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Choosing bridesmaids dresses is no easy task, but it’s one of the most exciting and often the most emotional parts of the wedding planning process. 

Inviting the special women in your life to be your bridesmaids; your sisters, your lifelong friends, your cousins and special family friends; is a way to seal important friendships during this very special time in your life. Choosing the bridesmaids dress, whether you do it yourself or together with your bridesmaids, is an integral part of the tradition.

Tips on Choosing the Right Dresses for your Bridesmaids

Naturally, it’s the bride who will be the focus of attention on her wedding day, but it’s important for the bridesmaids to look gorgeous too. Choose something simple and not overdecorated or detailed, but which will make your bridesmaids look elegant, sophisticated and feminine.

It’s important to choose a dress style which will flatter everyone’s figure. This is never an easy task, but empire waists and A-line or princess skirts will tend to suit most shapes and sizes. 

If your bridesmaids have very different figure types and heights, and you think they might feel uncomfortable in matching dresses, a nice alternative is to choose the fabrics and colors, and allow each individual bridesmaid to choose her own dress style.

Always keep a budget in mind for your bridesmaids gowns. It’s very unfair to expect your bridesmaids to buy overly expensive dresses, and it may damage your relationship with some of the most important women in your life. Around $100-250 each dress is generally considered a reasonable cost. If you have your heart set on a more expensive gown, you might consider making up the difference yourself.

Classic Looks for Bridesmaids

Any kind of formal gown, semi-formal or evening dress can be chosen as a bridesmaids gown, so you have literally thousands of options. Satin, organza, chiffon, georgette, tulle, lace, brocades, and crepe are all classic fabrics for bridesmaid dresses. Whether you choose real silks and imported laces, or more economical alternatives will depend on your budget.

It’s traditional to choose a one-piece dress or gown, but separates are definitely an option. Mixing and matching separate blouses and skirts makes it easier to find a style which suits each individual bridesmaid.

You should think about the time of year you plan to hold the wedding, and how this will effect your gown choices. Choose lighter fabrics for summer, and a sleeveless or even a strapless dress style. If your wedding is planned for a cooler time in the year, long skirts and sleeves are best, or include a shawl or wrap as part of the outfit.

It’s a nice idea to choose your colors according to the time of year also. Fresh, soft colors are lovely for spring and summer; golds, copper tones and rusty reds for fall, and deep marine blues, teal green, deep burgundies and plums, or platinum shades for winter. 

Choose colors which will match the flowers which are in bloom at the time of year, so your gowns will tone in nicely with the bouquets. Discussing your color ideas with your favorite florist will make the job of choosing colors much easier.

For a very sophisticated, formal look, black or black and white never goes out of style.. Alternating black and white solid panels has a very dramatic effect.

For a more romantic look, use white or a solid color overlaid with black lace, either as a feature of the dress itself, or as a shawl or wrap.

Soft, pretty pastel shades like lilac, powder pink, cream, platinum and eggshell blue are always popular colors for bridesmaid dresses, because they always look good together with the white or ivory shade of the bridal gown. Adding dramatic color accents in the bouquets creates a very attractive look for the wedding party as a whole.

Another idea which works very well for bridesmaids gowns is to use a silk or satin fabric with a subtle crossweave in a contrasting color, and match the bouquets to the crossweave color. The bouquets will bring out and enhance the color highlights in the dress fabric, which has a very pretty effect.

Accessories for Bridesmaids

The simplest look will tend to work best, so accessories should best be kept to a minimum. Often a simple pair of earrings, a brooch or necklace is all the jewelry you’ll need. It’s traditional for the bride to give the bridesmaids their jewelry as a gift, which is a lovely idea.

For a very formal look, shawls, gloves and even small tiaras are always appropriate as bridesmaids’ accessories.

Keep comfort as well as style in mind when you choose shoes for your bridesmaids. Very high heels may be uncomfortable to stand in for any period of time. Also consider the fact that the bridesmaids will most likely be wearing the shoes for the wedding ceremony and the reception, so choose shoes which will be comfortable to wear all day, then dance away the night.

Do you remember when you used to dream about how wonderful it would be to get married? Of course, marriage is wonderful...but not all of the time. There will be times when marriage will seem like hard work, and there may even be times when leaving will look like a nice option. Marriage can have it's ups and downs and a successful mariage is only possible if both parties are prepared to work at it. Love must be nutured if they want to keep it from going stale.

Has your marriage gone stale? Have you stopped spending the time that is necessary to cultivate a relationship that is fulfilling? If this is the case - read on. Here are 8 tips that could help make your marriage go from boring to infinitely fascinating.

1. Forgive.

 Disagreements are only natural in any relationship. Wherever their are two people living in close proximity there are bound to be times when they disagree. Learning to forgive and not hold grudges is vital if they are to prevent bitterness from seeping in and souring things. People make mistakes and do stupid things. We need to be quick to say sorry, and quick to forgive. Married couples must never harbor grudges. Besides, harbouring grudges solves nothing.

2.Be respectful and honesty with one another.

 Don't take one another for granted. Learn to say thank you. Express your appreciation for the things your spouse does for you. Tell the truth. If there is a problem talk about it, don't bottle it up. Couples who face their problems and talk things through are the ones that are most likely to build a strong, loving relationships.

3. Remember to laugh often.

 The daily grind of life can make everything seem like a chore. A married couple should take time to share jokes and other crazy antics to decrease tension. Remember, laughter is healing. 

4. Communicate.

 It may seem obvious, but good communication is the key to a fulfilling relationship. Don't let things fester. If the wife is feeling upset by something her husband has said or done she should tell him right away, she shouldn't assume that he will guess what is wrong. What may be obvious to her, may not be obvious to him! Husbands too need to be more forthcoming in sharing what is on their minds. Good communication is vital. 

5. Decide together.

It is important that couples make joint decisions on things like finances, children's education and upbringing, delegation of household chores, etc. One must not be superior over the other. If you can't reach agreement straight away, leave it for a while and come back to it again later. If there is still a stale mate, be prepared to given in to your spouse. Take turns in giving in to one another. Marriage isn't a competition

6. Don't forget the simple, small things.

Husbands need to remember to compliment their wives. Don't forget to praise her for a job well done. Buy her flowers. Take her out for a romantic meal. Tell her how beautiful she is. Make her feel like she is your princess. Wives, should also be attentive to their husband's needs. Enjoy each other's company. Showing affection one for another is essential. 

7. Stay in love

Nurture your love for one another. Enjoy every new discovery and every new day with your spouse. 

8. Stay intimate.

 Intimacy is only able to grow in a marriage where their is a strong commitment to one another. Learn to be honest with one another about what turns you on and what turns you off. The sexual side of marriage needn't wane. Greater knowledge of your spouse and deeper affection, should make love making a celebration of your life together. Make time to be intimate. 

Being married is not always easy. Especially in our society where so many marriages fail. But as long as both partners know that they have each other to hold on to, it should be a rewarding relationship. Be there for each other, “for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, and til death do us part”.

When little girls spend their math classes daydreaming of weddings (instead of winning the World Series -- not to say you can't do both), what do they dream of first? The perfect wedding dress, of course: a gown in white satin with a bustle and sweeping train, the perfect embellishments, and the perfect shoes.

There are few occasions in our modern world where a woman finds herself in a position to wear a no-holds-barred ball gown, much less a crystal tiara, and all too many where she's called on to wear to a neutral suit or uninspiring "biz-caz" combo. No wonder that with so many brides, their wedding plans start with the dress.

Many of these brides are lucky. They may search high and low, braving chilly department stores and pushy bridal shops, but eventually they come face-to-face with The One. They know this is The One because they start crying, or their mother or friends all start crying at once. Suddenly the rest of the planning ... the theme, the tone, the right kind of venues ... it all springs to life.

Other brides aren't as fortunate. They've searched just as hard, working their way through shops across three or four states, but they haven't found The One. Instead, they've found three or four Contenders, all of which are serviceable and nice, but not earth-shattering enough to tell them that now is definitely time to stop the searching and get on with the planning. These brides have it harder.

Even if you're the first kind of bride, buying the dress is such a momentous decision that you run a risk of falling into that wallet-skinning category known as the Two-Dress Bride. Here are some tips for picking the perfect dress and avoiding that awful fate.

1. Bring the entourage, but don't buy. It's fun and useful to bring your mother, friends or sisters on the dress-shopping expedition. It gives you a buffer against an overbearing sales staff, and it's fun to see if your impressions of perfection are shared by your loved ones, not to mention how they'll love being part of such an important decision. But no matter how enthusiastic everyone gets over a certain dress, don't buy in the heat of the moment. Give yourself time to reconsider and buy with a cool head later, alone. The vast majority of dresses are non-returnable, so when you've bought it, you've bought it.

2. Don't buy too early unless you must. Bridal gowns can take four to ten months to come from the manufacturer, but there's no reason to buy over a year ahead of time, unless your chosen style is going to be discontinued. Give yourself some time to sit on your decision. Once you pick a gown, you'll see a hundred others nearly like it. You'll become a walking encyclopedia on that style of gown. All the better if you still have room to choose.

3. If you've bought "The One," stop shopping. Any more window-shopping at this point will only lead you down the road toward the dreary land of Two-Dress Brides. What you need to do instead is remember that blissful feeling of having tried on The One. Go get The One out of the closet, put it on and stand in front of the mirror. You'll remember exactly why it's The One.

4. If you've bought "The One" and can't stop shopping, get a second opinion. Show your first and second choices to other brides. Be honest -- tell them you've already remortgaged your condo for the first dress, but you think this second dress might be It. They'll be truthful, too -- the first one was better. You'll feel reassured.

5. Don't tell yourself "I'll sell the old dress and choose a new one." This old saw of the Two-Dress Bride just won't work. You'll never get more than a fraction of what you paid for your first dress if you bought it new.

6. Don't be afraid to aim high -- no matter what your budget. Some brides knew from the start they wanted a designer label, but life just didn't cooperate by making them heiresses. Yet all is not lost if you're willing to shop courageously. At any given moment, a better-heeled bride is selling her once-used St. Pucchi or Ulla-Maija on eBay. She paid thousands upon thousands, but you, smart shopper, will pay half that or less. To take this road, you must shop earlier than other brides so you'll have a choice of gowns. Always pay with a credit card so you'll have recourse if the dress doesn't arrive in acceptable condition, and again, shop early so you can buy another if necessary. Shop courageously, but not recklessly.

7. Shop online, but never send a check. Bridal gown businesses sometimes have a way of disappearing overnight. No matter what the proprietor tells you, never make a purchase as large as a wedding gown without the chargeback protection of a credit card. If they say they can't take plastic, move on.

8. Don't hold out forever for The One. Some brides never find The One. What they do find is a few dresses they look beautiful in. If you're this bride, try starting your planning from the theme instead of the dress. You'll probably eventually get sick to death of dress shopping. When that happens, "good enough" really will be good enough. Concentrate on other aspects of the wedding that mean a lot to you, like the venue, the food, or the inevitable adoration of your soon-to-be husband.

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Have you ever wondered if what you know about Bridal Shower Games is accurate? Consider the following paragraphs and compare what you know to the latest info on Bridal Shower Game. 

The bridal shower is an opportunity for the women in the future bride’s life to honor her with a simple luncheon or get together filled with good food, fun and games.  Many bridal showers feature a series of games that are not only a great deal of fun but also allow a bonding opportunity for all of the women at the party and sometimes serve the purpose of completing a task for the bride to be.  

A game that encourages the participants to get to know each other is always a fun game with which to start the party.  One game you can play is known as the Name Tag Game which encourages guest to mingle with the other guests.  In this game, the hostess writes the name of each of the guests along with a word related to weddings such as veil, favors, groom, etc on a name tag.  The rules of the game are that you are not allowed to say the word on your name tag or else you lose your name tag to the person who got you to say the word.  If you acquire one or more additional name tags you are tasked with not saying any of the words on either your name tag or any of the other tags.  If you say the word on your tag, you have to relinquish it to the person who got you to say the word and if you say the word on one of the other tags, you also have to give that person the tag plus you have to introduce them to the person from whom you had acquired the tag.  There is usually a pre-determined time limit for this game and the person with the most tags when time runs out is the winner.  

The Purse Game is another popular bridal shower idea.  This is a simple game where the hostess draws up a list of items likely to appear in a woman’s purse and assigns a point value to each item ranging from 1-5 depending on how unusual the item is.  For example car keys might be a 1 on the scale, a mirror a 3 and an eye lash curler a 5.  The hostess might also choose to allow 10 bonus points for the woman who can produce the most outrageous item from her purse.  The woman with the most points wins the game.  Another variation of this game is to have a list of items and call out the items one at a time.  The first woman to find each item and hand it to the person judging the game wins one point.  After the entire list has been completed, the woman with the most points is proclaimed the winner.  

Another common bridal shower game is the Television Couple Game.  In this game the hostess will read out the first names of a television couple and the guests try to guess the last name of the couple.  A few examples clues along with the answers are George and Jane – Jetson, Al and Peg – Bundy, Ward and June – Cleaver.  One point could be awarded for each correct answer or a point system could be established to award more points to more obscure references.  This game is also sometimes called the Famous Couple Game and includes references to celebrities or political figures and their real spouses such as Bill and Hillary – Clinton.  

Bridal Shower Bingo is another simple bridal shower game.  This game is played just like regular bingo except that instead of using letters and numbers for the spaces, each space is filled with a word or words that relate to weddings, love or marriage such as wedding dress, favors, eternal, true, rings, etc.  The host makes up the bingo cards ahead of time and puts a piece of paper with each word used on the cards into a large bowl.  During the game, the hostess will draw out a word and read it allowed and each participant will mark that square on their card.  The first person to complete an entire row, column or diagonal wins the game.  

One bridal shower game that can be a real benefit to the bride to be is a simple drawing.  The hostess may purchase a few inexpensive gifts for the drawing and ask each participant to fill out an envelope with their name and address to enter the drawing.  The hostess then picks out a name for each prize.  This is a fun game because it offers the participants a chance to win a prize plus it really helps out the guest of honor because she can use the envelopes to send out her thank you cards after the party.   

You can see that there's practical value in learning more about Bridal Shower Game. Can you think of ways to apply what's been covered so far? 

The Who Am I Game is another bridal shower game that encourages guests to interact with each other.  In this game, the host prints out pictures of characters from romantic books or movies and tapes one character to the back of each guests so that other guests can see the picture but the person wearing the picture cannot.  The point of the game is to ask other guests questions where the answer is either yes or no to try to determine who is on the picture on your back.  At the end of the party, each guest takes a guess at who is depicted in the photo on their back.  

The Wedding Jumble is another fun bridal shower game.  For this game the hostess will prepare a list of words related to a wedding day such as toast, limousine, receptions, and vows.  Next the hostess will scramble each word so that the letters are out of order and provide each guest with a copy of the scrambled words.  The guest will be given a set amount of time to unscramble the words and the person who unscrambles the most words wins.  If more than one person gets all of the words correct then the person who did so in the fastest time is the winner.  

The Wedding Day Obstacle Course is another game that can really help out the bride.  In this amusing game each guest is timed individually on how fast they can complete a series of tasks such as wrapping a wedding favor, addressing envelopes, filling out a place card,  assembling a centerpiece, or whatever other projects the bride has in progress that can be incorporated into the game.  Not only is this a game that is both fun to watch and participate in but it also helps the bride to complete some of the tasks on her list.  

The Bridal Shower Memory Game is also very popular.  The typical way to play this game is to have a tray filled with various household items.  Bring out the tray and allow the guests to study the items for a few minutes and then take the tray away and ask questions about the items such as, where the spoon was and what color was the spatula.  This game could also be modified to have one of the guests bring the tray out and then leave the room to take the tray away.  You could then catch the guests by surprise by asking questions about the person who carried the tray such as what color shirt were they wearing or on which finger was she wearing a ring instead of asking questions about the contents of the tray.  

The Price is Right Game can also be a great deal of fun at bridal showers and can serve to benefit the bride as well.  For this game the hostess will purchase about 10 different items that will be useful for the couple such as towels, soap dispensers, household cleaners, etc. and have the guests try to guess the price of either all the items combined or each item individually.  This is not only a fun game but the bride also gets to keep the items which makes it useful for her.  

All of these games are a lot of fun to play at a bridal shower and they encourage the guests to get to know each other in a casual atmosphere.  Some of these games even serve the purpose of helping to complete some of the bride’s last minute projects.  The fun of these games is that they help people to get to know each other better which is helpful especially if the bride and grooms’ families don’t know each other well.  

You can't predict when knowing something extra about Bridal Shower Game will come in handy. If you learned anything new about &keyword% in this article, you should file the article where you can find it again.

Don't miss out! Today from 12 PM - 5 PM, Bridal University at Ford Field!

Join us tomorrow for a bridal show unlike any you will ever experience. Created and executed by one of the nation’s premier event production companies, Bridal University Detroit brings you the latest trends, gives you the opportunity to talk with the area’s top wedding providers, compare offers and safely secure the products and services you need to create the wedding you’ve always envisioned. Click the photo link below for more information. See you there!