Make-Up Comes To You!

A few weeks ago, I was on my own to get primped for Wedding #9. I used Lifebooker to schedule a cheap and easy blowout, as my hair is relatively easy to style. I'm a little more particular about my make-up, and have had a few bad experiences at department store counters. Lucky for me, a colleague of mine is a freelance make-up artist and so I had her "put my face on." She even came directly to my apartment, so I was able to get ready in the comfort of my own home. As usual, I was running late, booking my appointments too close together, so this was an added bonus that I didn’t need to run all over the city to get ready.

Clara Isabella showed up at my apartment on time and was immediately ready to go. She had already asked the color of my dress and came prepared with a color palette designed just for me. Not only was she extremely knowledgeable about make-up applications, but we had fun talking about her experiences on fashion shoots. She has a variety of different products- finding the right shade and fit for all of her different clients. She was extremely meticulous, making sure every last detail (including my fun false lashes) was applied perfectly.
What makes her a little different from other make-up artists? Well, we all know that when you get your makeup done at noon for a 7:00 wedding, you’ll need a few touch ups. Clara actually helped me look through my own stash of lipsticks, and together we picked out the right shade (and a small enough container) to fit in my bag for the evening. I must admit, that for once it was nice not to be pressured to buy anything, and I loved that she used my own supplies to do my lips! It was a color I knew that I already liked, and looked good on me.

Clara’s eye and artistic talents were spot on, as I got compliments all night long. And as you can see, at the end of the night- my make-up was still looking great!

In addition to day of wedding make-up, Clara Isabella is available for all of your wedding related festivities and special events. (She even does hair too!). For more information, contact clara@claraisabella.com or 908.868.0612.

Happy Bridesmaiding!

Nailed It!

As many of you know, I’m a huge fan of bachelorette party games. Very often I ask the girls attending the bachelorette party to bring a little honeymoon gift for the bride and she has to guess who it’s from. It can be anything – from G rated sunscreen or an underwater camera to X rated condoms, edible underwear or something else fun from the back room at Ricky’s. Similarly, many of you have played the game where each attendee brings a pair of undies for the bride, and she has to guess who each one is from.

However, two of my friends recently went to a bachelorette party in Miami where they played a similar game- yet it was something I had never heard of before. The bride is obsessed with manicures and getting her nails done- so they all had to bring her a nail polish color, and she had to guess who it was from based on the name of the polish. I thought this was so creative and clever, especially for this bride. When I asked what happened if the color was something ugly and out there, they said, “No big deal- she loves different and unique colors!” Plus, nail polishes are only about $8, so not too much skin off anyone’s back. And lucky for us NYers, Essie and OPI are sold in many of our local drug stores.

Keep in mind that the colors to purchase for this activity are not a wedding related. If so, everyone would be buying BLUSHING BRIDE, BACHELORETTE BASH, HAPPILY EVER AFTER, MIMOSAS FOR MR. AND MRS. and you might even get one smart alec who buys STARTER WIFE or TROPHY WIFE.

Here are some examples of the types of BMs who may be in your wedding party, and the coordinating colors they may buy.

Pollyanna BM. ETERNAL OPTOMIST
Party Girl BM: FIESTA
Class Clown BM: IN STITCHES
Jersey (or Texas) BM: BIG HAIR…BIG NAILS
Shopaholic BM: BIG SPENDER
Center of Attention BM: LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU
Opinionated BM: MY WAY
Dancing BM: FOOT LOOSE
Desperate-to-be-the-next-Bride BM: SHOW ME THE RING
Sun Worshipping BM: BEACH BUM BLU
Overachiever BM: BROWNIE POINTS
Argumentative BM: DEVIL'S ADVOCATE
Sexy Not Slutty BM: LACY NOT RACY
Flower Girl: CUTE AS A BUTTON

And if you want to throw her off, and have her fiancé send in a color as well? Well, then there’s no question in my mind, it’s obviously SOLEMATE.

What do you think? Would your bride like this activity? What color would you get?
Happy Bridesmaiding!

Language Art Custom Wall Art

This past weekend, I took a road trip to Cleveland to visit Bride #1, her husband and 18 month old son. She recently redid her kitchen, and hanging up over the wall to her deck was an anniversary gift from her in-laws that I fell in love with. They ordered custom wall art that spelled out their last name from a company in Indiana (our old stomping grounds!) called Language Art.

Each letter of their last name was a black and white 4x6 photograph, all mounted together and easy to hang. According to the website, “Finding art and beauty in objects that are otherwise ignored, Greg and Dilynn Puckett, the team behind Language Art, travel the country photographing letters in signs, shapes and architectural elements. The letters are professionally printed in a 4" x 6" format, framed and using their artistic ability are arranged to create a singular word or custom name. In black and white, the pieces are bold, yet the combinations evoke comforting feelings.”

I played around a bit on the site, and was facilitated about the puzzle you can create. Not only can you create custom words, but you get to choose the actual photographs used for each letter. Plus, the website tells you where each photograph was taken. So for a New York City couple, you can use all city pictures, for a couple that's a little more outdoorsy, you can use pictures that are a little more natural, etc. You also get to see what types of pictures/letters look good next to each other.

I am obsessed with this gift, and thinks it makes a fantastic wedding gift by using the couples married name. That said, I always say, “know your bride” and encourage you to really think if your bride will like this, as it really has to be her taste, because she can’t exactly return it to Bloomingdale’s. I’m thinking Bride & Groom #9 will love it, esp. since Bride #9 is a bit of an amateur photographer. I’ll keep you posted if I end up giving it to them and what their thoughts are. What do you think?

Happy Bridesmaiding!

Valentine's Day Sale

Valentine's Day has come and gone. Wheather you spent the day/night with your signigificant others, or your BFFs, one thing is for certain today. All of the heart shaped goodies in your local grocery stores, drug stores and card stores will go on sale. And while it's a good time to stock your office candy drawer with some on sale sweets- don't forget you should ABB, Always Be Bridesmaiding. This is also the perfect time to stock up on heart-shaped shower & bachelorette supplies. Oriental Trading is one of my favorite (and inexpsinve) places to get my materials. I perused their site for Valentine's Day goodies that could easily translate to Bachelorette parties.

Heart shaped rings that make great favors for the gals to wear out at night.)
Rose shaped soap set can be a prize for a winner of a shower game

Heart shaped cake mold is a great G-rated alternative for the bachelorette pary

Feather boas make excellent props for Karaoke Bachelorette parties

Lip decoration cake toppers add a little pizzaz to your cupcakes

Happy Bridesmaiding!

Response Card Poems

Growing up, my mother was always writing poems. My sister and I got poems in our birthday cards, we got poems with clues as to where our Chanukah gifts were hidden (and then it was a race to find them) and most importantly- she would write a poem when responding to a good friend’s bar or bat-mitvah on the response card. She was well-known for them and everyone couldn’t wait to get a Linda Glastein poem.

Naturally, I am mother’s daughter, and I equate response card poems with special/close friends. So when I started bridesmaiding and had to RSVP to their weddings, what else did I do, but write a poem? I’ve written many poem rehearsal dinner speeches as well, but those are usually longer and more detailed. I like to keep the response cards short and sweet, but they still stand out when being opened, and bring a smile to everyone’s faces. Below is what I wrote for Bride #2.

Stef & Adam started dating back at IU,
And now it's time for them to say "I do."

On 7-7-07 these two will tie the knot,
It means so much to me to stand nearby in a special spot.

So of course I will be there on this special day,
Can't wait to celebrate and dance the night away!

How do you like to respond to the weddings you go to? Do you do anything different that stands out? Happy Bridesmaiding!

P.S. When I’m in a bind, I rely on rhymezone.com to solve my rhyming needs!

A Picture (Frame) is Worth A Thousand Words

When I had to get a wedding gift for Bride #1, I was really torn. Many of my friends were giving money or a gift from the registry, but I felt like I wanted to do something a little more special. I love Bride #1 to death, but she can be quite particular and I didn’t want to get anything she didn’t pick out herself.

I then came up with the perfect combination of the two. I picked out an expensive 8x10 picture frame that she registered for. It wasn’t quite as much as I wanted to spend, so I also ordered a smaller version in the same pattern. While at the wedding, I made sure to take a great vertical picture of the bride & groom. (As you can guess, I am quite the amateur photographer at the weddings I go to, and feel the need to capture every minute.) As soon as I returned to New York after the wedding, I ordered an 8x10 of the newlyweds in black and white and a 4x6 of the bridesmaids to put in the smaller frame.

I’ve given and iteration of this gift to many of my brides since, but nothing beats the way Bride #1 received her gift. You see, the couple lived together in New York, but their wedding was in Cleveland. They left for Ohio about a week before the big day, so they gave me a spare key to their apartment, just in case they forgot anything they needed (which they did- Groom #1 forgot his iPod and seriously needed it for the honeymoon!). So, while they were baking in the sun in Hawaii, I had the pictures printed, I put them in the frames, wrapped them, and delivered them right on to their coffee table.

As soon as they walked in to their apartment for the first time as husband and wife, they were so surprised to see a gift waiting for them. They were even more shocked to see their own wedding pictures in the frames. They were absolutely thrilled! I told them that they could be placeholders for the professional prints; I just wanted them to have some wedding pictures up until they were able to order the real ones. But Bride #1 loved the gift so much, she left the picture I put in, and last summer when I was at her house in Cleveland (they’ve since moved back to the Midwest) almost 3 years after her wedding, the picture I took still resided in the frame. She said she likes it that way, because it was more meaningful, since I took the picture. Awww….

That set the bar pretty high for my future brides. And while I wasn't able to get in to anyone else's apartments, I did always make sure that the frame was waiting either in their mailbox or with their doorman when they got home from their honeymoons. They all loved coming home to such a special gift.

If you like this idea, but can’t find a frame on their registry, just pick out something classic they might like, and if you can get it engraved with their wedding date on it, even better!

Do you have a favorite “go-to” wedding gift you like to give?
Happy Bridesmaiding!

BRIDESMAIDS - the movie!

The trailer for this movie was just released today, and I can not wait for it to come out this Spring! I love Kristen Wiig on SNL (and just about everything else she's in), so can't wait to see her take the leading role here with tons of other comediennes- even though from the looks of it, she could use plenty of help from SuperBridesmaid!

Watch the trailer here and Happy Bridesmaiding!

Personal Wedding Planners

As I mentioned early on, before I buy my brides official engagement gifts off their registry, I love to present them with an "OMG! You just got engaged!!!!" gift. My go to standard is a Martha Stewart wedding planner customized with the bride & groom's name. I like this planner because it's actually a binder so you can take things in and out, and add more folders or pages to the binder. Plus, it's one of the few out there that has a blank cover for me to be able to personalize.

It all started when Bride #2 got engaged, because in college, she never used notebooks, she always loved binders. So this gift was part useful but also a little bit of an inside joke. However, she found it so helpful that I've given it many times since.

Pictured here is what I gave to Work Bride #2 when she got engaged. Nope, I'm not a BM, but both Work Bride #1 and I are so close with her that we wanted to get her a little something. You'll notice we also included a Moleskine pocket journal. Work Bride #1 suggested this, as she found it so useful in her planning. It's small enough for any bride to keep with her at all times, so whenever she thinks of something for her to do list, or a great song to play at the reception, etc, she can jot it down in her special wedding notebook. Purple is Work Bride #2's favorite color and the color of her wedding, but since it was unavailable, we got pink to keep it bridal.

What do you think? Have you ever given or received any favorite "OMG! You just got engaged!!!!" gifts? Happy Bridesmaiding!

100 Day Wedding Countdown

When I realized that we have less than 100 days to go to The Wedding of The Century, it made me think of all of the options BMs can give their brides to countdown to their wedding.

As many of my friends know, the wedding day countdown clock that people get that counts down the days, hours and even minutes to your big day totally freaks me out. Many brides love it, but it gives me major anxiety.

I did recently discover a different countdown that does not create that kind of stress. My friend, Work Bride #2, recently got this 100 Day Wedding Countdown Calendar from her future sister-in-law. What I love even more though, is that the gift came personalized. Her fiance's sister opened the calendar, and put pictures of the bride and groom sporadically throughout the calendar. She marked off the bridal shower and put pictures of planes and palm trees on the day they jet off to sunny south Florida for the bachelorette party. The calendar was completely customized just for them. SuperBridesmaid approves and loves this idea. I guess now I'll have something to add to my list of things to do in addition to OMG! You Just Got Engaged Gifts!

Happy Bridesmaiding!

Super "Royal" Bridesmaid?

With less than 100 days to go to the big Royal Wedding, I bet you didn't know what else is special that day? Well other than everything listed here in People Magazine, it's also my birthday!

What better day for wedding of the century to happen, than on SuperBridesmaid's birthday! Maybe Kate's BMs should consult me for advice! I'm seriously considering throwing a "Watch The Wedding" birthday party this year.

Happy Bridesmaiding!

Say What? Karaoke!

When I met Bride #8 a little over five years ago, I learned about her love of karaoke. After my 26th karaoke birthday party a few months later, she told me she wanted karaoke for her bachelorette party. Considering she just got married last month – you can see how far in advance she was planning, and how serious her love was.

So when another friend and I were planning her big night out, we knew that karaoke was a definite- but what type of place? For Bride #5, we did karaoke in a dive bar in Chicago and had an amazing night blasting out 80’s tunes, but only got to get up and sing two songs on stage. (Plus, we definitely had a few cocktails first to give us the courage to do so). In this case though, we opted for one of the great private rooms available in the many karaoke bars in Manhattan. I like this option, as you get to sing All Night Long (pun intended), without any boos or having to share the spotlight. Many places offer all you can drink packages or have small minimum spending requirements- so that gives you plenty of opportunity for liquid courage.

Whenever I go out and do karaoke, it's a no brainer for me. I always singing Livin' on A Prayer. Bon Jovi is my all-time favorite band, it's my all-time favorite song, and it's always guaranteed to get the crowd fist pumping and singing along. But sometimes when I get in a private karaoke room- I can't think of any other songs to program in the queue. So before Bride #8's Big Karaoke Bachelorette Party, I googled the best karaoke songs, consulted a few karaoke experts and devised my own list. Everyone that night was impressed with how prepared I was, and it made it so easy to get the night started.

I've also been to my fair share of karaoke birthday parties in private rooms and picked up a few tricks there that work great for bachelorette parties. I went to Party City and picked up some inflatable instruments and microphones that make for great props. (If your budget is a little larger, you can get wigs, sunglasses, etc- think of fun bar mitzvah give-aways). At one other party, we ended the night in a big circle swaying from side to side singing That's What Friends are For. If that doesn't float your boat, you can use the other bat-mitzvah ending song and rock out to Last Dance.

I thought I would share the list here, so all of my readers could use it as a starting point to come prepared for any bachelorette parties they have coming up. Warning though- my taste is cheesey but honestly, I've tried before and singing songs like Poker Face are not that easy- but it might be worth a shot and quite apropos to give Single Ladies a try.

Livin’ on A Prayer by Bon Jovi
Oops I Did It Again by Britney Spears

Start Me Up by The Rolling Stones
Man, I Feel Like a Woman by Shania Twain

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cindy Lauper
I Love Rock'n'Roll! by Joan Jett
Like A Prayer by Madonna

It's In His Kiss by Cher
What's Love Got To Do With It by Tina Turner
If I could Turn Back Time by Cher
That Don't Impress Me Much by Shania Twain
YMCA by The Village People
Here Without You by 3 Doors Down
Hungry Like a Wolf by Duran Duran
I Wanna Know What Love Is by Foreigner
All Out of Love by Air Supply
Yellow Submarine by The Beatles

Mamma Mia by Abba
Shoop by Salt N Pepa
Thriller by Michael Jackson
Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams
Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leopard
More Than Words by Extreme
Keep On Loving You by REO Speedwagon
You Were Always On My Mind by Willie Nelson
Open Arms by Journey
Build me up Buttercup by The Foundations
(I can't get no) Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones
Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond
Cecilia by Simon & Garfunkel
Don't Stop Believing by Journey
We Didn’t Start The Fire by Billy Joel
Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf
Shook me all Night Long by ACDC
I’m Too Sexy by Right Said Fred
American Pie by Don MacLean
Vogue by Madonna
She’s a Lady by Tom Jones
Rhythm of the Night by Debarge
I Want it That Way by The Backstreet Boys
Gloria
867-5309 (Jenny)
Jessie’s Girl

It's Raining Men

I Will Survive
I Think We’re Alone Now by Tiffany
All Night Long by Lionel Ritchie
Summer Lovin' from Grease

Seasons of Love from RENT
Light My Candle from RENT
I’ve Had the Time of My Life Bill Medley/ Jennifer Warner
Proud Mary by Ike and Tina Turner
I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor
I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston
Baby One More Time by Britney Spears
Like a Virgin by Madonna

What's your favorite karaoke song to sing? Am I missing anything obvious?

Happy Bridesmaiding!

Destination Bachelorette Party- Where To Go?

Happy New Year! SuperBridesmaid is officially back, apologizes for her hiatus and ready to kick off 2011. How else to I plan to start the year, well- with at least 5 weddings this year and most likely, my 9th time being a bridesmaid. One of my best friend sinces I am six years old (she sat behind me in first grade and likes to tell people how she cleaned out my desk) got engaged a few months ago and is now planning a fall NYC wedding.

We were chatting the other day, and of course being the super planner that I am, started asking about her bachelorette party (even before I’ve been asked to stand up on her big day). She told me she’d love a girls’ getaway weekend. Her parents have a house in the Hamptons, our other best friend’s parents have a house in the Berkshires, and we used to do a share in Fire Island, so all of those places have been eliminated because she rather do something new and exciting. So it’s time to put my thinking cap on! I’ve definitely done a few destination bachelorette parties in my time—we went back to our college alma mater (Indiana University in Bloomington, IN) for Bride #3; Long Branch, NJ for Bride #4, Chicago, IL for Bride #5 (destination for me, most of the wedding party lived there), and Newport, RI for Bride #6 so this is not a new concept.

Once my friend asks her bridesmaids, we’ll be able to get together and start brainstorming. I know we’ll find the right type of place, that’s not too sceney, doesn’t rely on a beach as the sole form of entertainment, and is easy enough to get to. Wherever we decide, I know that when it comes time to go, I’ll have a hard time taking a small suitcase! Packing the penis straws and bachelorette balloons is the easy part, but deciding what outfits to chose may be a harder feat (I love having options!). I’ll absolutely turn to my friend Rachel’s amazing new blog- Suitcase Secrets, which gives fantastic fashion and travel advice, she’ll help you pack the best outfits for any destination. Rachel beats me out as she’s been a BM 14 times, has been on numerous destination bachelorette parties (and even gives great advice on them here) and we’ve “served” together 3 times (more than any of my other co-BMs) so we make an awesome team. I’ll keep you posted on what we decide, but please let me know your favorite bachelorette destination spots. Happy Bridesmaiding!