The 7 Most Helpful Wedding Apps

Planning a wedding is a huge job. With all the decisions to make, moving pieces to coordinate, and vendors to schedule, it’s a minor miracle when everything goes smoothly. Fortunately, in the year of our Lord 2015, you carry a wedding planner in your pocket: your smartphone! Here are a few apps that can help make your wedding run smoothly.

iDoo

Don’t let the vaguely scatological name fool you; this app packs plenty of wedding planning punch. You can create budgets, search for vendors, and even create seating charts, all with this one app. It also comes with an inspiration section to help you visualize how your big day will look.

Wedding Budget

Keep on top of all your wedding expenses with this little powerhouse. It lets you allocate funds to everything from the bachelor party to the reception, and then lets you keep track of expenses. It’ll even generate pie charts so you can see at a glance how you’re doing. If you’re trying to keep your wedding on budget, this app is one of the best tools out there.

Zola Registry

Kick your registry up a notch with this app. It pulls together registries from various stores into one master list, and then allows you to scan in new items using barcodes and your smartphone’s camera. You can even set up a honeymoon or charitable fund your guests can contribute to in lieu of gifts.

Appy Couple

How many times have you received a wedding invitation and somehow lost it before the ceremony? If you’re like us, you’ve been late to at least one wedding while you frantically call other guests to find when and where the ceremony is. Appy Couple can help! It allows you to make a customized app for your wedding that guests can download. Process RSVPs, give directions and registry information, all the stuff that a paper invitation does, only much harder for your guests to lose.

Fun Wedding

Are you going to DJ your own wedding, but are worried that you won’t be able to keep the party rocking? Fun Wedding will help you pick the perfect tunes for every demographic at your wedding, from millennials to senior citizens. Get inspiration with lists of the most requested wedding songs, Billboard top 100 lists, and more.

The Knot Wedding Planner

There’s no wedding blog quite like the Knot, and there’s no wedding planner quite like the Knot Wedding Planner app. It’ll help with inspiration and ideas, give you checklists to fill out to make sure nothing gets left out, help you connect with vendors and manage your budget, and more.

Wedding Party

This app is the digital equivalent of giving each guest a disposable camera to capture candid shots, but without the rounding up cameras and paying for developing. You can set an event name and guests can upload their photos on the timeline. When someone wants to see your wedding photos, you’ll have them all in one place!

If you’re stressing about planning your wedding, pull out your phone and check out some of these apps. If you download a couple of them, you’ll be able to organize your wedding without losing your mind or nostalgia.

Wedding Dress Maintenance Tips

Maintaining your wedding dress is something that you will want to do after your wedding. There are certain steps that you need to take in order to preserve your dress and the quality of it.

The process should start before your wedding day even arrives. When you purchase your wedding dress it is best to send it for a professional cleaning. It will look more beautiful on your wedding day if you do and it will prevent fading before you wear it.

Between the time you purchase your wedding dress and the day you get married it is important to store it properly. In addition to keeping it clean and free of stains storing it properly will also keep it bright white as well. Keep your wedding dress in a storage bag in your closet until one to two days before your wedding. The closet needs to be dark and cool in order to preserve and maintain your wedding dress properly otherwise the color could change unexpectedly.

Within 24 to 48 hours of your wedding you will want to remove your dress from storage and check it for stains. They can be spot cleaned by making a cleaner out of laundry detergent and some warm water. Once you have mixed the cleaner, dip an old toothbrush into it and gently run the toothbrush over the stain.

While this is one method of cleaning a wedding dress involves getting it wet, there are alternative cleaning options that don’t involve getting your dress wet. This is when your dress is spot cleaned professionally and then sent to a dry cleaner.

You will need to be mindful of maintaining your dress even during your wedding. It is important to avoid eating or drinking anything at your reception that could run your dress if you spill it. Be especially careful if you are drinking red wine because this type of stain is extremely difficult to remove from fabric.

Following your wedding day you will need a proper box to store your dress in. Your dress should be dry cleaned as soon as possible after your wedding and placed into storage. If you don’t have the time or desire to take your dress to the cleaners you also have the option of ordering a wedding dress preservation kit. These kits are mailed to you, along with a pre-paid label that allows you to send them your dress and receive it cleaned and preserved anywhere from six to eight weeks later.

It is crucial for your wedding dress to be stored in an acid free package. Muslin or acid free paper is used to wrap up your dress for maintenance purposes. You may opt to store your dress in a box that has a clear panel on the front, allowing you to see the surface of the dress without having to take it out of the box.

These are the steps you need to take in order to preserve your wedding dress and keep it looking fresh, new, and clean forever. Your wedding dress is an important part of your personal history, so making sure it’s preserved and maintained properly will ensure that you can hand it down and cherish it for many years to come.

Traditional Wedding Foods from Around the World

If you don’t count the multi-tiered cake, there aren’t many foods associated with a traditional North American wedding. Usually you have a choice of chicken or steak and some dinner rolls and call it good. So when you’re planning your festivities, feel free to borrow some of these delicious traditional wedding foods from around the globe. Whether you’re planning your rehearsal dinner or want something interesting for the main course at your wedding, these delicious options are sure to get your guests talking.

Germany: Hochzeitssuppe

This traditional German soup is a simple clear broth with miniature meatballs and vegetables. Though it looks like a pretty straightforward dish, some traditional recipes call for it to cook for five hours, but there are recipes that rein that in to a more manageable 90 minutes. The trick is to prepare each part of the soup separately, and then combine it into bowls right before it’s to be served. That way the meatballs and vegetables don’t fall apart like they would if they were boiled with the broth.

China: Whole Peking Duck

Imagine lifting the lid off your serving dish at your wedding banquet and finding a whole rusted duck, complete with head and feet! It’s a traditional wedding dish in China, and thought it may seem strange, the dish has a lot of symbolism associated with it. The fully intact duck symbolizes the completeness of married life, and the meat is red, which is a color associated with good luck. Even the choice of animal is symbolic: ducks mate for life, so they make a good culinary mascot for the wedding day.

Brazil: Casadinhos

At weddings in Brazil, guests are served individually wrapped sandwich cookies called casadinhos, which means “married” in Portuguese. They’re soft cookies sandwiched around marmalade or cream, then tied up in paper and string tied in a bow. The little wrapped packages are called “bem casados,” meaning “well married,” and symbolize the joining together of the bride and groom. These make great appetizers for your wedding reception or even a late night snack.

Mexico: Birria

The traditional dish at many Mexican weddings is birria, a stew made with goat meat, which is rumored to be an aphrodisiac. It can also be made with beef, pork, or even iguana, depending on what’s handy. It’s traditionally prepared by baking the meat in a clay pot for hours under burning coals. If you’re not into digging a pit in the backyard to make the dish, there’s a recipe that you can make in your own oven.

Sweden: Prinsesstårta

If you’ve ever been to the cafeteria at Ikea, you’ve seen a miniature version of the Princess Cake served at Swiss weddings. It’s a dome-shaped confection made of layers of cake with filling between, covered with a marzipan seal. It’s traditionally colored a bright spring green to be the highlight of a festive reception.

Granted, there are plenty of delicious North American offerings for a wedding reception. You can go with comfort food, like mac ‘n’ cheese and burgers, or haute cuisine like filet mignon. But if you’re feeling a little adventurous planning your reception menu, consider including one of these global delicacies. After all, what sounds more exciting: “chicken or fish” or “birria or hochzeitsuppe?”

Choosing a Wedding Handbag

The handbag you carry on your wedding day should only be big enough for the few things you will need. For most women this means purchasing a new handbag for their wedding day.

The first step in choosing your wedding handbag is to find one you are comfortable with. A clutch is the typical choice, but many women avoid this type of handbag because it doesn’t usually come with a strap, and holding the clutch all day can become cumbersome. If you must have a clutch, try to find one that has an optional shoulder or wrist strap that can be attached and detached at will.

Depending on your priorities it may be important to you to have your wedding handbag match your shoes. Since most brides wear white shoes, this can be easy to do. However, in the event that you want colored shoes, consider purchasing both shoes and a handbag that can be dyed the same color. Note that you will need your handbag and shoes to have the same texture if you want everything to match.

Not all brides insist on having their shoes and their bag match, so if you really want to make a splash on your wedding day the color of your handbag can be a contrast to the color of your shoes or any other part of your outfit. A sheen or metallic bag can add some more excitement to your wedding dress.

If a plain colored bag isn’t your style, considering purchasing a wedding day handbag in a floral pattern. This is especially common among brides getting married during the summer or in a tropical location.

An out of the box idea for your wedding day handbag is a hard case box clutch. This has become a very trendy bag to carry whether it is your wedding day or not. Softer material isn’t good for a wedding handbag because the items in the bag will likely make it look overloaded and bulky. Using a handbag with a hard case on the outside is the best way to make your wedding day more elegant. Straw clutches are also becoming a popular choice and can be used as a wedding day handbag if you choose.

For a timeless classic, you can’t go wrong with a handbag adorned with pearls, either real or fake. Any Mother of Pearl handbag makes it one that will enhance how you feel about yourself on your wedding day. It is also an investment in your future as you will likely be able to hand that bag down to your daughter, daughter in law or granddaughter someday.

Beaded and embroidered bags are also a great choice for a wedding handbag. Since most evening bags are beaded and embroidered it is the perfect choice for a nighttime wedding and reception.

As long as your wedding handbag is a help and not a hindrance on your big day, choosing the one you want is a personal decision to make. Style is everything at your wedding, so focus on finding a look that matches the rest of your dress and accessories and you should be in business.

DIY Sparkler Holder Templates

Buying sparkler holders for your upcoming wedding can be quite a challenge, especially if you are planning to use a specific set of colors or a general theme. Fortunately, you can make your own wedding sparkler holders in a huge variety of colors without having to pay someone else to do it! I found this great Instructable that allows you to download a template of your choice, print them out, cut them to size, and insert your own wedding sparklers. Here’s a picture of what you can expect:

They provide a link to several different patterns and colors in this tutorial, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding a template that suits your needs. You could always shop for sparkler holders on Etsy, but it’s so much cheaper to do them yourself; plus it can be a fun activity at your wedding shower!

4 Lovely “Something Blue” Items

No matter what style of wedding dress or colors you choose, adding “something blue” to your outfit can be a little trickier than you think. Most brides aren’t taking into consideration the use of something blue when they pick out their wedding dress and accessories, so when it comes time to add it to the mix it can be a really tough situation. Fortunately, there are some ways to incorporate something blue into your wedding outfit that will not only blend well; it will make a bold statement to those who pay attention. Here are four of my favorite ways to add something blue to your ensemble.

Shoes

Adding some blue to your wedding outfit utilizing your shoes is a great way to camouflage it into the mix. Most wedding dresses are long enough to obscure your shoes from view for most of the wedding, so the blue won’t stick out like a sore thumb as you say your vows. Also, since shoes are sort of a separate fashion piece all together, choosing a bold color such as blue can add depth and contrast to your wedding outfit; and that is never a bad thing.

 

Jewelry

Jewelry is another subtle way to add blue to your wedding day ensemble because you can choose blue stones that don’t stand out too much. Whether you wear blue in your earrings, a broach, your necklace, or in your tiara, chances are that most people won’t even see that the stones are blue. There are many lovely blue gemstones and jewels from which to choose including aquamarine, tanzanite, or even blue diamonds if you have access to such a lovely piece of jewelry.

Flowers

Adding some blue flowers to your wedding bouquet is a great way to show off the color without making it too overbearing in your outfit. Wedding bouquets are often a variety of different colors, adding some splashes of blue can be a nice touch to the overall look. You can add hydrangeas, orchids, or roses that are all tinted blue for a dazzling addition to your bouquet that won’t steal the show but add to the beauty.

Dress

Lastly, the boldest option that you have to add something blue to your outfit is to buy a blue wedding dress. Most brides who go this route will choose a lighter shade like baby blue, but there really aren’t any rules so you can choose whatever shade you like. It should go without saying that wearing a blue wedding dress is not for every bride, but if you choose this option there will be no question that you are wearing “something blue” on your wedding day.

Where to Buy Wedding Sparklers in Mississippi

Planning to have your wedding in Mississippi can be a wonderful experience, and there is a lot of southern charm to be had in the Magnolia State. From beautiful rolling hills filled with trees to the Gulf Coast, Mississippi has something to offer to any couple. Though you won’t find any of America’s largest cities or densest population, it doesn’t stop Mississippi from being among the top wedding destinations in the United States.

If you are a couple who is seeking a rustic or country themed wedding that is authentic and full of culture, Mississippi should be on the top of your list. On the other hand, Mississippi’s Gulf Coast offers some of the most beautiful beaches and pristine waters in North America, so you can also have a fantastic beach wedding if you desire. Everywhere you look, there is something wonderful going on in Mississippi and that’s exactly why so many couples flock there each year to get hitched.

On top of having so many wonderful places to get married, Mississippi also has some of the most lenient rules in the country surrounding fireworks. This is great news for couples who want a fireworks show or even just a few wedding sparklers at their celebration because more and more states are putting up restrictions these days. Mississippi is not one of those states, so you won’t need to worry about finding what you need when you arrive for your wedding.

Mississippi Fireworks Laws

As I said before, there are very few restrictions in Mississippi when it comes to fireworks; some may even argue too few. If you take a moment to review the Mississippi fireworks laws, you’ll see that almost any firework you could imagine is legal to purchase and use. This is great news, however, for couples wondering where to buy wedding sparklers in Mississippi since they are the least regulated firework in the country. The only fireworks that are specifically prohibited are cherry bombs, tubular salutes, repeating bombs, aerial bombs, and torpedoes, and if you know what any of those are then you understand why they are banned. Items like wedding sparklers are very easy to come by since they sell sparklers and other small novelties at pretty much every gas station.

Probably the most shocking fact about the laws surrounding fireworks in Mississippi is that you only need to be 12 years old to purchase them. While that may seem crazy to some, children in Mississippi are raised to respect fireworks and learn how to safely use them at a very young age. Believe it or not, Mississippi has one of the fewest numbers of injuries from fireworks per year, and that is a statistic to be proud of.

Buying Fireworks in Mississippi

Though nearly every firework is legal in Mississippi, buying them during certain parts of the year can be a bit of a challenge. Fireworks are only legal to sell from June 15-July 5 and December 5-January 2 to celebrate the 4th of July and New Year’s, but you can actually use them all year long. This can be a little challenging for couples wondering where to buy wedding sparkler in Mississippi during other parts of the year. Fortunately, sparklers aren’t included in the selling bans. If you can’t find any sparklers near your wedding venue in Mississippi, you can always shop online and have them shipped to your hotel.