2010 May

A Bridesmaid Dress She’ll Really Want to Wear Again

28 May2010 By Bridgette 4 Comments

If I ever have a wedding with a formal bridal party, my girls are rocking these dresses!

We’ve all been there. Your cousin, best friend or sister announces she wants you to be in her wedding. Great! Then she sets you up for the okey doke with “The bridesmaid dresses are going to be so cute. I’m picking something you’ll actually want to wear again.” Sure you think to yourself. I can’t wait to wear a turquoise, taffeta, floor length gown to my company holiday party next year. I think most brides have the best intentions when they share the above or similar sentiments with their bridal party but rarely is it true. Enter twobirds Bridesmaid to the rescue :
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Filed Under: Bridgette's Pick of the Week, Fashion, Style, Uncategorized Tagged With: bridesmaid dresses, bridesmaid dresses for every shape and size, cute bridesmaid dresses, twobirds bridesmaid

Destination Deals & Honeymoon Hookups

27 May2010 By Bridgette 3 Comments

The Westin Resort in St. John: There's no need for many decorations in a beautiful setting like this.

I attended the “Destination Weddings & Honeymoons Celebrate Romance” expo at NYC’s posh Plaza Hotel last week. (I actually prefer boutique hotels such as the Gansevoort but whenever I go to the Plaza I feel like a grown-up.) Anyway, the event was very informative and I’ll have loads of great stuff to share with you guys in the coming weeks. Today I’m providing a sampling of a few things I uncovered that you can take advantage of now: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Destination Ideas, Honeymoon, Planners, Peonies & Placecards Tagged With: destination wedding deals, destination wedding ideas, honeymoon deals, honeymoon ideas

The State of Our Unions

26 May2010 By Bridgette 1 Comment

A brand new coffee table book that celebrates our marriages.

Whether it is your first time visiting BlackBridalBliss.com, or your 51st time — you have figured out that I’m over the doom and gloom regarding marriage in the Black community. Not only is the conversation exhausting, stats misused (sure educated Black women are getting married older but virtually all educated women are getting hitched later in life) and very rarely are the historical and social factors brought to the table for context. UGH! So when I discover folks like Kea Taylor , I am genuinely more optimistic about the global perception of Black marriage. You will be, too.
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Filed Under: Planners, Peonies & Placecards Tagged With: Black love, Black marriages, Black weddings, I Still Do, Kea Taylor

Tie the Knot Tuesday – Sandra & Kevin

25 May2010 By Bridgette 14 Comments

Read about the whirlwind journey of these childhood sweethearts.

Bride: Sandra Lemon, 33

Groom: Kevin Jones, 33

Occupations: Lemon, physician’s assistant; Jones, engineer project manager

Homebase: Maryland

Wedding Date: August 15, 2009

Wedding Location: Grand Lodge, Hunt Valley, Maryland
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Filed Under: Tie The Knot Tuesdays, Uncategorized Tagged With: Black love, Black weddings, budget bridal tips, real weddings, weddings for blended families

Wedding Invitations For Every Budget and Style

24 May2010 By Bridgette 1 Comment

This Cascading Blooms wedding invite from event planner Preston Bailey is affordable...No, really!

Recently a Triple B reader in Atlanta (a groom-to-be) expressed an interest in receiving more scoop on wedding invitation designs. I was eager to help the brother out, especially because I have adored stationery since I was an itty bitty girl. Plus it warms my heart to witness a man happily involved in the planning of his nuptials. So Arthur in ATL, I hope this makes life for you and the soon-to-be Mrs. a little less stressful.
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Filed Under: Invitations, Planners, Peonies & Placecards Tagged With: affordable wedding invitations, Amber Renee, Blu Orchid wedding invitations, Jean M wedding invitations, Preston Bailey wedding invitations, Smythson of Bond STreet wedding invitations

Bridal Fashion Advice for ALL Body Types!

21 May2010 By Bridgette 4 Comments

Style expert and beaming bride Nicole Brewer surrounded by her bridal party, Summer 2009.

I recently caught up with style expert Nicole Brewer to get the 411 on bridal fashion for women of all sizes. With nearly 15 years of experience in the fashion industry, Brewer is currently a Style Council Member for David’s Bridal. The spunky newlywed (she just jumped the broom herself last summer) chatted with me about proper foundations, bridesmaid dresses and wardrobe tricks for real brides with real curves. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fashion, Q&A, Style Tagged With: bridal fashion tips and tricks, bridal style advice, david's bridal, nicole brewer, plus-size bridal

READER MAIL! Budget-Friendly Centerpieces

20 May2010 By Bridgette 1 Comment

Get affordable centerpiece ideas for your next function!

This post is pretty special. It’s a response to Triple B’s very first reader inquiry! Today’s question is all about reception centerpieces so I tracked down the lovely TaraSimone of Barbara’s Flowers in Harlem to help my bride-to-be out. TaraSimone developed a budding curiosity for flowers at the age of seven while observing her dad run the family floral biz. Now, she has clients ranging from ConEdison and Merrill Lynch to Hillary Clinton and Alicia Keys. Here we go:
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Filed Under: Flowers, Planners, Peonies & Placecards, Q&A Tagged With: barbara's flowers in harlem, reader mail, reception centerpieces

Check out these BEAUTIFUL Engagement Photos!

19 May2010 By Bridgette 4 Comments

View this engaged LA couple's heartwarming photos!

A dear colleague alerted me of the gorgeous engagement session I’m sharing with you today. These images (courtesy of the talented Henry Chen) speak for themselves. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Photography, Planners, Peonies & Placecards Tagged With: Black love, Henry Chen, Stacy and Shannon Engagement Photos, unique engagement photos, wedding photography

Tie the Knot Tuesday Meets Marriage Matters

18 May2010 By Bridgette 1 Comment

Can you stand the rain?

Let me come clean. It’s raining here in New York today (rain always makes me feel nostalgic) and today’s Tie the Knot Tuesday delves into the rainy days of marriage. TTKT will sometimes take on different formats. Occasionally (like today) it won’t have tons of pretty pictures with fuzzy captions. Although I lovingly named this site Black Bridal Bliss, marriage is not always blissful. To demonstrate this, I uncovered one of my treasured editor’s letters from writer extraordinaire, Danyel Smith, (Google her. She’s dopeness.) while she was the head editrix at the now defunct Vibe Vixen magazine. In it the famed author bared her soul about a tiff she was having with her hubby who she wed in 2005. Danyel’s vulnerability about love, marriage and everything in between gets no realer or sweeter.
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Filed Under: Marriage Matters, Planners, Peonies & Placecards, Tie The Knot Tuesdays Tagged With: Black love, Danyel Smith, Marriage Matters, Tie the Knot Tuesday

BLACK BRIDAL BLISS Exclusive Discount!

17 May2010 By Bridgette Leave a Comment

Dream house + dream wedding. You can have both!

I’m so excited, folks! I just learned that the good people at HatchMyHouse.com were so impressed by last week’s post on their fab new wedding registry that they’re offering an exclusive discount to Triple B readers.
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