–Wedding Planning/Ideas–
– Ask a Real Bride – Should My Parents’ Names Appear on My Wedding Invitations?
December 17, 2024
Note: Featured image provided by Caitlin Elizabeth Photography. Caitlin Elizabeth Photography has all the tips for creating a beautiful flat lay featuring your wedding invitation! If you’re not yet part of the Ask a Real Bride Instagram community, you have to join us: brides to be, mothers of the bride and groom, bridesmaids, and anyone […]
6 Do’s and Don’ts for Choosing Your Bridesmaids
December 3, 2024
Choosing your bridal party can feel like solidifying your inner circle: it’s a big decision that carries symbolic weight, as well as real-life responsibilities. Your bridesmaids are your best friends, but they’ll also be your advisors, party planners, personal assistants, and more in the months leading up to the wedding. So how’s a bride to […]
– Ask a Real Bride – Is it Okay to Have a Wedding B-List?
November 21, 2024
For many engaged couples, the guest list is the first step in wedding planning: many factors, including the budget, overall vision, and venue capacity can make determining who gets the invite a difficult decision. One solution for trying to include as many of your loved ones as possible? Creating a “B-List.” What’s a “B-List?” A […]
How Much and How Many? Your Guide to Wedding Registry Amounts
November 14, 2024
Even if you feel that you and your fiance “have everything,” we always recommend registering for actual gifts (not just setting up a honeymoon fund, though we love those, too!). But where to begin? How many gifts are too many gifts? And how can you predict what your guests are likely to spend? Let’s dive […]
– Ask Cheryl – Do I Have to Invite the Crazy Relative to My Wedding?
October 22, 2024
Every family has its quirky members, but is it ever okay to exclude them from the wedding guest list? Today, Cheryl offers her tips for handling difficult guests. Dear Cheryl, We’re in a bit of a situation with our brother-in-law. At our daughter’s wedding, his behavior was so obnoxious that we decided to leave him […]
– Ask a Real Bride – Help! My In-Laws Keep Adding Wedding Guests!
September 19, 2024
The trickiest part of planning a wedding is often the guest list. Determining who gets an invitation is often a collaborative process between the couple and their parents, and when one set of parents is paying, that collaborative process becomes a very delicate dance. This month’s wedding etiquette question comes from a bride trying to […]
– Ask Cheryl – Which Traditions Should We Keep for our Second or Third Weddings?
September 10, 2024
Traditions like throwing the bouquet and cutting the cake are celebratory, but are they appropriate beyond the first wedding? Dear Cheryl, My upcoming marriage will be my third, and my fiance’s second. We originally planned to have a small gathering, but because of the size of his family it is turning into a larger celebration. […]
Sustainable Wedding Registry Gifts for the Eco-Conscious Couple
September 3, 2024
For many modern couples, it’s important to live sustainably. Some simply try to pay attention to environmental impact and long-term product usage, while others may live totally paper- or plastic-free. At the end of the day, I’d be willing to bet that most couples fall somewhere on this spectrum. Like any other wedding factor, your […]
Who Gets a Gift From the Bride?
July 16, 2024
Your complete guide to gift-giving on your wedding day. Before I got married, I had no idea how much work goes into planning a wedding. My to-do list was long, but the people I enlisted to help had just as much to handle — if not more! It takes a village, and that village deserves […]
Finding the Perfect Mother-of-the-Bride (or Groom) Dress
July 2, 2024
As a mother, your child’s wedding day is a milestone you’ve been thinking about since long before your son or daughter had their first crush. It’s a special time that marks a new chapter for your child, their partner, and your family as a whole. When you think about it that way, deciding what to […]
Your Wedding Reception Checklist
June 6, 2024
There’s more to a reception than “dinner and dancing to follow”–and while the reception is a festive celebration, there are also essential elements that make them meaningful and memorable. Your wedding day is going to fly by, and often, brides say they regret running out of time, running late, or forgetting to include important details. […]
5 Things Your Wedding Guests Wish You Knew
May 16, 2024
If you’re engaged and in the thick of wedding planning, chances are you’ve experienced some decision fatigue: between flowers, food options, vendors, and venues, the choices can quickly become overwhelming. But what if I told you that to your guests, there are only a few things that really matter? That after you drive off to […]
Top 10 Things You Have to Do After Getting Married
May 7, 2024
You’re married! Congrats! The days leading up to your wedding are so focused on the events of the day that once it’s over, it’s easy to be left wondering what to do next. Just like you have a wedding planning to-do list, you should have a post-wedding checklist to make sure you cross your Ts […]
– Love and… Remarriage – Etiquette for an Encore Wedding
April 23, 2024
As I write this, I’m fondly remembering my good friend’s “Encore” wedding, which I recently attended. They orchestrated an amazing weekend-long party full of fun activities, incredible food, and a heartfelt ceremony in one of the most beautiful settings imaginable: Aspen, Colorado. However, my friend told me it was challenging to find information, advice, or […]
– Ask Cheryl – How Much to Spend on a Bridesmaid’s Gift?
April 16, 2024
There are so many decisions to make when planning a wedding. Today, our AskCheryl reader is an organized bride who isn’t sure how much to spend on gifts for her attendants. Hi Cheryl! I have an etiquette question regarding the cost of wedding party gifts (I also read your article on the topic). We were planning on […]
– Ask a Real Bride – Can I Tell Guests It’s Too Late to RSVP?
April 9, 2024
Once you mail your wedding invitations, it all starts to feel “real:” after months of planning, the word is finally out, and you can’t wait for guests to open their envelopes and enthusiastically and promptly send in their replies! But it doesn’t always happen that way. Unfortunately, there will always be a few guests who […]
