Debates

Will You Change Your Name After Your Wedding?

By admin on November 16th, 2006

My fiance has a very unusual, hard-to-spell-and-pronounce surname. Ever since we got engaged, people have been joking with me about what it’ll be like to take on his name, but luckily it’s not going to be a problem for me – I’m just not going to do it.

The decision has nothing at all to do with the name itself. (I find it comes in handy when telemarketers call and can’t pronounce it. "Sorry!" we say cheerfully, "No one by that name here!") It’s purely a personal thing, and there are three main reasons why I don’t want want to change:

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Bridesmaids & Attendants, Debates

What Do You Expect from Your Chief Bridesmaid?

By admin on November 10th, 2006

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Bridesmaid_4 Because I’m not having any adult bridesmaids at my wedding, I seem to have missed out on a lot of the angst that can sometimes come with them. As I work my way around my little cyber world of wedding blogs and websites, though, I’ve almost lost count of the number of arguments between brides and bridesmaids, or complaints from one about the other that I’ve heard about. Thank goodness my bridesmaid is only seven years old!

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Columns/ Opinion, Debates, Wedding Planning

Should the Bride Make a Speech?

By admin on November 7th, 2006

4 comments

I’m trying to decide whether or not to make a speech at our wedding. Initially, I was all for it: partly because it seems strange to me that the groom, father of the bride and best man all get to make speeches but the bride traditionally doesn’t (don’t her thoughts count?), partly because, well, I always get the last word, and partly because it seems like it would be a nice thing to do.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, my fiance, Terry, had a kidney transplant last December. What I didn’t mention is that the kidney he received was donated by his brother, John – who is also our best man. So, we thought it might be nice if, after all of the men had said their bit, I get up and propose a toast to John: after all, if he hadn’t been so brave last year, we probably wouldn’t be planning a wedding right now, anyway.

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Posted in Columns/ Opinion, Debates, Wedding Planning | 4 Comments »

Debates, Keepsakes & Favours, Wedding Planning

Wedding Favours: The Debate Rages

By admin on November 7th, 2006

7 comments

Ever since we set the date for our wedding, a debate has raged in my family – a debate which, I’m sad to say, shows no sign of being resolved any time soon. It concerns favours: what to have, and, indeed, whether to have them at all.

In the red corner: my mum, who is taking the old skool approach of "it’s a wedding, and people will expect to be given a favour". In the blue corner: me, with the opinion that it’s all a bit of a waste of money, really, and we’d be better off spending that money on something the guests would really appreciate. (Alcohol springs to mind.)

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Posted in Debates, Keepsakes & Favours, Wedding Planning | 7 Comments »

Columns/ Opinion, Debates, Venues

Church Wedding or Civil Ceremony?

By admin on November 1st, 2006

3 comments

Camilla’s article on the popularity of church weddings got me wondering what type of ceremony Bridalwave readers are choosing?

For us, there was never any question that we’d be having a civil ceremony: neither of us is even remotely religious, and we agreed right away that it would just feel "wrong" to get married in a religious ceremony. I don’t think I’d even feel "properly" married if I’d said my vows in front of a God I don’t believe in, and would we’d both have felt hypocritical joining in with all of the prayers and hymns church weddings generally tend to involve.

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Posted in Columns/ Opinion, Debates, Venues | 3 Comments »

Bridesmaids & Attendants, Columns/ Opinion, Debates

Here Come the Bridesmaids – But How Do You Choose Them?

By admin on October 25th, 2006

6 comments

Choosing attendants was mercifully easy for us. My fiance’s little niece has been desperate to be a bridesmaid ever since Terry and I started going out, and, well, it would have been a shame to disappoint her, wouldn’t it? We’re having her and one of Terry’s nephews, and that’s it. No adult bridesmaids for me: for one thing, we couldn’t have afforded them, and for another, it would be almost impossible to know who to pick.

So, how did you do it? Do you have a long-term best friend who’s always been promised the job, or did you have to pick and choose – or even just throw caution to the wind and have all of your friends at once?

(Dresses in the picture by Davis Bridal)

Posted in Bridesmaids & Attendants, Columns/ Opinion, Debates | 6 Comments »

Columns/ Opinion, Debates

Children at Weddings: What Do You Think?

By admin on October 19th, 2006

13 comments

Childrenatweddings My best friend’s wedding was the perfect day: great weather, great food, great venue – the works. They’d spent a lot of time and money on getting things just the way they wanted it, and right up until the moment the bride made her entrance, it was all going to plan. Just one problem, though: as the Wedding March struck up, so did a baby in the congregation. A baby who proceeded to scream so loudly, and for so long, that no one could hear a word that was said.

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Posted in Columns/ Opinion, Debates | 13 Comments »

Debates, Groom, Wedding Etiquette

Showing the Groom Your Dress

By admin on October 17th, 2006

4 comments

457548_beautiful_dress What would you do if your groom decided he wanted to see The Dress? Mine, you see, has been a very "hands on" kind of groom. Although everyone warned me I’d probably struggle to wrench his attention away from his playstation every time the wedding was mentioned, he has surprised me by being very much involved. Almost too involved. You see, Terry has now decided that he’d like to be involved in every aspect of the wedding – and that includes The Dress.

Actually, this problem first reared it’s head back when the dress hunt was still going on. Terry couldn’t understand why he wasn’t allowed to join in the search – particularly strange considering he’s never shown the slightest interest in fashion before in his life.

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Posted in Debates, Groom, Wedding Etiquette | 4 Comments »

Debates, Wedding Etiquette, Wedding Gifts

The Great Gift Registry Debate: Will You or Won’t You?

By admin on October 13th, 2006

6 comments

Ah, the wedding gift registry, that great divider of engaged couples everywhere. Sure, the gift registry is becoming pretty common – in fact, it’s rare to open a wedding invitation these days without a gift registry card falling out as well – but that doesn’t mean it’s any more acceptable to some people. Far from it, in fact: if the many wedding forums I’ve been reading lately are anything to go by, people are still divided about the idea of a registry. Some think it’s a great, practical idea, while others throw around words like "grasping", "selfish" and "vulgar" to describe those who’ve whizzed around John Lewis, electronic "zapper" in hand.

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Posted in Debates, Wedding Etiquette, Wedding Gifts | 6 Comments »

Debates, Wedding Etiquette, Wedding Planning

Will You Be “Given Away”?

By admin on October 12th, 2006

1 comment

Fatherofthebride_1

For most of my life, I’ve been faintly horrified by the idea of brides being "given away" on their wedding days. It’s always seemed like such an archaic and demeaning tradition, to pass a woman from one man to another, like a possession, and definitely not in keeping with the modern wedding I had always assumed I would have.

No one was more surprised than me, then, when we started planning our wedding for real, and I realised that suddenly it didn’t seem so bad after all. We’re still having a modern kind of wedding – no church, no veil, no adhering to traditions just for the sake of it. I will be being walked down the aisle by my dad, though, and although he won’t exactly be "giving me away" in the traditional sense of the word, he will be right there beside me.

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Posted in Debates, Wedding Etiquette, Wedding Planning | 1 Comment »

Accessories - Bags, Tiaras, etc, Debates

Taking the Veil – Will You?

By admin on October 10th, 2006

8 comments

Taking_the_veil_2 We’re not having a particularly traditional wedding so it probably comes as no surprise that I’m not going to be wearing a veil. So far, a lot of the people I’ve mentioned this to seem to have assumed that I’m going without the traditional headdress "just to be different", but the reality is a lot less subversive: I just think it would look funny on me.

I’ve never actually worn a veil, of course, but I suspect it would make me feel like I was in fancy dress, which would, in turn, make it difficult to relax. I’ve never wanted to turn up at my wedding wearing a "bride’s costume" – just a killer dress (and, of course, equally killer shoes), and veils have never really been a big part of that for me, as much as I think they can look stunning on other people.

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Posted in Accessories - Bags, Tiaras, etc, Debates | 8 Comments »

Debates, Lingerie

Nice Day for an Ebay Wedding?

By admin on October 9th, 2006

3 comments

Amber writes…

I know this probably falls firmly into the "too much information" category, but ever since Camilla wrote about this Agent Provocateur ‘Diva’ bridal corset, I’ve been driving myself crazy trying to find a more affordable version. The original isn’t on the Agent Provocateur website any more, and even when it was, at £230 it was just a little bit out of my bridal lingerie budget (and when I say "a little bit" I mean "a lot"). Could I find a cheap alternative, though? No, I could not.

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Posted in Debates, Lingerie | 3 Comments »

Debates, Rings & Jewellery, Wedding Planning

Would You Be Offended if Your Groom Wouldn’t Wear a Ring?

By admin on October 6th, 2006

11 comments

Wedding_rings_2

Amber says … As those of you who frequent the Bridalwave section of the Shiny Fashion Forums will know, I’m getting married on March 31st next year. The latest box to get ticked on the "To Do" list was the buying of the rings, which we managed to do yesterday. It was actually pretty scary: in much the same way that we put in an offer on our house after having been in it for no more than fifteen minutes, we managed to find the perfect rings within about ten minutes of walking into the jeweller’s store.

Considering that I’m going to be wearing this ring for the rest of my life (Well, unless Sawyer from Lost knocks on the door with a bunch of roses and a cheeky grin, obviously.), and that I’ll happily spend much more time than that debating whether or not to buy a pair of shoes, I was pretty surprised.

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Posted in Debates, Rings & Jewellery, Wedding Planning | 11 Comments »

Debates, Wedding Cake, Wedding Etiquette

Debates #11 – Feeding cake?

By admin on September 7th, 2006

2 comments

For a little light hearted relief, I want to ask your opinion on cake. More specifically the feeding of wedding cake to one’s new spouse or smashing it in a great smeary mess in the other’s face ala certain celebrities?

Cute tradition or daft?

Posted in Debates, Wedding Cake, Wedding Etiquette | 2 Comments »

Debates

Debates #10 – What do you hate most about Wedding Planning?

By admin on August 23rd, 2006

3 comments

Pen_paper_1 Last week I asked you who will walk you up the aisle. Some of you plan on asking your father whilst others are in a quandry about not wanting to ask him but feeling they must. I think is really a case of doing what is important for you rather than following convention. A decent parent may be dissapointed but will understand.

This week’s debate is pretty open ended and a chance for you to vent! I want to know what you hate most about wedding planning? Is it the endless searching for suppliers? not being able to make final decisions? or too many people wanting to ‘help’ and force their ideas on you…? Let me know in the comments and don’t forget to vote for the Yay or Nays across the Shiny fashion blogs.

Posted in Debates | 3 Comments »