mass-print the wedding invitations.

Perhaps, this became the roots of mass wedding invitations that you see today.

“Double Envelopes”

When wedding invitations were to be hand delivered by a “horseman,” the possibility of damage is high. This gave rise to the idea of putting wedding invitations in two envelopes in order to protect these precious papers. Today, you can still see invitations placed in double envelopes because these are still to be sent to other parts of the world using a courier service provider. Of course, if you are the bride, you don’t want your guests receiving dilapidated and crumpled bits of paper.

The Modern Means

After the World War II, the use of “fine wedding stationery” came about. This then led to how you see wedding invitations today. This was also coupled with a number of different printing techniques including thermography, letterpress printing and laser printing. The third is promoted by many wedding experts because it is said to be the least expensive printing method.

You see, as with the other aspects in a wedding ceremony preparation, wedding invitations have also evolved. It has travelled from being a lowly auditory function to an elaborate written material that features different font types, styles, colors, sizes, and even scents.

You can see that even before, when the world still lacked a touch of modernity, the task of spreading the word about weddings was still carried out. You can see that people have used their creativity and ingenuity in making special announcements.

Today, however, you can still make use of that creativity – but not anymore in how the prehistoric people handled it. Creativity can be poured in your unique design of wedding invitations.

The history of wedding cakes and the tradition attached to them are rich. Before wedding cakes came to be what they are now, they’ve passed a lot of stages, all of which are equally interesting and intriguing.

During the Roman times, the concept of elaborate wedding cake decorations and icings was not yet a reality. For instance, the groom is supposed to eat part of the wedding loaf. He would then break the remaining portion and it must be broken over the bride’s head. This symbolizes the groom’s dominance over the bride. This tradition, however, has long been eradicated possibly because of its chauvinistic implications.

Also, in the olden times, small cakes (more like today’s cupcakes) are stacked to form the wedding cakes. The notion of a white wedding cake is also very popular and was connected to affluence. Because ingredients used to make up the white icing are hard to come by, only those who can afford to travel to other places just to get hold of these cake “materials” can come up with white wedding cakes.

Interestingly, in the 17th century, the idea of sleeping on a piece of cake became very popular. They say that if you put a piece of the wedding cake underneath your pillow, you will dream about your future spouse. In the 18th century, this tradition on wedding cakes evolved into the brides passing tiny cake crumbs through their wedding rings. These crumbs are then placed underneath the pillows.

Later on, the traditional wedding cake slicing that we see today came about. The bride, with the help of the groom, creates two slices, and together, they eat that part of the cake. As this is the first task that that the couple does together, this act symbolizes their never-ending promise of supporting each other for the rest of their married life.

Then came the multi-layered and elaborately designed cakes of many colors that we see today. Wedding cakes are not only white in color; today, the couple can experiment with different colors, usually making it consistent with the theme and the motif of the wedding.

Still, another interesting fact about this tradition is that the couple tries to save the topmost tier of their wedding cakes. They preserve and freeze it for use during their first anniversary. But you don’t get to see this anymore today as the elaborate decorations make the cake more vulnerable.

What proved to be a traditional and simple creation of cakes — or loaves of bread as in the olden times — now became a design extravaganza. Numerous cake and pastry houses specialize on the design of wedding cakes. The internet even has a wide selection of wedding cakes.

In conclusion, just like the wedding ceremony itself, the history and tradition of wedding cakes have come a long way. Some practices have long been eradicated while others survived the test of time and modernity.

If you prefer a traditional wedding, then you’d surely insert some of the practices that survived in the ceremony and at the reception. Otherwise, you can skip these and just go directly to the sole purpose of the occasion. The most important thing however, is that you’ve respected the solemnity of the event and the importance of this sacrament.

BestForBride.com is all about weddings – from wedding favours to designer wedding dresses and wedding cakes. Visit us today.

Yes, it’s the fault of the magazines and fashion shows. They always feature slim, skinny and Miss-Body-Beautiful ladies as the bride. However, this is not always the case. What if you are not that gifted in terms of body size? What if you are not slim? Don’t you have the chance to look fabulous on your wedding day anymore?

Of course you do! Thank goodness for shops that feature and sell plus size wedding dresses! Yes, you read it right, there are bridal boutiques that take pride in making women who are not that skinny and not that slim look fabulous on the most important day of their lives. There are bridal shops that specialize on plus size wedding dresses.

But how do you know that you’ve done everything you can just so you can take the full benefit of plus size wedding dresses? Here’s how.

You’ve Considered your Body Type

Women differ not only in terms of weight but also in terms of body type. Look at yourself and assess. There are bodies that are just “too voluptuous” while others are cone-shaped. Still, others are shaped like a pear.

Once you’ve identified your specific body type, then it would be easier for you to select from many styles of plus size wedding dresses. There are specific styles appropriate for each type of figure.

Better yet, to make your trip to your bridal shop more efficient, research in advance the style that you want. The Internet is a rich source of plus size wedding dresses that fit every body type. Also, your couturier could give you all the help that you need in coming up with a fabulous wedding dress.

In relation to body type is height. Make sure that in choosing from among many plus size wedding dresses, you’ve considered how the dress would score against your height. Remember, if you are not that tall, you must avoid floor-sweeping gowns. You should carry the gown, not the other way around.

You’ve Considered Simplicity

Wedding dresses have the license to bear frills and ribbons. These accents are best for slim and skinny women. However, these decorative indulgences are a no-no for plus size wedding dresses. Rather than making the wearer look more fabulous, these extras would add weight to plus size women.

The best plus size wedding dresses are the simplest ones. You just need to know your asset so you would know what part of your body to emphasize. The others could then be well concealed by stylish layers of clothing.

You’ve Considered Comfort

Needless to say comfort should be among your primary criteria in choosing your bridal gown. In your effort to look slim, you may choose a gown with a corset bodice. But this might create inconvenience for you come eating time. Thus, to make you look more fabulous on your wedding day, consider plus size wedding dresses that let you walk, eat and dance comfortably.

Every woman should have a shot at her own happy ending — regardless of size. Thanks to plus size wedding dresses, even women who are not that slim can still look great on the most important day of her life, her wedding day!