1. As mentioned last week, on Saturday I went to my first wedding here in Los Angeles at Smog Shoppe (photos are coming). Thankfully the time on the invitation was not the actual start time of the ceremony as we hit some serious traffic. I LOVE when ceremonies start later than the printed time and I love even more when guests are greeted with white wine sangria to sip before the ceremony begins. The bride was beautiful, the groom dapper, the food outstanding (I believe it was catered by Auntie Em’s in Eagle Rock) and the music kickin’. The wedding itself was beautiful, lovely and fun. I ended up going with the Donna Morgan strapless dress that I wrote about for SWS Fashion Friday and believe it or not another guest, a woman I had never met before, told me that she almost wore the exact same dress (glad she didn’t). I left my Solemates on my heels all night and felt great the next day. More inspirational details to come. 
2. I cannot believe it is almost August and that was only my first of eight weddings this year.
3. We’ve got an itinerary locked down for our Boston/Maine wedding roadtrip vacation! Was my boyfriend excited about the fact that this trip is going to cost us about $2k each? Of course not. Do I have fun vacation things planned including hiking and a night in the seaside town of Camden, Maine at the Camden Harbour Inn rated by Brides magazine as a top honeymoon destination? Absolutely. I think we both just need a getaway holiday and hopefully this week we will lock in a dog sitter for our two little muppets.
4. I learned that Wedding Paper Divas is having a sweet promotion. If you purchase your Save the Date cards with WPD you can receive a $75 credit towards your wedding invites. More info here: http://bit.ly/WPDstdc.
5. We received the invitation to our friends’ Australian destination wedding. Our names were printed on the actual invitation and I found this quite striking and very cool. Garden party chic is the requested dress code and right away my boyfriend knew exactly what he was going to wear.
6. A friend of mine introduced me to the website Dream Bridal. The site is essentially a bridal resale site - like The Green Hanger Shop -  that aims to offer dream designer dresses at affordable prices. I do not see much as far as wedding guest or bridesmaid fashion, but if your bride-to-be friend is looking for affordable options this may be another place to shop. My dream bridal dress looks something like this.
7. I bought a six-pack of blank wedding cards this weekend at Target for five dollars. With two weddings in the next three weeks I had to do it and I do recommend buying in bulk if you are attending enough weddings to justify a pack of anything.

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!™

I am in the process of renewing my passport. With an 85 year old grandma living in Canada I cannot permit mine to expire. But by renewing now I am subsequently saving myself the headache and possible $60 rush fee later when I will need a passport to attend my friends’ destination wedding in Australia. Now I’m set to jet-set; I just need to check with my boyfriend and make sure he too is ready to board the plane.

In case you are not aware the U.S. Passport Office just increased the fees associated with applying for, or renewing your current passport. My renewal cost a total of $128: $110 to the passport office, $15 to Kinko’s for two color passport photos, and $3 to the post office for shipping. Fortunately for me I could renew by mail, but know that first-time applicants must apply in person.

If a couple has invited you to a destination wedding and you are planning to attend, make sure your paperwork is in order as early as possible. I would recommend that the week you get the save the date you check if see if your passport needs renewing; same goes for setting up an appointment for your first passport as this is something you do not want to save until the last minute. My hope is that when couples plan destination weddings they leave their guests ample time to have their papers all cleared. Sure you can rush the application, but this blog is a how to survive wedding season, not a how to frivolously throw cash out the window. 

Also, a note to new brides going abroad for honeymoon. If you are planning to change your name but have not legally done so, do not put your new name-to-be on your plane tickets. If your legal name does not show up in the system there is a good chance that the airline might not allow you to board. Is this the way to start your honeymoon? If you are changing your name you should check out the super easy to use MissNowMrs Online Name Change Service.

For more information on passport applications, requirements and fees, visit the U.S. State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs: http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html.

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!™

My friend Monica (aka the LA Busy Bride) is getting married tomorrow at Smog Shoppe here in Culver City. This will be my first time attending this green event space and I cannot wait; it always sounds quite magical. I also, of course, am quite excited to see my friend get married! Both the ceremony and reception will be held within the same location so no driving all over town or researching directions required.

Aside from charging my camera (so I can share pix with you) I am about halfway prepared to attend tomorrow’s I Do. What is checked off the list? A wedding present purchased from the Traveler’s Joy honeymoon registry with a nice color printout of the gift to go in the card, and a pedicure (thanks to bellacures and John Frieda’s Sheer Blonde Entourage). What is still to be completed? A manicure, a card, and finalizing my dress, shoes, jewelry and bag. Today’s Fashion Friday is dedicated to my dress.

Donna Morgan Strapless Silk Chiffon Dress ($138 at Nordstrom.com)

After much deliberation on whether or not I really need a new wedding party dress I purchased the above from Nordstrom.com. I think this cocktail dress might be just right for both tomorrow’s affair and the Maine wedding in three weeks. But is it too white? As you know, guests should never wear white (see: Stay Away From The Pretty White Dress). But this dress - with a white base is technically a patterned dress of blue red and purple.

Tell me what you think - especially the brides out there. Am I pushing it and need to reconsider my clothing options? Or am I over-thinking this selection and should start focusing on shoes? Please leave your comments below.

Related topics:

1. The Cost Of Not Attending A Destination Bachelorette Party
2. SWS Fashion Friday - Travel Dress
3. If You Travel You Should Jetset
4. Super Summer Sip - Domaine Carneros Brut Rose
5. Destination Wedding: Blue Hill, Maine
6. Santa Barbara Bachelorette Weekend

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!™

This past weekend I had on my wedding season calendar both a local - family - bridal shower and an out-of-town bachelorette party in Southampton, New York. Given I cannot be in two places at once and could not justifiably afford the trip east I opted to stay home for the shower and send some bachelorette goodies in my place.

In total I spent $72 dollars this weekend participating in wedding season. Had I traveled to New York my expenses would have been upwards of $800 including flights, transportation, accommodations, drinks, meals and airport parking plus the gift for the shower I would have missed. In staying home - and staying in budget - my wedding season weekend breakdown looked like this:

1. $4 - one pair of ridiculous pink panties in order to participate in the Panty Personality game
2. $7 - 2-day shipping said panties to my friend in New York so that they could make it to Southampton
3. $40 - my contribution towards two bottles of Roederer Estate Brut Rose (split three-ways between me and two other friends who could not attend the bachelorette) to be served as a surprise at the bachelorette dinner at Madame Tong’s (256 Elm Street, Southampton, NY 11968)
4. $21 - bridal shower Betsey Johnson lingerie gift from Nordstroms

So $72 versus $800 is really no contest - especially considering wedding #9 of 2010 was just added to the calendar this morning. Now I am going to need the $800 to get to this Virginia wedding. Was I sad to miss my friend’s last girls weekend before her wedding? Absolutely! Will I see her in just four weeks at her own wedding? Thankfully yes and for this event and celebration I cannot wait. Until then I have two weddings to attend - including one this Saturday here in Los Angeles (for which I still need a gift and a dress) - and many things to organize before heading to Blue Hill, Maine for the wedding.

Your Attendance is Appreciated!™

Get Free Save The Date Cards from Wedding Paper Divas.