Bridal Buzz

When you search for local wedding products on Etsy, an online marketplace for handmade items, there are more than 2,000 results. You’re in luck. We did the dirty work for you. Each week, BridalBuzz will present our favorites. From favor ideas and wedding veils to groomsman gifts and décor, we’ll include unique ideas to help you plan your big day.

Accessories are almost as important as your wedding dress. Almost. Just don’t forget to give your veil, earrings, shoes, and other jewels and head pieces the same amount of attention to round out the look. Veils are a great way to accessorize while still achieving a classic look.

Try this pretty birdcage veil from local Etsy shop LaVieEnFleur. Designer Valery Ackley uses a soft French netting in pink, white, or ivory and attaches a clear comb on one side and colored rosette on the other. Don’t fret: both sides have secure fasteners so that the veil won’t fall off during your wedding day. Valery will custom design the veil, so if you’d like more rosettes or a clip with more detailing, she can do so at an extra cost. The veil pictured is $20.

This couple met through church acquaintances years before they finally set out on their first date. Living in Georgia at the time, Morgan met Thomas for dinner before watching him play a set with his rock band, Tendaberry. One fantastic date led to two and a half years of courtship.

The pair spent a sunny afternoon at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, GA before setting off on their usual Friday night date. Thomas took Morgan to the place they celebrated their first Valentine’s Day together, Chops Lobster Bar. After dessert, as Morgan reached for her sweater, Thomas got down on one knee and asked her to marry him.

Morgan attended Bishop Lynch before receiving her media and pop culture / African American studies degree from Smith College in Northampton, MA and is now the assistant to the Associate Deans at Goizueta Business School. Thomas graduated from Booker T. Washington before earning his finance degree from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA and is now the product owner for NCR Merchant Solutions.

Trunk shows are a great way to see more of a designer’s dresses than are normally carried in a store. You’ll have more to choose from, so don’t miss out! Click the links below for all the details:

Austin Scarlett Trunk Show at Warren Barrón

Lea-Ann Belter Trunk Show at The Bridal Salon at Neiman Marcus

Hickory Street Annex and Gil’s Elegant Catering are joining forces to throw a retro-inspired open house and tasting this Wednesday, May 22 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at 501 Second Avenue. Amanda Taylor, event planner at Hickory Street Annex, has filled us in on the scoop for the big event. Expect pretty floral designs from Blue Lotus, tunes from Dallas Gigs, DJ talent from Colby Logan, sweets from Panini Bakery and Hot Shots, and a photo booth from 4 Flashes all set up in a retro-style scene with rentals and vintage cars from Swanky Couch. The venue is also introducing their new studio space which adds 2,000-square feet to their event space.

Now for the food. Gil’s is creating a menu focused on fresh, organic, and local produce with dishes featuring meat, fish, and poultry from sustainable farms. We peeked at the selection and we’re most excited about the heirloom tomato and Texas grown watermelon salad with feta, herbs, and citrus and the adult mac n’ cheese with fried chicken bites. Yes, please.

To register for the event, click here.

Welcome back to your weekly “Dream Dress for Less” where we feature gorgeous wedding gowns under $1,500. It takes some digging, but they do exist. Let us do the legwork so you can relax and enjoy one of the most wonderful times of your life. Take a look at this week’s find:

Designer Oleg Cassini is well known for creating iconic looks for Jacqueline Kennedy such as the classic sheath and empire waist dress. Channel the former first lady for your bib day and choose a dress from the Oleg Cassini line at David’s Bridal. The gowns are the best of both worlds: affordable and classic. Take today’s dress for instance (pictured right). The fitted trumpet gown features the popular and slimming silhouette with sweet and subtle pink flowers appliqued on the gown. Get it for $1,100.

Thanks to Katie McKinley Schlieve for this week’s wedding advice.

“I would have done our engagement pictures with our wedding photographer. While I loved our engagement photos that a friend gifted to us from her start up business, I felt like we missed a chance for our wedding photographer to better get to know us as a couple and learn how to pose us or work with us better.”

From left to right: flora crinkle fans ($20 for 10); Serenade dress ($350); birch chevron flatware ($12 for 20)

BHLDN, Anthropologie’s sister site for all-things-wedding, has rolled out their summer collection. It arrived just in time for the most popular wedding season. I’m definitely seeing a heavy floral-theme with their selection of table numbers, halos, bloom place card holders, and flora crinkle fans. Even the jewelry has a  garden vibe to it. The eyelet turquoise frock in the picture above would be a festive choice to wear either as a guest to a wedding, or as guest of honor at a garden-inspired wedding shower.

But, even if your summer soiree isn’t in the backyard or garden (it just gets too hot in Texas, right?), use the trend to inspire the decor and feel of your indoor reception. You can use the paper fans, garland, and birch flatware to bring the outdoors in.

Photographs courtesy of Andrea Polito.

Amanda’s bridesmaids wore Monique Lhuillier dresses in her favorite shade of purple. Mo Bowers, with Fairy Godmother Bridal, ensured that everyone looked picture perfect.

What do Blake Lively and the “Nicola” font by Design Roots have to do with each other? Everything.

Karley Osborn is a bride-to-be living in Plano. Her fiancé proposed in March. They’re getting married in July. No, she’s not crazy, and yes, she’s confident she will be able to order a dress and have it triple-fitted in plenty of time — no matter what the experts have to say about it. Karley also happened to intern for D Magazine and work as a social reporter with People Newspapers. Every Wednesday, she’ll be documenting her planning process. From flowers to fittings, she will use her first-hand experience to help other brides in the event of a last-minute love affair.

In magazines like People Style Watch, they’re always doing this feature where a leather legging/Louboutin-clad Blake Lively (or some other A-lister) is pictured in all of her expensive fabulousness just opposite from a pair of pleather pants/vinyl stilettos that common girls can purchase from stores such as Wet Seal or AMI Clubwear. It’s that look for less, save or splurge thing that intends to comfort readers by saying, “Hey—you may not be able to afford Jen Aniston’s La Mer face cream, but this CVS-brand moisturizer is almost just as good.”

When you’re getting hitched in a hurry (and you’ve got a budget to boot), you might despair that you’ll be perpetually relegated to the saver’s side of the column, forced to nix luxuries like envelope calligraphy and custom head pieces in order to make it to the church on time. But fellow aisle-sprinters longing for luxe, here’s the truth: every bride (unless there’s a black AmEx somewhere in the mix) has to strike a balance between saving and splurging, and no matter how short the length of your engagement, you can achieve the wedding look you want if you prioritize correctly. Unsure of what items belong in each category? Jump for a few examples from mine and Fiancé’s planning process to help get you started.

Thank you notes from local Etsy shop OhLouiseDesigns.

Thanks to contemporary etiquette expert Bren Underwood from Must Bring Buns for answering this week’s reader question:

I’m having an extremely large wedding – 600 guests – and so we’re anticipating quite a few gifts. Do I still need to write thank you notes for every gift or is a verbal thank you acceptable?

My darling bride, yes, you need to write thank you notes for every gift that you receive, even if that means 600 thank you notes. All of these wonderful friends and family will thoughtfully choose gorgeous gifts for you, and thank you notes represent the perfect way to show your gratitude. Feeling overwhelmed and blue about having too many merci beaucoups? Here are some quick tips to guide you through wedding thank you notes:

• Pen the notes as you receive each gift, that way you’re not frantically writing them all at once.
• Enlist the help of your hubby, and divide the thank you notes between the two of you. As they say, many hands make for light work!
• Create a spreadsheet of the gifts and thank you’s that you’ve sent so you can keep track of your notes. This will help you to feel more organized and also ensure you don’t forget to send any notes (or send duplicates).
• Treat yourself to monogrammed stationary and a beautiful pen. It will make thank you note writing all the more special!