Wedding Chicks Giveaway! head on over there NOW!

AH!! Wedding Chicks is having a giveaway ! Included are 5 stylish cards for asking your bridesmaids and 5 signature wedding chicks gold necklaces designed by blue poppy designs
What a perfect way to ask your bridesmaids and let them know how special they are to you! love it! Check out the giveaway details *here*

Free The Bride Relay Race

Has anyone ever played this game before? I am trying to figure out what the rules are from the video but it's hard to tell. The only thing I know for sure is that you are supposed to "drop it like it's hot" at the end.

Tokens for bridesmaids

I still haven't decided what to give my bridesmaids & MOH and when I do I don't think I will be posting about it till after the wedding because you know who is a contributer to the bloggity blog. But I think it's safe to share with you some ideas for little gifts that I think would be cool to give them. In addition to the etched glasses, and the bridal survival kits , I am digging Mrs. Gloss's Bachelorette Party Pack

and these CD covers from the Style Me Pretty blog, yes yes I know those are actual invitations but I think they would be perfect for the CD I am going to make for the BM & GM of songs that will make them remember what a great time they had during this whole wedding process :-)

The Bridal Bar with the Bridal Party

I heard about The Bridal Bar on The Wedding Planning audiocast with Ralph Mucci - when they mention they give you cocktails, as you look at a bunch of resources I was IN. I thought it would be a great thing to go to with MOH/Cousin, bridesman/BFF, and BM/FSIL so we can all hang out & do some wedding planning. It would be the first time all 3 of us would get to spend some quality time together. I wish my BM/GBFF (girl bff) & BM/SIL could go too but they both have kids and it would be a hassle to get to West Hollywood for them on a Monday by 6:30, so I will have to set up another event during the weekend so they can all meet. Before I tell you what went wrong with this event I'd like to preface it by saying that I'm a planner, I would not say I love to plan, I would say I *have* to plan, I have to research the heck out of everything so it comes as a surprise to everyone including me that I decide to check the hours of the bridal bar at 5 p.m on the day we are suppose to meet there at 6:30. Well they close at 6! gasp! It's called a BAR and people that have reviewed it talk about drinking, ergo I did not even fathom they would close early oh ya and it's in WEST HOLLYWOOD (We Ho)! So really you can't blame me for thinking they would close late. So at 5:05 I sent a text to MOH/Cousin, brides man/BBFF (boy bff), and BM/FSIL, letting them know it closes at 6 - MOH/Cousin texts back "ditching yoga, on my way now", BM/FSIL texts "will get there but maybe at 6", brides man/BFF texts "no way!" and I in my hysteria think he means no way cant make it, but really he just meant no way! so unfortunately he did not get to meet up with us due to text miscommunication on my part.
So MOH & I check out The Bridal Bar & it was cool, they were VERY helpful, gave me lots of magazines, good tips on some venues & said they could even help me more once I have my venue. These were the first wedding magazine that I had EVER looked at and now I know why lots of ladies like the wedding magazines, so many great things to look at right at your finger tips. If you live in L.A, Atlanta or San Diego then you should definitely go with your girls and check it out! Only thing that bummed us out was they did not have any cocktails but they did say that we could make a private appointment to go over stuff and drink champagne. Luckily Bridal Bar is in We Ho, so MOH and I skedaddle over to the Fiesta Cantina for 2 for 1 & FSIL ends up meeting us there. It was so great to hang out with them and discuss the wedding and just every day life, it was the firs time ever I got to hang out with FSIL without mi amor being there and I must say she rocks! We decided that we must make a point of all hanging out every few weeks until the wedding. (next time the other ladies and gentleman will join us)
It's very important to me for my bridesmaids to get to know each other, so by the time the bachelorette party & wedding roll around we will all have bonded by then :-)
Just for background sakes-
Brides man & MOH know everyone but have not spent bonding time with everyone.
BM/GBBF (girl bff), BM/SIL & FSIL/BM only knows Brides man & MOH and do not know each other. Wowzers I was hoping to clarify things but I think I may have confused you more!

anyways...do all your BM know each other? Do you have any plans for events so they can get to know each other?

Bridesmaid Survival Kit

I'm digging these bridesmaid & wedding survival kits...

{source 100 Layer Cake}{source stylemepretty}
buy the suitcase from Land of Nod

{Wedding Day Survival Kit source Target} Besides the normal, aspirin, lip balm, lotion etc, I am also going to make a CD for my bridal party. Music always has a way of bringing me back to moments in time & I want to make a compilation of songs that would remind my bridesmaid of this special time we had together.

What are you guys putting in your bridesmaid survival kit?

Bridesman & girl ringbear

That's right I have a bridesMAN! I'm not the first nor will I be the last, we live in a different world now & not every one's closest friends are from the same sex. I knew right away who I wanted as my bridesmaids, I wanted them to be people that mean a lot to me, that no matter what the bond between is will stand the test of time, people that I love. Why should I restrict myself to only having females, why should not one of my best friends who I've known for the last 13 years & has always been there for me not be by my side just because he's a boy? ! Exactly. Luckily my family & my future in laws have been very supportive, & the only question they asked was who was he walking down the aisle with? I'm still not sure about that part, but I am actually thinking I may just have the bridesmaids and groomsmen walk by themselves, because after all why should I couple people up & make them walk down the aisle with someone? and just in case you are wondering he is going to the bachelorette party, heck he probably is going to be telling us the best places to go.

Ring bearer, why must it be a little boy? There is nothing in the name that suggest it. Early on mi amor said that he some how wanted his 10 year old cousin to some how be part of the wedding, & we both thought it would be so perfect if she was a ring bearer. She's absolutely precious and is very excited about the wedding, she even drew me a picture of a wedding dress she designed for me!

The flower girls will be my two nieces, one who is 4 and the other who just turned 1 (but will be 2 by the time of the wedding). Both their names start with a "M" so I affectionately call them M&M.

My maid of honor is my cousin, who is 3 years younger than me. Our moms are sisters and we don't have any sisters, so we have always been very close, we even lived together for a total of 5 years after college. As kids our parents use to dress us like twins, mind you I'm 1/2 Nicaraguan 1/2 Dutch & she is 1/2 Nicaraguan & 1/2 Vietnamese so we look nothing alike, but if we are together in a group people can tell right away how close we are because we have our own language, nothing we actually made up, it's just that we understand each other so well. My other bridesmaid are my sister in law, whose the mother of M&M who I don't get to see that often but hopefully now that they've moved closer I will. Then my future sister in law, who is so awesome, she is always on it & has been so helpful in helping me in my quest for the perfect venue, and last but not least my other bf who I've known for 16 years, we became friends when I was transferred to her honors worl civ class in High School & she approached me right away & said hi, & we've been friends since.

So there you have it my bride party!

Was it easy for you to pick your bride party? Are there any nontraditional things are you doing in your wedding?