Mum's the Word

No no, not "mum's the word" as in "silence" - "mum's the word" as in I immediately thought of my mother's wedding dress when I saw Kate Middleton's this morning! Check out the similarities.

(Photo courtesy of Getty Images, Glamour.)

Beautiful lace and a gorgeous, respectful neckline!

The new Duchess of Cambridge's dress was designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen. It's said she chose the brand Alexander McQueen for the "beauty of its craftsmanship and its respect for traditional workmanship and the technical construction of clothing." She hoped her dress would combine a traditional and modern look, which makes sense as the UK is a country that loves their history and she knew millions would be anticipating the statement she would be making in her dress.

Of course, we all recognize the statement Princess Diana made in the 25ft train that she wore so elegantly.


An intersting fact about Queen Elizabeth's wedding dress is that it had to be made of material obtained using ration coupons, since Britain was still recovering from WWII. Here she is on her wedding day in 1947 as well as her admiring her wedding gown, along side the Duke of Edinburgh's naval uniform, that had a 13ft embellished train.

(Press Association, AP)

(Yonhap, AP)

A few other photos that caught my eye!

(Warren Allott, Reuters)

Sweet moments with her dad.

(Dominic Lipinsky, AP)

The Royal couple wed at Westminster Abbey. I have read that a more traditional location for Royal weddings is the Chapel Royal at St. James Palace - either way, a location near London is ideal, so that the mass public can partake in the rare day! 600,000 people filled the streets the day of Prince Charles and Princess Diana's wedding in 1981.

Now, the part that I actually got to watch live! Police officers were lined in front of the crowds of people as they lead them near Buckingham Palace to see Prince William and his bride to appear on the balcony for the first time as newlyweds.

(Darren Staples, Reuters)

The kiss they all chanted for. I just had to post this picture - look at the munchkin in the bottom left, Grace Van Cutsem!

With every wedding I have either planned or coordinated, I always shed a little tear at some point during the ceremony. As I was getting ready for work this morning, I did get a little teary eyed when I saw this kiss. Funny, as I wasn't expecting that at all! Guess that goes to show how much I love weddings and everything that they symbolize.



Love this similar photo nearly 30 years earlier of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

(Oil Scarff, Reuters)

(Alastair Grant, AP)

I can only image the details that went into the Royal wedding. I was excited to find a few images of the cake!

(Getty Images, Glamour)

(Getty Images, Glamour)

The cake was made by Fiona Cairns, who is known for her luxury cakes.

Whether you were someone like me who was excited about Prince William and Kate's wedding or weren't, it's a wedding, or day rather, that made history!

(Martin Meissner, AP)

Social Media's Influence on Weddings

So we all know how quickly social media changed our culture - through Facebook's amazing connectivity and Twitter's breaking news platform - the list can just go on and on. It's changed the way we interact, engage and share information with one another. But, how has it influenced the wedding industry?

First, there were the wedding websites. Today, they are on every save-the-date and in every bride's bookmarks tab. It's a great way to share the engagement story, give fun details about each person in the wedding party, list the date and ceremony time for the person who forgot to pack their invitation (and of course, info on the registry)!

However, things have grown from there. Brides are posting minor and major updates for all to see - "trial hair today," "found my dress," hashtag this, hashtag that, and of course the infamous countdown until the wedding day. Along with posting updates, brides are asking questions - "what's the best band in town?" or "what florist would you recommend?" This is very important for wedding vendors to recognize (and embrace) as word of mouth has grown exponentially.

One of the best things to do regarding social media is to listen. It's not all about pushing information out. It's about taking advantage of what you have right at your finger tips! It's about listening to and engaging with the vast amount of resources you have in front of you. Take the "what's the best band in town?" post, this can be a huge time saver for brides. It has just reduced the amount of time brides have to spend researching. It's taking the necessity to "Google it" out of the picture. In June of 2010, Facebook saw 5x more pageviews than Google did. Impressive.

And since we are on the research topic, how about the amount of blogs that have a presence on Facebook? My top two favorites to follow are Green Wedding Shoes and Style Me Pretty. Again, the need to research is just not as high. As I am perusing through my news feed, I am constantly getting trendy tips and ideas from such pages. Another great place to get ideas and inspiration are from the photos shared through social media outlets. For example, I was able to use pictures posted on Facebook from a friends outdoor wedding in Colorado to get some inspiration for my sister's ranch wedding in Texas!

Another common way that I am seeing Facebook being used as a time saving tool is to collect addresses. There are more than 500 million Facebook users and over 50% of them log into Facebook on any given day; therefore, you have a pretty good chance that that includes your friends and that they'll respond to your message, sending their address pronto!

Now I do have to have be honest and say there is one thing that I am not a fan of in regards to this movement. And that's collecting RSVPs online! Now, it saves money by eliminating the need to print response cards and purchase postage and is extremely convenient for all parties involved; however, I am just too traditional! My vote will always be to mail it in!

So now I'm ready to listen. Tell me how you have seen social media play an influence in the wedding industry!