New Year, New Website!

Hello friends, Romans and Countrymen!

Wishing you all the happiest of New Years from My Little Flower Shop. If you are not already aware, this blog and it’s content has moved to our new website, and that’s where new content has been appearing daily for several weeks.  Hopefully, those WordPress.org subscribers will hop on over to http:/www.mylittleflowershop.com and subscribe to the blog on our new website.

You’ll find the blog on it’s own page, with a box asking you to subscribe to updates. Please do! This WordPress.com blog will be taken down soon.

Please visit us at our new home on the web, and may your 2012 be filled with peace, love and flowers.

- Dinah at My Little Flower Shop

http:/www.mylittleflowershop.com

Loving this tablescape…My Little Flower Shop’s Holiday Spirit

We know it’s on Facebook but Oooh la la! So elegant!

A beautiful Holiday tablescape

Freezing at an Outdoor Winter Wonderland Wedding

We’ve all misjudged or ignored winter weather to wear something sassy to a holiday party, and frozen our cute patooties off.  The less fortunate among us have stood at an outdoor wedding ceremony wishing a bad cold upon the head of Alfred Angelo or whoever designed the bridesmaids’ dress

Chances are, any bride whose maids are freezing is also trying to keep her own teeth from chattering.  And let me just tell you, that does not make for pretty pictures. If you’re dreaming of a strapless gown (and having your girls echo your style), here are three ways to combat the cold.

1)  Wrap it up!  Your bridesmaids will thank you if their gift is not jewelry but a lovely wrap to wear at your outdoor New Year’s Eve ceremony.  In Alaska. Your Maid-of-Honor can carry one for you, and wait for your “I’m cold” signal.

2)  Shrug it…on!  Many strapless gowns look lovely with a little shrug.  Look at your bridal shop or at an elegant boutique –

Photo courtesy of Emery & Company http://www.emerycophoto.com

chances are you’ll be able to find a look just cozy enough if you and the girls need that extra layer

3)  Go Solar-flo! That’s the rental biz name for the mushroomish heaters you see at events. Use them near your ceremony area to keep things toasty, and get them wrapped by the rental company so they aren’t quite so un-decorative.

So there are a few of our favorite things in terms of keeping girls in white dresses (and her sisters in blue satin sashes) warm. Julie Andrews can keep the snowflakes that sit on her nose and eyelashes, K?

Stay warm y’all.

-Dinah

Related articles

• Zara’s Winter Wonderland – and the Last Minute Carnations (mylittleflowershop.wordpress.com)
• Keep It Under Wraps! (musiccityevents.wordpress.com)
• Winter Wedding Outfits: Some Golden Rules (pasazz.net)

Minding our Ps, Our Qs, and Occasionally, Our Beeswax

All the etiquette that's fit to print!

“Sunday Styles” is my favorite section of the New York Times. (No big mystery – that’s where all the wedding coverage is). It’s also home to the wise and fabulous Philip Galanes, writer of the ever-pithy “Social Qs” column, and now a Social Qs book. New material for the etiquette library!

I’ve used his columns as jumping off points before – like this chat about a sticky invitation situation, and so in honor of his new book, here’s a Social Q brides would be well advised to take!

R.S.V.P.? M.Y.O.B.

A friend asked why I don’t attend a weekly television-watching party at the home of a mutual acquaintance. I didn’t want to tell the truth: “I’m not invited.” I didn’t want to embarrass him or give the impression that I’m offended at being excluded. I’m not. How to reply?

Talya, Brooklyn

If your friend had thought about it for a millisecond, he might have realized there was a chance you hadn’t been asked. Note to the invited: Never assume that other folks were. You may hurt their feelings.

But that’s not the case here. So, be straightforward: “John didn’t invite me. But that’s O.K. I’m not much of a fan of ‘Toddlers (and Mascara and False Eyelashes) and Tiaras.’ ” If your pal feels a little red-faced, so be it. He may learn not to do it again.

Heed Philip’s call brides, maids, moms and friends.  With weddings turning into epic celebrations with pre-parties galore, if someone’s at the shower, it doesn’t mean she’ll be at the bachelorette, or the brunch after the wedding.  Hush up about who’ll be where lest you put your foot in your mouth.

Cheers to Philip on the new book, and here’s to all of us minding our Ps and Qs.

-Dinah

Related articles

• My Little Etiquette Shop: Shuffling Placecards is a Gamble – and the House always Wins (mylittleflowershop.wordpress.com)
• Who Pays for What? Financial Wedding Etiquette (denainacenter.wordpress.com)
• Kids, Coworkers, And Significant Others, Oh My! Part 3 (weddingplanningforsissies.wordpress.com)

Tossing the Bouquet Toss – All The Single Ladies Will Thank You.

It’s an iconic image – the bride leaving the reception and tossing a bouquet into a cheering crowd of happy single gals.  In real life, when the DJ fires up the Beyoncé song and calls out all qualified bouquet catchers frequently, women of a certain age or mindset disappear into the woodwork.  Or the ladies room.  When I was on bridesmaid duty, I always found that was a perfect time to go sprinkle rose petals in the bridal suite.

An inspired bouquet. Let us inspire you!

So, how do you incorporate this tradition without setting your single friends’ teeth on edge? Here’s my favorite spin.  Instead of throwing your flowers at someone, which is a little hostile when you think about it, GIVE them away to a lady (or gentleman – we don’t judge) you love and wish to honor.  Grandma, Man of Honor,  childhood best friend,  you pick.

I’m betting there’s someone attending your wedding who’d be thrilled to pieces to be presented with a special posy.  And I can tell you from personal experience, there are girls who will be thrilled with the peace of not having their marital status paraded around the dance floor.

Love to all the Single Ladies!  And Love to that handsome fella who made me a Mrs!

-Dinah

Dinah, her GORGEOUS bouquet and her even MORE GORGEOUS husband.

Related articles

• Catching The Bouquet Is Ridiculous (girlonthecontrary.com)
• My Little Advice Shop: Bridesmaid Blindspots – Avoiding a Friendship Crash (mylittleflowershop.wordpress.com)
• Will you be my Bridesmaid/ Bestman? {Gold Calligraphy on Purple} (lauralavender.wordpress.com)
• The Nina, The Pinta, And…That Other One Nina didn’t ask to be a bridesmaid. (mylittleflowershop.wordpress.com)

Millionaire Matchmaking, Bachelorettes, and those crazy housewives

Reality TV is a fact of life these days. Finding your Mr. Or Ms. Right on national television? I’m pretty sure that’s official country song wrong place number 23 to look for love. There are, however, things to be learned from the seekers of everlasting happiness and romance in prime time.

Patty Stanger, “The Millionaire Matchmaker” on Bravo, spends an hour a week matching up difficult personalities. The editing surely makes things a) more amusing and b) less frustrating than they appear in the tiny mirror on the side of our guilty-pleasure-mobiles. But Patty does have some valuable things to say (and some funny ones to be sure).

The most important advice I’ve heard her give is “make love a priority and love will come.” the same needs to be true after love has been found. When planning your wedding, love still has to be the priority so that it will know how to stick around.

The Bachelorette is incomprehensible to me, personally. It’s some perverse version of sorority rush with all the catty parts and none of the redeeming sisterhood. If you can learn anything from this one, it’s be careful what you wish for. And for goodness sake, don’t wish to be locked up in a house full of weepy overly made up, emotionally underdeveloped girls.

Last but not least we have the Unsinkable Kim Wozniak, of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. She found her latest football player love at a charity event she was attending to support another housewife’s penchant for dancing badly in public. And now she’s (on the show) about to pop with a new baby boy. Now that’s one way to make love stick around

The reality tv trend has got to hit a wall at some point. Let’s keep the super glam wedding shows and dispense with the drama. Is anybody with me?

Where’s my remote?

-Dinah

Head to toe! Let Your Whole Body talk! And other Drag Queen Wedding Beauty tips.

Drag Queens are Fabulous.  I’ve been watching RuPaul’s Drag Race on Netflix, and Ru is beyond fabulous – she’s wise, elegant, and one heck of a make-up artist.  So here are some “Drag” tips gleaned that are gold for Brides (and maids, and Moms…and the occasional Groom).

1)   Accentuate the positive.  Find your best feature and flaunt it.  RuPaul accents her height, and her fabulous bone structure.  Find a dress that suits you, and your body type. Ru has award winning stylists, we can find you some too. In SoCal, head straight over to Desert Bride for expert counsel and assistance.

2)   Ignore all things Negative.  Drag queens frequently have overcome a lot to be happy with who they are and to be comfortable expressing themselves.  So once they get to that point, they are FUN and HAPPY.  Stay fun!  Depressed?  Put on Abba – maybe “Gimme gimme gimme (a man after midnight)” and lip sync for your sweetie.  You’ll both laugh – and laughter is good.

RuPaul, all crystals and confidence.

3)   Lashes, lashes, lashes.  This one’s fairly self explanatory – drag queens don’t go to Rite Aid without their fake lashes on, girlfriend, so you shouldn’t think about going down the aisle without yours. Once you see how they “pop” your look, you’ll thank me. Or Ru. Or both.

4)   Think creatively!  Do you think  the fashion world comes up with looks like the Sex and the City “bird on her head” wedding look? No – it comes from the fringe (read: drag queens, art school drop-outs,  nouveau bohos and assorted other creative types) and works it’ way into couture.  Trust me – Lady Bunny had a bird on her head long before SJP.

5)    Let your whole body talk. it’s a confidence thing.  When drag queens hit a stage or a runway, they’ve got a power, a confidence, an attitude that brides would do well do take a dollop of to add to their sugar and spice.  Nice is good, but Fabulous is great.

Work that aisle like a supermodel girls! (Turn to the left! Work! Turn to the Right!)

Sashay Chanté…

-Dinah