The shoes on the left are what I'm wearing in tomorrow's wedding. The
ones on the right are what I wish I was wearing.

Home stretch

My new favorite game is "delinquent bridesmaid." Usually I'm the drill sergeant, but this round I'm going for more of a slacker style. Tomorrow is the last wedding of Weddingfest 2008, and I bought the shoes for the wedding two hours ago, am over an hour late for the rehearsal picnic, and my dress is still at the tailor. Also, I made the ribbon bouquet while drunk at three in the morning. Can we tell I'm losing my edge?

Anyway, look forward to all the pictures, posts, and stories soon. I'm so busying being a bridesmaid, I don't have time to blog about it!

Wedding 1 of 3 . . .

is over and I have so much to say! Updates coming soon. Look for:

- Pig entertainer at the rehearsal dinner
- Keeping peace amongst the bridesmaids
- Making up a toast on the fly
- Why groomsmen can be useless.

Phew!

Ribbon Hats for Kate & Amanda

Ribbon hats and bouquets at showers must vary regionally. I had always thought that at a bridal shower, you made a bouquet so you had one to use during the wedding rehearsal. However, everyone at Kate and Amanda's shower seemed to want hats. Luckily, since there were two brides, I could do both. Now, I know the duties of a Flower Girl don't usually extend to the ribbon hats, but I have to say that if this whole professional bridesmaid thing doesn't work out, I really could be a milliner. My ribbon hats had veils, people, veils! And tissue rosettes. You go first class when you go with the Genius of Honor.

Example A: Kate and her mystery bride.















Example B: From my ready-to-wear collection - a hat and a bouquet!


















Example C: Pensive Bridal Portrait


















Example D: Fashion Bride

Advice Shower for Kate & Amanda

Kate's mother, Freddie, hosted a lovely brunch today at her home in New Jersey for Kate and Amanda. As the guests arrived, I helped Freddie make their special family punch:

Not-too-Bride-y Bridal Shower Punch
Rainbow Sherbert
Champagne or Sparkling Wine
Orange Juice
Seltzer or Ginger Ale

Since Kate and Amanda had requested not to play games, Freddie included an index card in the invitations on which all the guests were asked to write advice. The cards were passed around in a basket, read aloud, and then everyone tried to guess who had written the advice. After appetizers and several glasses of punch (Mrs. Hess, I'm looking at you!), the advice got more and more lively. My contributions were:

"Be nice to each other. It's cheaper than therapy."
"It's O.K. to go to bed angry, but it is not O.K. to push someone from the bed onto the floor."
"When in doubt, open a bottle of champagne and pour."
"If you need more advice, please write to vonhottie@vonhottie.com."

The most controversial advice was the old adage, "Never go to bed angry." The room was split fifty-fifty, with half the guests believing you should never go to bed angry, and the other half believing that it's O.K. to go to bed angry because otherwise you'll just be tired and still angry. I think the debate would have gone on longer, but luckily Aunt Margie introduced the chocolate fountain in the dessert room. Which leads me to think the advice should have been:

"If you're about to go to bed angry, get a chocolate fountain."

Vintage Bride Wrapping Paper

Kate and Amanda will be married on September 5, 2008 in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Kate's mother and aunts are throwing them a bridal shower at Kate's mother's home in New Jersey. Kate and Amanda aren't sure how they feel about wedding events that are too traditional or, as Kate would say, "too bride-y."

Knowing that they'll be opening presents covered in pink wedding bell paper, I decided to do something a little different that I know they will appreciate, and which will ring true to their personal style.

I found most of these pictures on Flickr and used software that came with my HP printer to arrange the images. I printed the images on regular white paper (if I had something nicer or more vintage-looking, I would have used it) and used them to cover the box. Voila! Wrapping paper and a conversation piece in one!

Weddingfest 2008

From July 27 to September 13, 2008, I will be in 3 weddings in 6 weeks in 3 states. I will be attending at least 22 wedding-related events. And I'll bring them all to you, right here. I'm calling it Weddingfest 2008! Hot cha cha.