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!