Bridal Section

Celebrations January 2011 • Journal & Courier • jconline.com

Go digital with online invitations Page 7

Weddings on pointe Brides become ballerinas in dance-inspired gowns Page 6

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jconline.com | Friday, January 14, 2011

When shopping for diamond rings, remember 4 Cs maximum radiance. The better the cut, the more sparkle. Cut is then Finding an engagement ring that divided into type of cut with round fits a woman’s style, personality brilliant being the most traditional. and is flawless in appearance can Clarity: This refers to the be challenging. But when incorponumber of imperfections in a stone. rating the 4 Cs during a purchase, Diamonds are rated on a scale of chances are you flawless (the rarest and most valuwill choose the able) to inclusions right diamond. (which contains Carat, color, cut more imperfecand clarity are the tions). properties to look Color: Maybe for in a diamond the easiest quality and they add up to tell with the to affect cost and naked eye. Most appearance of the diamonds contain stone. some color, with Carat: DiaGannett file photo monds are meaConsider carat, color, cut and value increasing as they approach sured in metric clarity when choosing a diacarats equal to 1⁄5 of colorless. The mond engagement ring.

Gemological Ina gram. In general, the heavier a diastitute of America rates diamonds on a scale from D mond is the more valuable it is. But (colorless) to Z (light yellow). a bigger stone is not always better.

The other Cs affect a diamond’s Today’s styles range from traditional to custom and contemporary appearance and radiance. designs, said Lucian Lee, owner Cut: Cut dictates how light travels through the diamond to provide of Hale’s Jewelers in Greenville,

By GANNETT

S.C., but the most popular tend to be princess cut and round brilliant, both of which provide a lot of sparkle no matter a stone’s size.

Mountings and bands are more often white metal like gold or platinum.

The vintage style, with a large stone surrounded by smaller ones, is gaining momentum. New technology also has refined the way smaller diamonds are cut, allowing for a high sparkle factor even at a lower carat.

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From table to topper, make your cake stand out allow for many types of edible ornaments, so check with your decorator.

If you are planning to take the Fresh flowers as a cake top. aisle waltz and need to choose a When using fresh flowers, make cake, there are a sure they are few things to keep arranged with in mind. picks or conUse the advance tainers and time to plan out the not directly on cake itself, from dethe cake. Most sign to color theme fresh flowers to flavor. and greenery Here’s a list are treated with of things to keep pesticides. in mind when it Cake table. comes to your cake: Have a sturdy Cake toptable ready upon pers/ornaments. delivery of the When picking an cake. The cake ornament or cake table should topper, consider be covered and Associated Press file photo decorated before the dimension and The Martha Stewart dove weight. Choices the cake is placed cake topper brings whimsy to on top. include “bride and your wedding cake. groom” ornaCost. The dements or a floral sign, flavor, type piece that matches your wedding of frosting, the number of layers colors. New techniques and molds and the difficulty in constructing

By JOJO SANTO TOMAS

Gannett

your dream wedding cake all add up. Decide on a cake budget before placing your order.

Delivery. Make sure you ask if your cake decorator can deliver the cake and if there is an additional charge for delivery. Also

include a contact person to receive the cake.

Cancellations. Make sure you understand the terms of the contract for cancellations. A percentage of most deposits are non-refundable.

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jconline.com | Friday, January 14, 2011

Celebrations

Bridal makeup should boost natural beauty

By WENDY CAMPBELL Gannett

The wedding day is one that calls for perfection. The bride must look her best. A photographer will capture her every move, so she wants to make sure her makeup is flawless.

No matter your experience, you are wondering whether to count on yourself for the big day or look elsewhere for help. There is one thing to keep in mind — your wedding day is not the day for experimenting.

“The wedding day is a big day for the bride and groom, but more so for the bride, in most cases,” said Sheryl Schwartz, image specialist with Studio Twenty-8 in Pensacola, Fla. “A bride wants to look perfect on her wedding day. She wants to be wearing the perfect dress, the perfect shoes, and she wants her makeup to be flawless.”

Should your dream wedding makeup be delicate or extrava-

gant? Remember that wedding makeup is aimed at making you more beautiful, not changing you.

Wedding makeup should be delicate, radiant and fresh. The colors depend on the appearance of the bride, her skin type. Makeup should also blend with the dress.

If you don’t like strong makeup, use a natural or mineral kind. You will still get the color you need but without the heavy feel on your face.

Foundation is the key. Choose a good color for your skin, and work from there.

After makeup, it’s on to the hair.

“Doing someone’s hair for a wedding is something very special,” said Amy Johns, hair stylist with Studio Twenty-8. “This is such an important day. A bride wants her hair to look perfect for the wedding day. She wants to look great for the wedding photos.”

Hairstyles vary from person to person.

“A bride that has long hair most of the time will want it pulled up

and fixed in a special way for her wedding,” Johns said. “Sometimes she will choose to let it all hang down, but especially for the more formal weddings, up is always a great choice for the hairstyle. You can leave some of the hair down

and then add some ringlet curls if the hair is straight. And if the hair is already curly, pull some up and let some curl hang down.

Source: www.wedding.theknot. com

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What to do with your dress after your big day

By LORI HOLCOMB

Gannett

If your goal is to retain at least some part of your wedding gown, there are plenty of options to consider: • Preserve it. Preservation companies recommend taking action immediately to prevent stains from setting in. Some dry cleaners offer wedding gown cleaning and preservation services or sell kits to send the dress off to companies that specialize in preservation.

These companies clean the dress and place them in a pH-neutral box. The kits are available at authorized dealers; visit www. gownpreservation.com or a wedding website, such as theknot.com for more information or to find a preservation company in your area.

• Repurpose it. If you would like to stretch your dress’ use without giving it away, try incorporating it into meaningful decor.

The train could be used as trim-

ming in a baby blanket or to start a family quilt. Some of the tulle and beading could be used to adorn photo frames with pictures from the wedding.

• Donate it. By donating your dress to Goodwill, the Salvation Army or a similar group, you can give someone who might not be able to afford a full-price dress the opportunity to also feel like the princess you were on your big day.

Another option that will not only extend the life of your dress but also enrich someone else’s is to donate your dress to Brides Against Breast Cancer. This group resales wedding gowns and donates the proceeds to the Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation, a group that grants final wishes to women and men suffering from terminal breast cancer.

For more information, visit www. bridesagainstbreastcancer.org • Sell it. There are plenty of brides looking for good deals, and eBay, wedding website message boards or local consignment shops

that will share the profits with you are easy ways to unload the dress and get a little bit of return on your investment.

• Reuse it. Celebrate a weight loss or special anniversary by having pictures made of you and your

hubby in wedding attire at alternative venues.

• Got a sense of humor? A little creative makeup and you’ve got a great bridezilla, bride of Frankenstein or a zombie bride Halloween costume.

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Celebrations

Ballet-inspired looks dance into bridal shops

By TAYA FLORES tflores@jconline.com

Tana Lewellen of Logansport chose a whimsical ballgown to wear during her September wedding this year.

“The way we met and everything was kind of like a fairy tale and when I was looking at dresses I thought, ‘I want that fairy tale ending,’ ” the 22-year-old said. “So when I put it on, it was perfect.”

The dress has ballet inspiration laced all throughout its design.

It has a corseted bodice with a sweetheart neckline that laces up the back. The skirt, which Lewellen described as “very ballerina at the bottom,” is voluminous tulle reminiscent of a tutu. She plans to pair the regal gown with ballet flats to complete the look, she said.

Although ballet-inspired dresses are not a trend this year, bridal gowns are moving in a direction that incorporates many elements of the ballet. Classic tulle gowns similar to Lewellen’s are making a comeback and more of these ballet-inspired dresses are expected to show up in bridal boutiques by fall of this year, according to design directors and retail managers.

“It seems to have occurred because the trend in bridal is much lighter and ethereal,” said Dan Rentillo, design director and David’s Bridal Style Council member. “With the release and publicity surrounding ‘The Black Swan,’ it will no doubt have an impact on

bridal design and fashion inspiration in general.”

Erin Kantz, assistant manager at The Bridal Boutique & Mr. Penguin Tuxedo in Lafayette, said she has seen the trend in bridal magazines from late last year and these magazines are what set the pace for dress trends the following year.

Also, it takes time for trends to trickle into Midwest stores, she said.

“I definitely think it could be a trend for 2011,” she said. “It’s in the magazines and it’ll become more popular with the girls here.

They kind of wait to see what’s the new big thing.”

Some of the design elements of ballerina-inspired dresses includes corseted bodices, tealength and tulle skirts, Kantz said.

Other elements such as feathers, flowers, ribbons, horsehair and crystal beading can appear to be inspired by the ballet. Fabrics such as tulle, satin and organza are all common design elements, not to mention the tiaras and ballet slipper-style shoes, Rentillo said.

Kantz said the ballet evokes a sense of femininity.

“A lot of girls want to feel graceful and feminine on their wedding day,” she said. “A little girl dreams about being a ballerina and dreams about her wedding day as well.”

Lewellen said her dress fit that fairy tale ending that she so desired.

“It’s like every girl’s dream,” she said.

By Brent Drinkut/Journal & Courier

Courtney McWaine models a ballet-inspired wedding gown.

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RSVP is just a click away with online invitations

By TIM BROUK

tbrouk@jconline.com

In a digital world, local couples are still putting out wedding invitations on paper.

But for Lee and Tiffany Gooding, their October 2010 wedding saw only a fraction of their invites go through the mail.

Most ended up in friends and family’s inboxes. Lee Gooding, 29, works in IT and graphics and thought an e-mailed invitation would allow people to RSVP quicker. A link took guests to a public website that held all of the ceremony and reception details.

“It was depending on the person,” Gooding explained. “We knew who is on the computer more and who to send a traditional paper one.”

The Goodings did create a print invitation through Vistaprint. com and then scanned one to send through the Internet. A link was imbedded into the invitation to RSVP and to go to the couple’s site.

“If I could go back, I’d put (the link) on top of the e-mail,” Gooding said. “That’s something I should have changed — make that very visible at the top.”

Through Vistaprint, the Goodings received 150 invitations and envelopes for $50. However, they only ended up mailing out about 50 of them. There were 155 guests at the wedding.

The digital experiment was a success, Gooding said. He found the digital invites from WeddingWire.com easier to keep track of.

Photo provided

Lee and Tiffany Gooding sent most of the invites for their October 2010 wedding via e-mail.

“No one complained about it,” he added. “I really don’t feel it was much different than the paper one.”

But sometimes tradition wins over the new and cutting edge.

“I would do more mailed invitations,” said Oliva Casas, who will marry Jason Milbeck on Oct. 22.

“To me, it sounds more formal than an e-vite.”

Casas and Milbeck are just starting to explore their invitation options. They have a designer friend who worked on their save the date cards and may use him again.

Those cards were mailed instead of Christmas cards about a month ago. Casas said invitations won’t be sent out until “10 or 11 weeks” before the big day as half of the guests are coming from Michigan.

Just like choosing a caterer, wedding cake or photographer, choosing invitations is another decision to make and the digital realm gives couples more to think about.

Amy Bogan will marry David Ledman on July 16 in Lafayette.

They decided on print invitations and added their own decorations and embossments.

“We considered using an online site, but with elderly family and friends we went with the postcard route,” Bogan stated.

The postcard style reduced cost over envelopes with multiple cards and paper.

“I priced some not very appealing ones at $1.75 each up to $3.97, which is crazy,” she added.

Melissa Perez, owner of Scissors in the City, is still deciding on invitations for her July 2 wedding in downtown Lafayette. She and fiance Shawn Harrison sent magnets to their more than 200 guests

as a save the date. The business card-sized magnet had a picture of the couple and a quote from Mark Twain on it.

Perez has eliminated printing her own invites and using up her printer ink. And she will stay away from digital due to past experiences with online party invitations in e-mail and Facebook. She doesn’t trust all of her guests to respond online or even open up an e-mailed invite.

While the look of the invitations should be considered, getting them to the guest and getting them to respond on time are the most important parts of the invitation, Perez believes.

“I think nowadays people are very bad at RSVPing,” she said.

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When things go wrong, let etiquette be your guide cash, traditionally information about your registry was given by word of mouth Of course, something’s through close family. bound to go wrong the day Q: If someone is single, of your wedding. are you obligated to include The cake your aunt ‘plus-one’ on the invitation? made arrives in a mushy Anna: It’s OK to say no, pool. The microphone so long as this person is screeches as your best not engaged, married, life friend does the reading. partnered or living together The officiate loses your with a significant other. They vows and tries to “wing it” are a package deal at that from memory. point. If someone asks for To help you through an exception, it’s best if you Gannett file photo some of those tough decibe consistent and say no, but Weddings are stressful, but a little etiquette can sions, we’ve enlisted the end on a high note. help couples get through the toughest situations. help of Emily Post, whose Q: What do you do if legacy of etiquette and someone shows up uninDirect is best, I think, but a kind of manners live on in her vited? direct that doesn’t reveal that they great-great-granddaughter, Anna Anna: This is one of the hardare annoying the pants off you. Try Post, and The Emily Post Institute. enlisting close friends and famAnna Post has authored multiple ily, maybe bridesmaids if they are books, including “Do I Have to willing, to help. Plan to make those Wear White,” and answered some calls about one week before you reof the most common questions ally need your final guest list. about wedding faux pas.

Q: Is it OK to send first and secQuestion: How do you trim the ond rounds of invitations? guest list?

Anna: I think it’s often more Anna: If the guest list is too trouble than it’s worth, not just in large, you have one of two choices: the form of potential hurt feelings.

You can extend your budget or you Send them all at once and expect can limit your guest list. If money that about 10 percent will not be is not negotiable, which is very able to attend. common these days, look at how Q: How do you ask for cash the list is divided. You might let the instead of gifts, without sounding bride and groom chose 50 percent, greedy? and their parents the other half. If Anna: It’s not wrong to ask for it. there are stepparents involved, the pie might be sliced even further. It’s It’s wrong to demand it. The choice nicer if you can do that beforehand. of gift is always up to the person buying it. That said, most people Q: How do you approach guests would like to know what’s really who haven’t sent an RSVP? useful to you. If that happens to be Anna: Call them up and ask.

BY ELIZABETH WILLIS Gannett

est because to turn someone away at the door is very difficult. At this point they’ve put you in a very tough spot. I think the gracious thing is to make room at a table.

Follow up later and say, ‘I appreciate you came, but it made if very difficult for me.’

Q: How does the couple broach the question, ‘Who’s going to pay for this?’

Anna: It’s common today to have any type of financial mix, especially when family members might be divorced. If the bride and groom know that they need help, it’s best to have these conversations early on. Try to have a loose idea of how large or small the wedding could be and have some possible locations in mind.

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Focus on search for photographer well in advance

By JULIA HAYS

Gannett

To couples out there preparing for their big day, the most important person to find after you choose a mate can be the wedding photographer.

The photographer will not only be with you during the eight to nine hours of your preparation, ceremony and reception: The moments his or her camera captures will last a lifetime.

As Joshua Stern of JS Photography in Cherry Hill, N.Y., puts it, “Once the day’s over, the music stops, the food has been eaten, what you’re left with to cherish is those photographs.”

Couples can avoid scrambling searches and complications by approaching the task of finding a photographer with a plan in mind and a vision of what they’re seeking.

Finding the photographer

Just like venues get booked, photographers have busy schedules as well, which can fluctuate with the seasons.

Experts say October and May are the most popular months for weddings and recommend finding a photographer once the ceremony and venue locations are booked, approximately nine months to a year in advance.

Knowing the demands of a desired photographer are important as well.

As Bill Kovnat of K & K Photography in Cherry Hill points out, if

a region has many bar and bat mitzvahs booked two to three years in advance, it’s important to book a desired date as soon as possible.

Photographers recommend referrals as well as research.

Most say it’s good to get recommendations from clients who have worked with the photographer, seen the results and knew their attitude on the big day.

albums.

Important questions

The three Ps of booking a photographer for your wedding are prices, packages and proofs.

Studying a package is important to know what services are included and which ones require additional costs.

Kovnat says it’s important to sit down with a photographer to Gannett file photo brainstorm ideas, discuss Diana Lynn Newby, 31, of Memphis, Tenn., poses for locations and times and Style and personality her wedding photographer, Carine Tran, in the lobby to develop a script and multiple plans to make Most professional pho- of the International House in New Orleans. sure that on your big day tographers have the tala couple and may stick around ent, but it’s important for couples the shutter goes off without a to retouch proofs and complete to also find one with similar taste. hitch.

“Look to see if the style is more traditional, posed shots, or a photojournalistic style, like candids in a newspaper where the photographer is trying to tell the story of the event,” said Stern.

Looking through albums can tell a couple how a photographer works, and it’s important to ask who will be shooting the event.

Some places have multiple photographers.

Much like a wedding guest or member of the bridal party, the photographer will spend hours with the couple, and should mesh with them.

“Following the event, we’re together anywhere from six months to a year,” says Kovnat.

Photographers are booked in advance to spend a day with

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jconline.com | Friday, January 14, 2011

Try timeless glamour of vintage wedding gowns to ask — frankly — of yourself: Do you need to wear a bra? Do you have a boyish figure? An hourNEW YORK — There’s someglass shape? What about your hips? thing romantic about the idea of All of these, he said, are factors in a vintage wedding dress, with the buying any wedding gown, but parwonderful stories it could tell. ticularly those meant to fit women Maybe there’d of previous be some delicate generations. lace, too, or Silver, a exquisite sirenresource for worthy satin.

Hollywood redReality, carpet looks, though, isn’t also warns always so pretty. that finding a Some vintage pristine white dresses are vintage dress those perfect can be hard, gowns you and that a dream of, said good vintage Mark Ingram, dress, if it’s not CEO and crean heirloom, ative director can be more of Manhattan’s expensive than Mark Ingram you’d think.

Bridal Atelier, Even with your but others are grandmother’s too costume-y, dress, there too dated or, could be pricey more likely, simalterations. ply ill-fitting.

“Don’t do

By Seth Wenig/The Associated Press “You can this because you Lace and beading contribute to the reach back to think it’s the vintage look of this Monique Lhuilsome vintage easy way out, lier wedding dress. eras and look or that it’ll be as contemporary as buying a new cheaper,” adds Ingram. “You have dress. But,” he said, “you have to to want it — you have to want to consider your figure first and forehave this look.” most. If the dress isn’t flattering to If you’re partial to embroidery, your figure type, just don’t go down look at gowns from the 1920s-’30s, the road.” while sultry, satin gowns come Cameron Silver, owner of the out of the ’40s. Women with a full Los Angeles couture vintage shop bust might look to the curvier ’50s Decades, suggests these questions silhouette, said Ingram, WE TV’s

By SAMANTHA CRITCHELL

The Associated Press

“gown guru,” while mini-dresses of the ’60s are cool, yet hard to pull off unless the event is casual or the bride prides herself an individualist.

Silver said that’s usually the case with those who wear vintage. “This bride doesn’t want to look like everyone else.”

Still, you can hit contemporary fashion trends. Something from the ’70s, a little bohemian but sexy, too, is probably the hippest look going.

The period to stay away from is, no surprise, the ’80s, with its oversize pouffy shoulders and tapered sleeves.

A bride’s goal often is a timeless look, since the photos will hopefully last a lifetime, but each era still has its signature, said Michael Shet-

tel, designer of bridal brand Alfred Angelo. You might be best off with a classic silhouette, while adjusting embellishments and details to current tastes, he suggests.

Wedding-gown trends don’t swing as quickly as ready-to-wear fashion, he explains: Of course, white always dominates the market and the overall vibe is fancy, but when you line them up, you’ll see differences in the size and types of pearls and beads, changes in popular lace patterns, hemlines going up and down.

“You want to make it your own, while still honoring whoever wore a vintage dress before. ... Maybe you’d like to make it a little more low-cut, a little more fitted, maybe give it a fuller skirt,” Shettel said.

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Simple lighting tricks create ambiance

By DIANA MARSZALEK The Associated Press

You’d be hard pressed to find a bride who doesn’t make flowers, centerpieces and tablecloths a priority when it comes to creating a certain mood for the wedding.

But talk to wedding lighting designer Bentley Meeker — whose clients have included Chelsea Clinton and Catherine Zeta Jones — and he’ll tell you that simple tricks, such as changing the color of light bulbs, can create the desired ambiance more effectively then roses and fancy tablecloths ever could.

“Wedding lighting is really about what people are always trying to do with their weddings, which is to create a certain vibe and atmosphere,” the New York City lighting pro said.

“Say you’re going to do a wedding in your office, and you bring in flowers and the tables and you still have fluorescent lighting,” he said. “It will look like your office decorated for a wedding.

“But if I came in and lit the office and didn’t do any other decorations, we would have transformed that space.”

Diann Valentine, a Los Angeles wedding designer and expert on the cable station Wedding Central, agreed that lighting should top brides’ decorating priority lists because it “allows us to program the mood of an event.”

That might mean changing the intensity of light throughout a wedding — dimmer for cocktails,

brighter for dinner, for example — or using it to completely change the feel of a room.

Rainer Flor, who married wife Candice last month at singer Gloria Estefan’s Costa d’Este in Vero Beach, Fla., said lighting effects enhanced the “Miami chic” atmosphere they were looking for. With floor lights and strategically placed LED lights, he said, the room, right off the beach, “looked almost like an aquarium.”

Central Florida wedding planner Karry Castillo, who helped design the Flors’ wedding, said effects can range from simple spotlights on particular room features or decorations, to lighting motifs and patterns on walls, floors and ceilings.

In addition, lighting effects can be relatively inexpensive, anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands, depending on complexity.

“In many ways, lighting not only enhances the elements you have in place, but it can also give you a lot more bang for the dollar, too,” Castillo said.

Meeker is particularly fond of using pink and amber light bulbs, though he warns that those colors must be used cautiously (“There is ugly amber”). Dimmed incandescent light is another of his favorites.

Particularly in closed rooms, he said, use lighting that’s appropriate for the setting — fixtures that can be absorbed into, rather than take over, the larger setting.

“It has to look beautiful so when

the guests walk in they lose their breath,” Meeker said.

Make sure light isn’t so glaring — or dark — that it distorts or distracts from the wedding party.

And choose soft, flattering colors to create a serene atmosphere, particularly by quelling strong lights. “Lighting can change so much that people really feel good about themselves,” Meeker said.

Meeker sometimes works with crews 120 strong, and charges anywhere from $4,000 to $500,000 to custom light a wedding. But there is plenty that brides and wedding planners with more limited resources can do quite simply, he said.

One cost-free suggestion: Dim the lights.

The Associated Press

Bentley Meeker designed the lighting at Billy Joel’s 2004 wedding.

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Friends go from wedding guests to wedding celebrants

By MONICA RHOR

The Associated Press

Jessica Alexander’s wedding was everything she had envisioned: a private gathering by her summer house on an Iowa lake.

There was a pink and purple color scheme, a butterfly motif, and a dessert bar rather than a full meal.

And, wearing a short periwinkle dress designed “to show off her legs,” was Alexander’s minister and bridesmaid, AnnaMegan Raley, a close friend who was ordained online specifically to perform the ceremony.

Raley, a blogger for the Houston Chronicle, didn’t even know she had been ordained until Alexander and her mother sprang

the news at the bridal shower.

They had already paid a $25 fee and filled out a form with her name and address, making her the Rev. Raley.

“I thought it was a joke. I’m sure that I put it on Facebook and Twitter,” said Raley. “But I had heard about people Raley getting ordained to perform weddings.

So, I said: ‘Sure, I’d love to.’ ” Nontraditional? Perhaps.

A growing trend? Definitely.

More and more engaged couples are turning to friends or family members to perform their wedding ceremony. They say it is more personal, relatively stress-

free and cheaper.

It is also surprisingly fast and simple.

Getting ordained requires little more than finding an online ministry that performs ordinations, and filling out a short form with your name and address. Some websites require a nominal fee for paperwork; others don’t charge anything.

Prospective brides and grooms should look into the website and local marriage laws, however, to make sure the ceremony would be valid. Although online ordinations are generally recognized, laws vary widely from state to state, sometimes from county to county.

Some states require ministers to register after they are ordained.

In Louisiana, parishes ask for a

letter of good standing from the church, while Las Vegas requires a four-page application and background check.

In 2009, about one in seven weddings were performed by a friend of the couple, according to The Wedding Report, a research firm.

At Alexander’s lakeside wedding in Iowa, her ministerbridesmaid Raley also served as personal attendant, and helped decorate for the reception — all of which lent an air of comfort and familiarity to the ceremony.

“It helped that she was the one standing up there for us,” said Alexander, a fourth-grade teacher who lives in Rockwell, Texas, outside Dallas. “I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”

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Couples share ‘big day’ details on wedding sites

By CARYN ROUSSEAU

The Associated Press

With friends and family headed to her California wedding from all over, bride-to-be Carrie Shields decided online organization was key.

“Really the wedding website was one of the first things we did,” the 32-year-old public relations director from San Diego said. Shields is marrying fiance R.J. Jones, 36, who was born and raised in Wales.

“I knew people were going to have a lot of questions about what to do and how to get there,” Shields said. “I wanted to make it fun and personal. I kind of jumped right on things because people were traveling so far.”

Wedding experts at The|Knot. com and its partner Wedding Channel.com say this year’s annual survey found 64 percent of brides now have a website to share details with guests about ceremony and reception logistics, registry information and travel accommodations. Web companies exist

that allow couples to host wedding sites for free while others charge a fee for access to fancier templates and tools.

The page Shields created has a personal and creative flair. It features a blue and orange frame with a brown background.

“A lot of the people coming over, they’ve never been to America,” Shields said.

Experts at WeddingWire.com recommend that couples launch their website at least six months before the wedding date to give guests as much information as early as possible. That allows enough time to make travel arrangements.

WeddingWire also offers other online tools, including a program that lets guests RSVP directly from the website.

Carley Roney, editor and founder of TheKnot.com, said her site and WeddingChannel.com together host more than 500,000 wedding websites for couples.

“It’s a simple, easy way of communication,” Roney said. “It’s really like going to the website for

a restaurant or a concert event.

Everything is in one place.”

That’s why more wedding website addresses are appearing in fancy fonts on the bottom of printed invitations.

“You’re going to want to give

the same information you always needed to have on an invitation: the name, location, time of event,” Roney said.

But things like dress code or baby-sitting services can be saved for the website.

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Frugal brides-to-be find DIY inspiration online

By DORIE TURNER The Associated Press

After the I dos and ’til death do us parts, they’re the two little words every bride waits to hear on her wedding day: “How creative!”

At least, that’s what I wanted to hear after I got married last September before 90 guests in an outdoor ceremony at an antebellum mansion in downtown Memphis, Tenn.

Artsy to the core, I longed to create the perfect handmade wedding, with clever details that my guests wouldn’t see anywhere else.

I wanted to highlight my personal style and undying love for being crafty and gluing stuff together.

And with a budget of $10,000, I wanted to save a little cash.

Already an avid shopper at the online artists marketplace Etsy. com, I knew when my beau, John, proposed that it was the first place to start looking for unique items, and to get ideas for what I could make myself.

Etsy sales have risen quickly

since it began in 2005, reaching $180 million last year thanks in part to a burgeoning wedding section with thousands of handmade wares, said spokesman Adam Brown. Brides can peruse everything from typewriter-key cufflinks to a personalized ring-bearer pillow.

Wedding blogs such as 100 Layer Cake, Style Me Pretty and Etsy Wedding also promote handmade wedding fare and artsy style.

Online bridal message boards light up with suggestions when bridesto-be ask about how to make their own table numbers, or craft lanterns out of baby food jars and tea light candles.

Do-it-yourself wedding decorations and favors have become so popular that TheKnot.com and Martha Stewart Weddings — the arbiters in all things bridal — now have sections dedicated to brides looking to break out the hot-glue gun.

“In generations past, weddings were very similar, but now people want to put their own unique

spin on their wedding,” said Rebecca Dolgin, executive editor of TheKnot.com. “They want it to be different from someone else’s, and these DIY details really make that happen.”

Not everything that can be DIY

at a wedding should be, though.

There are some things best left to the experts.

Dolgin recommends that brides — even the most frugal ones — hire people to take care of the food, cakes and photos.