This Tuesday, September 7 the very cool design collective, Poketo, will launch its first-ever fall collection for Target. What to expect? A variety of eye-catching totes, wallets, reusable bags and camera cases amidst even more limited-edition, art-inspired lifestyle wares that absolutely have a place(card) in wedding season. 

Known worldwide for their commitment to art for the everyday, the LA-based husband and wife founders of Poketo,Ted Vadakan and Anie Myung, have been commissioned to create art products for museums like the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, organizations like Coachella Valley Music Festival, and bands like The Arcade Fire (sidenote: they have an amazing new album out now) and The Shins. And now with this new marriage between Poketo and Target expect not just art for everyday, but art for everyone as the line will be accessible nationwide at highly affordable prices.

So in celebration of art for everyone, everyday why not include art in your wedding season? Poketo for Target offers an array of fabulous designs (check out my favorites below) perfect for bridesmaid thank you gifts, bridal shower gifts and storage for your wedding day emergency kit.   Poketo collaborates with over 200 international artists to design their products (visit www.poketo.com for a complete view of their extensive catalog) and will also be introducing a line for Macy’s this winter.

Poketo Bears Tote Bag with Coin Purse - Green ($12.99) Brides, Why Not Make This Part Of Your Bridesmaid Thank You Gift & Fill It With Fun Thank You Treats!

Poketo Bow Checkbook Wallet - Black ($12.99) A Fab Bridal Shower Gift!

Poketo Swirls Large Pocket Weekender Tote ($29.99) Making Your Own Bridal Emergency Kit? Why Not Store It In This Tote?

Poketo Gems 3-in-1 Pouches ($14.99) Perfect Pouches For Your Wedding Day Emergency Kit.

Related topics:

1. Fashion
2. Bridesmaid Gifts
3. Etiquette
4. Products/Solutions
5. Party Favors
6. Finance 

Have a great wedding survival tip to share with the Survive Wedding Season community? Email your tips to solutions@surviveweddingseason.com.

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I’ll say it again, I love twobirds bridesmaid! Not only has twobirds designer and creator, Ariane Goldman been featured as a SWS Survival Expert, but this bridesmaid dress made our 2009 SWS Top 10 Wedding Guest Picks. Now, in addition to expanding the line to include two-toned Maid of Honor dresses and the Rosette collection, and expanding her business globally with shops in London, Sydney and Los Angeles (in addition to New York) Ariane has launched the twobirds iPhone app!

Bridesmaids, whether you have already purchased a twobirds dress or you are convincing your bride this is the way to go down the aisle, go explore this new app. What’s included? Video tutorials on how to wrap each style with multiple photos of each look plus real wedding photos, color swatches and share functionality so you can Facebook the bridal party with your favorite color and look. 

For me, this is a great way to go shopping over brunch. Now you can talk about wedding plans with your girls while virtually dress shopping over coffee and bloody marys. No laptop or driving around required.

Having previously worn the twobirds bridesmaid dress as part of a bridal party I know on the day of the wedding we would have loved to have had the video tutorial available on our phones. Yes a few of us got together pre-wedding to try on the dress, watch the “how to” videos on the computer and help each other get tied-up, but on the actual wedding day it would have been stupendous to have the video on-site in the bridal suite. On this note, I highly recommend you do not wait until the day of the wedding to sort out your look as this lack of preparation will probably (and justifiably) stress out the bride. So be prepared and lean on your other bridesmaids to help you tie your straps tight.

The twobirds iPhone app will ultimately help you to be a fabulously organized twobirds bridesmaid and is available exclusively for iPhone here.

Borrow Like A Star For as Little as $75 from Adorn.com

Related topics:

1. Bridesmaids 
2. Fashion/Beauty
3. Products/Solutions
4. Bridesmaid Gifts
5. Party Planning
6. Relationships 

Have a great wedding survival tip to share with the Survive Wedding Season community? Email your tips to solutions@surviveweddingseason.com.

Your Attendance Is Appreciated! ^™

Dearest Brides,

Congratulations on your wonderful news! Only the best of wishes to you and your fiancé on your upcoming wedding and marriage. Hopefully the wedding planning has not been too stressful and that all your dreams are coming true. This should be a magically happy time in your life.

Today’s open letter is on behalf of bridesmaids everywhere advocating that every woman in your bridal party - whether in a relationship or not - be invited to your wedding with the opportunity to bring a date. Why? Because your bridal party would go to the moon for you so at the very least don’t they deserve good slow dance partners at your reception? And while majority of single bridesmaids might not even opt to bring a date, they still deeply desire the considerate option. 

As someone who publicly writes about the wedding guest experience many a bridesmaid has shared with me her wedding ups and downs. The biggest wedding season complaint across the board is when a single (or newly dating) member of the bridal party is not invited to her friend’s wedding with a plus one. This date issue far surpasses anything travel, fashion or expense related.

Bridesmaids are generally beyond excited to be a part of your big day, but they can feel incredibly conflicted about the fact that you have not invited them to attend your wedding with a date. They will also likely not say anything about their discomfort so as not to cause you stress. This is why I write this open letter.

Brides, your friends love you so much they will wear dresses they dislike (and spend $350 for them). They will spend $300 to throw you an engagement party. Your friends will do anything for you, so the seemingly little thing you don’t do for them can be incredibly hurtful - especially if your wedding is full of couples and very few other single people.  

Everyone understands that finances are tight and adding a plus one to your rehearsal dinner and reception could add an estimated $150 to your overall expenses. But please think about all the expenses incurred by your bridesmaids to participate in your big day. On average a bridesmaid can spend over $1,200 per wedding including a dress, shoes, the bridal shower, engagement party, bachelorette party (and all the gifts and travel associated with each event), a hotel room, maybe a plane ticket and lastly a wedding gift when all is said and done.

I understand that you can’t invite everyone and that some couples want to keep their wedding small and full of familiar people. But please, I urge you, remember how much time, energy and money your best gals are spending to stand up and support your union. If you really want to say thank you to the important women in your life, please make room on your seating chart for each one to bring a date.

And don’t ever be like the bride who tried to take away her friend’s plus one after said friend’s engagement was called off! Someone else’s personal tragedy is not an opportunity for you to yank back a seat for someone else. Unfortunately this really did happen to someone until another, vocal bridesmaid stepped in and pointed out the poor judgement associated with this bad call.

Save The Date Cards, Magnets, Postcards and more from Wedding Paper Divas.
 

Related topics:

1. Bridesmaids 
2. Etiquette
3. Bridesmaid Gifts
4. Party Planning
5. Relationships 
6. Finance 

Have a great wedding survival tip to share with the Survive Wedding Season community? Email your tips to solutions@surviveweddingseason.com.

Your Attendance Is Appreciated! ^™

As a big believer in having your cake and eating it too I am a huge fan of healthy desserts and making a place for them on the table during wedding season. With this in mind, and based on the recommendation of a work friend, I reached out to our newest Survival Expert: LA-based chef, Matt Amsden of RAWvolution. Not only has Matt provided a delicious, healthy dessert recipe for you party planners out there, but he has also extended a limited-time promotional offer to our readers for $10 off RAWvolution’s weekly, prepared food delivery service. 

Why RAWvolution for wedding season? The RAWvolution box is a fantastic way to maintain a healthy diet while keeping a busy schedule and we all know wedding season can certainly keep us on our toes. So without further adieu, let’s make room for dessert. Please check out Matt’s recipe for Chocolate Coconut Haystacks below and enjoy the RAWvolution promo code at the bottom of the post. Cheers and thanks to Matt and RAWvolution!

CHOCOLATE COCONUT HAYSTACKS

Rawvolution Chocolate Coconut Haystacks

Makes about 16 Haystacks

Ingredients:

½ cup cacao powder
3 cups shredded coconut
¾ cup coconut butter (sometimes called coconut oil)
½ cup agave nectar

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the cacao powder and shredded coconut, and mix well. Add the coconut butter/oil and the agave nectar and mix well.

2. Using an ice cream scoop or by hand, roll into approximately sixteen ping-pong-sized balls.

3. Freeze for at least thirty minutes before serving.

Why It Is Good To Go Coconuts: 

Coconut Oil/Butter consists of 90+% raw saturated fat - a rare and important building block of every cell in the human body. Unlike long-chain saturated animal fats (that have been associated with creating poor health), Coconut Oil contains healthy, healing, medium-chain triglycerides (MCT’s). MCT’s support the immune system, the thyroid gland, the nervous system, the skin, and they provide fast energy as well. The MCTs in Coconut Oil help increase metabolism and therefore help with weight loss. Historically, farm animals fed Coconut Oil were never found to be obese. When fed partially hydrogenated soybean oil, and other rancid fats, the animals quickly gained weight. MCT’s are known to have antiviral, antimicrobial, and antifungal properties.

About RAWvolution: 

Each week RAWvolution creates a box of prepared, organic, low-calorie raw foods that includes two savory soups, four gourmet entrées, four side dishes and two delicious desserts. This provides truly healthy meals that you can bring to work or have waiting for you when you return from a long day. The Box can be picked-up in Santa Monica, delivered anywhere in Los Angeles or New York City or shipped via Fed-Ex anywhere in the continental United States as well as Alaska and Hawaii. Order one week at a time with no commitment to continued service or set-up a standing order to be shipped to you each week! Visit http://www.rawvolution.com for more information.

RAWvolution Exclusive SWS Promo Code:

Promotional Code: SWS
Value: $10 off ‘The Box’
Valid: through September 30th, 2010

Related topics:

1. Recipes
2. Etiquette
3. Party Planning
4. Products/Solutions
5. Party Favors
6. Finance 

Have a great wedding survival tip to share with the Survive Wedding Season community? Email your tips to solutions@surviveweddingseason.com.

Your Attendance Is Appreciated! ^™

While I did not attend a wedding this weekend I did however still have wedding season to-dos and events.

August 7, 2010: H. Solo and I at his cousin's wedding at the Rio Hondo Event Center in Downey, CA.

1. I attended my first ever “welcome home” brunch for newlyweds returning from their honeymoon. This involved a great amount of post-wedding catching up, looking at photos (both printed in an album and on Facebook), opening gifts and hearing about the honeymoon. The new Mrs. is still glowing and both the parents of the bride and the groom were in attendance which is a really wonderful way, and special opportunity for both families to come together right away.
2. After three weddings and one bridal shower in just five weeks I decided to be fiscally responsible this weekend and stay put at home, and at the beach. All four events, plus a gift for a girl’s weekend I could not attend, cost me over $2,500. With three weddings still to come the fall will also involve some staying home and perhaps learning how to garden.
3. While at the beach not spending money I learned by text that not only had a friend of mine gotten engaged, but she also had a city hall wedding. I am happy to hear the news, but was sad to hear about it in hindsight. Now I have to think of a celebratory gift.
4. My boyfriend, whom I will now start referring to as H. Solo, thinks I only like attending weddings. I assured him that was not true as I also enjoy Bar Mitzvahs. Joking aside, I love all parties, I just also love the dress-up opportunities that weddings provide.
5. I caught up with my busy bride friend Monica who got married at Smog Shoppe while power walking at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. We talked weddings, we talked life and we walked three miles and did something good for ourselves that was also free. No matter how busy wedding season can get there has to be a balance of things you do for you. Thanks Mons!
6. H. Solo and I have two California destination weddings in October. As of this weekend we booked all hotels. We have a Holiday Inn Express reservation in Solvang, CA for which I will receive United Airlines miles (to likely fly us to our next out-of-state wedding), and a Colony Palms Hotel reservation in Palm Springs, CA (my second favorite place to stay in town). A big, appreciative thank you to all brides and grooms who lock down discounted group hotel rates for their guests - they sincerely help our wedding guest budgets.
7. We actually have a third wedding in October that we are now unable to attend and need to send our regrets. As hard and sad as it is to send regrets, like a band-aid it is better to do it as fast as possible especially so that the couple can have the opportunity to invite someone else. I tried phoning in my regrets last night but got voicemail. Regrets are not for voicemail so I have to try and reach them again as I prefer to call with such news rather than catch them off guard with the response card.
8. Now to reconcile a group gift - a bottle of Prosecco - before the bill is due.

Get Free Save The Date Cards from Wedding Paper Divas.

Have a great wedding survival tip to share with the Survive Wedding Season community? Email your tips to solutions@surviveweddingseason.com.

Your Attendance Is Appreciated! ^™