Slimming A-line gown? Check!
Spanx Hide & Sleek Full Bodysuit? Check!
Chubby bridesmaids? … Huh?!

According to London’s Daily Telegraph, which released results of a recent research survey conducted by diet-shake-maker Slim-Fast, one in three engaged British women admitted they would choose fatter friends as bridesmaids over slimmer pals, as a way to boost their bridal confidence.

We gotta say, we were kinda blown away. It’s one thing to diet before your wedding day—something 50% of surveyed brides-to-be said they did—and quite another to choose your bridal party based on the size of their bodies, rather than on the strength of your bond.

But maybe the survey results shouldn’t surprise us all that much. According to Slim-Fast nutritionist Fiona Hunter, “Women are obviously feeling such pressure to look good on their big day that they’re resorting to selecting bridesmaids larger than themselves … It’s very sad and a real shame. Looking at these statistics, it seems to be a worrying new trend.” This, from a representative of the company that recently targeted engaged women with an ad campaign depicting a wedding-cake topper of an overweight bride and the question, “Need to lose a little weight before your wedding?”

Hmm…disingenuous much, Fiona?

We’re all for looking our slender best on our wedding day. But instead of choosing fatter bridesmaids as flattering accessories, how about choosing bridesmaids who support our efforts to get fit, who graciously wear the bridesmaid dresses we’ve selected for them no matter how they feel their own bodies look in the dress style, and who make us feel beautiful and special on our wedding day just by being our best friends.

RELATED POSTS:
http://houstonweddingblog.com/2010/02/keeping-your-new-year’s-weight-loss-resolution-a-bride’s-guide/
http://houstonweddingblog.com/2010/02/thank-you-bridesmaids/
http://houstonweddingblog.com/2010/03/designer-spotlight-joanna-august/

It’s been ages since we talked about the essential bridal survival kit, hasn’t it? Well, we’re delighted to inform you that we’ve just come across a product that makes making it through your wedding day unscathed just a little bit easier.

Family operation Ms. & Mrs.–mom Georgette Kaplan (Mrs.) and daughters Stephanie and Jamie Kaplan (Ms. & Ms.) launched the biz with the Working Girl Survival Kit, and quickly branched out—offers pre-packaged survival kits for just about everyone involved in your wedding.

For you, Ms. Bride (soon to be Mrs. Wife), there’s the Wedding Day Survival Kit. Packed inside a sleek train case decorated with a white satin ribbon and novelty “diamond” ring (aww…), you’ll find the works in wedding-day beauty, hygiene and apparel maintenance. Items include toothbrush and toothpaste, clear nail polish and nail polish remover, super glue, earring backs, bobby pins and tons more.

Your groom’s gonna love the Groom’s Survival Kit, complete with mints, deodorant, razor and shaving cream, lint remover, boutonniere pins and oodles more vital wedding-day survival items he probably has no idea he might require.

New in the Ms. & Mrs. Lineup is the Aisle Survival Collection. These adorable, affordable, pre-packaged mini-kits are practical AND perfect for gifting. There’s one for brides, one for bridesmaids, and sweet little versions for MOBs and MOGs. Each kit comes with such wedding-day staples as emery boards, blotting tissues, pain reliever, waterproof mascara, safety pins and breath freshener.

We heart these handy kits like nobody’s business! But we also want to remind you that if you do opt for a pre-packed kit, you’ll want to make sure to add non-standard items like your specific wedding-day makeup, and contact information for your coordinator and vendors (especially taxi and transportation services). And maybe, depending on the season, a pop-up wedding tent, a pre-fab hurricane shelter and a couple hundred umbrellas. Welcome to Houston!

Occasions Spa, in case you didn’t know, is Maxwello Dental Spa & Wellness’s spa-within-a-spa. To create a customized Occasions package that she can enjoy with her bridesmaids or dearest friends, a bride simply selects four menu options—choices include, but are not limited to, massage, reflexology, facials, teeth whitening, Botox and Juvederm—and adds to these her choice of beverage and dessert. On the scheduled spa day, the gals gather at Maxwello’s luxurious, private 2,100-square-foot Houston facility, and get primped and pampered to the max. We love our spa days like any Houston girl, but we were also wondering if there was anything really new and fabulous to help get our dull smile in shape for wedding day pix. So, of course we asked Dr. Letitia Plummer, DDS—the talent behind Maxwello and Occasions. She told us about something called Snap-On-Smile, which she describes as “a comfortable, removable dental appliance offering an affordable approach to restorative and cosmetic dentistry.” Could it be? Is it possible? An instant straight, white smile at a fraction of the cost of veneers?? Um, basically, yeah. Dr. Plummer explained that brides, grooms, MOHs, MOBs, FOGs and basically anyone who wants to look their best “can wear this appliance all day every day, and they can even eat with them.” Which is cool, because as much as we like to look good, we love our wedding cake!

Dr. Plummer recommends scheduling your Occasions Spa appointment for at least 10 days before your wedding if you plan to have any cosmetic procedures like Botox or teeth whitening.

And she offers this great advice to Houston brides: “This time can be very stressful, so the more you plan and evaluate options, the smoother everything unfolds.” Dr. Plummer says her goal is to give the bride an occasion to be with “her dearest friends and family, to become transformed in a relaxing spa atmosphere—to brighten your smile, relax your body and enhance your natural beauty.” Well, what a coincidence—that’s our goal here at the HWB, too!

To get your hands in fighting shape for your debut as a bride, you should ideally start training a few months out. That means from here on out, NO washing dishes without wearing gloves; NO picking, peeling or otherwise harassing cuticles or hangnails; NO removing labels or untying knotted stuff or doing other utilitarian chores with your fingernails instead of the appropriate non-fingernail implement.

It also means ALWAYS applying lotion or hand cream after exposing hands to water (you can’t beat
Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream for dry cracked hands, and we love the silky feel and pretty scent of L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream; ALWAYS treating any cracks or snags immediately with judicious clipping and moisturizing; and, whenever possible, getting a regular manicure—even if it’s just to groom and buff natural nails.

For at-home nail conditioning and maintenance, we highly recommend the Nailtiques line—especially the much-beloved Nailtiques Formula 2, with calcium and hydrolyzed keratin. This stuff is a godsend for weak, brittle nails like ours, and for nails damaged by years of acrylics. Apply it exactly according to instructions, and you can expect noticeably stronger nails in about a month.

Stick to a nail regimen like this, and by the time your wedding rolls around, you’ll be able to sport hot, new bridal nail looks like these:

Whether you decide on a flouncy ballgown or an ethereal empire-waist column—both are big for 2010 weddings—the season’s best wedding dresses offer a bounty of truly extraordinary accents from handmade fabric flowers (Augusta Jones) to bodacious bows (Vera Wang) to zillions of organza pleats (Oscar de la Renta) to oceans of tulle (Jim Hjelm). And more.

These dresses are a lot of things…but slick and sleek they’re not. Neither is the new look in wedding-day hair.

Our favorite new wedding hairstyles are very feminine and very elegant but never ever fussy or stiff. Allow us to show you:

This year’s Golden Globes gals had the right idea about updos. Check out these sensational styles—formal and refined, but with a natural touch. Perfection.

Oh, Carrie, we’d love your hair even if you yanked it back and tied it with a sweat sock. Fortunately, you’ve got way more style than that. And this half-updo with side-combed straight bangs and rivers of soft curls is one we want to steal for our big day!

Carrie Underwood

Feast your eyes on this fabulous down-low updo with bangs. So graceful, so pretty, so perfect for showing off our lovely shoulders in our strapless ballgown… Gorgeous!

Black Hair Wedding Updo

Here’s another nape-level updo we love. Soft, pretty and special-occasion fancy when accented with seed-pearl, Swarovski crystal or other sparkly hair jewelry or accessories.

Nape Updo

As for braid styles, we can’t get enough of them. There’s an obvious wow-factor to these complicated-looking creations, but also an earthy, sensual sweetness that is a perfect complement to the season’s dreamy, fairytale gowns.

Braids

Like these looks? Got a lead on more examples? Let your sister brides-to-be know. Post your comments here!

None we know.

That’s why we’re such big fans of Cleopatra’s Secret, a spa that removes unwanted hair using a technique called body sugaring. To develop this sweet alternative to waxing, owner Ati Shafik borrowed from ancient hair-removal techniques used in her native Egypt. Her all-natural, patent-pending formula consists of sugar, lemon, and water. So you can mark harmful chemicals and preservatives off your list of pre-wedding worries. Ditto for red bumps, which disappear within an hour of sugaring.

And because the formula is warm rather than hot, clients here let out sighs of “Ahhh…” rather than the inevitable “OUCH!” produced by waxing. Yes, Houston brides, that’s what happens when you’ve got no chance of getting burned. Just ask the hundreds of Cleopatra’s regulars—and the Houston brides and grooms who have come here to get picture-perfect.

Consider yourself warned, though: A visit to Cleopatra’s Secret will leave your skin feeling awfully soft and smelling sweet. Even better: you don’t have to wait until those last frantic days before your big day to reap the benefits of sugaring. That’s because Cleopatra’s Secret removes hair from the roots for 5 to 7 weeks.

So where do you have hair that you’d rather not show up in your wedding pictures? You name it, and Cleopatra’s Secret has you covered—brows, nose, ears, sideburns, lips, chin, neckline, underarms, arms, hands, shoulders, legs, knees, and feet. And if you’re thinking beyond the wedding photos, rest assured: The spa can remove hair from parts of your body that your wedding photographer won’t capture.

You’ve got the perfect dress, the perfect shoes, the perfect diamond, and of course, the perfect guy. But what about the perfect perfume?

If you’ve sniffed fragrance after fragrance at store after store and still haven’t found one that’s special enough for your big day, it’s time to quit wandering around the department stores and boutiques in search of the holy grail. Instead, call on Fúmme.

This Houston-based fragrance development company specializes in creating custom perfumes. That’s right, Houston bride: You can wear a fragrance that’s as unique and special as you are.

To design your one-of-a-kind fragrance, owner and perfumer, Lisa Rogers, will have you complete a personality and fragrance survey and chat with you to see what scent families really make you glow. Then, she’ll create three samples for you to wear for a week. Once you’ve decided on your fave sample, Rogers will adjust your fragrance of choice a couple more times until you’re completely happy. And, because Rogers understands that no bride wants to break out in hives on her wedding day, she’ll do the final tests on your skin, to make sure you don’t have any strange reactions.

The best part? Your custom perfume will come in a gorgeous bottle, with enough for you to wear for years to come. And you know what that means: You can continue to feel—and smell—like the bride long after your big day! Now there’s a feeling we’d like to bottle up and sell!

Not sure you can afford a custom fragrance? Fúmme can still help. Rogers has designed several high-end fragrances that aren’t sold on the mass-market, and she sells them to Houston brides and other discriminating ladies.

Fúmme’s fragrances are also available in body lotions, body creams, bath gels, and bath salts—and get this, they’re remarkably affordable! So if you want to share your special wedding day scent with your bridesmaids—after the big day, of course—consider stocking up on some of these bath products in your special scent. Your bridesmaids are sure to appreciate the gesture. After all, who wouldn’t want to smell and feel as special as the bride?

We’ll miss the two mags’ timely features on fashion, reception décor, floral design, planning and more. But we at the
Houston Wedding Blog and Weddings in Houston magazine plan to work that much harder on seeking out the latest discoveries, tracking the most popular trends and bringing you the absolute best in EVERYTHING wedding from Houston and beyond.

New to the blog? Check out some of our most popular recent posts, like these great items on
Indian weddings, or this roundup of our favorite head-to-toe beauty finds. Searching for the perfect wedding shoes? Have a look at either these or these lovelies! Plus we’ve got handy tips on how to handle
kids at your wedding, figuring out whom and how much to tip, when and where to get a wedding license in Houston, and much, much more.

For those of you who love the heft and high-gloss inspiration of an honest-to-goodness print magazine (and what bride doesn’t?), the new issue of Weddings in Houston hits newsstands in January. Look for all your favorite departments and features, incredible photo spreads featuring the latest in gowns, cakes, floral and more, plus the most comprehensive guide to Houston’s ceremony and reception facilities (including information on size and capacity, rental fees and available services).

Still missing something? Tell us! If there’s a topic you want to see covered by the Houston Wedding Blog or Weddings in Houston magazine, email blog@weddingsinhouston and let us know. Be our most valuable resource for feedback and suggestions, and we’ll be your most valuable resource for wedding-planning advice and inspiration. Promise!

That’s where beauty products come in. Fortunately, the marketplace is bubbling over with effective, high-quality products that feel good, smell good and, when used at home regularly, will have you looking not just good, but GORGEOUS, by your wedding day.

Here are some of our favorite picks for head-to-toe bridal beauty:

Kerastase Oleo-Relax Masque

Hair Masque
When it comes to getting hair into wedding-ready condition, nothing holds a candle to celebrity standby Kerastase Oleo-Relax Masque. Excellent for dry, curly, coarse or over-processed hair, as well as normal hair, this five-minute masque leaves hair incredibly soft, smooth and shiny.

Philosophy Purity Made Simple

Skin Cleanser
Sephora loves Philosophy’s Purity Made Simple facial cleanser and so do we. The 2008 “Best of Sephora” award-winner packs in sandalwood, sage, carrot and coconut, in a daily cleanser that rids skin of makeup AND excess oil without drying or irritation of any kind.

Origins Ginger Body Scrub

Body Scrub
Sweet-almond oil, macadamia oil, ginger zest—we don’t know if we want to shower with it or eat it! Origins Ginger Body Scrub is full of delicious ingredients, along with sloughing Dead Sea salts—amazing for all-over buffing and silk-smooth skin (even knees and elbows!).

Butter London Stiletto Stick Hydrating Heel Balm

Foot Balm
Butter London’s Stiletto Stick Hydrating Heel Balm really does transform hard, dry, cracked feet and heels into wedding-worthy tootsies. We love its purse-size packaging and heavenly scent. Use daily in conjunction with a good pumice for best results, and get ready to slip confidently into those designer slingbacks, Houston bride.

Opi's Original Nail Envy Natural Nail Strengthener

Nail Strengthener
Weak, soft, thin nails? Get prepped for your wedding mani-pedi with OPI’s Original Nail Envy Natural Nail Strengthener. Applied every other day, Nail Envy strengthens and repairs brittle and damaged nails—even if you’ve worn acrylics for ages. Your ring finger will thank you, Houston bride!

That’s the artist part of the picture. Here’s a tip on the canvas: To give your chosen makeup pro the best possible material to work with, you may want to consider revving up your lashes beforehand.

Latisse

By now you’ve probably encountered Latisse. Print ads for this FDA-approved “treatment” for hypotrichosis (a medical term for the, um, condition, of “inadequate” eyelashes) feature the lovely Brooke Shields lowering her long-lashed lids and singing the praises of this prescription-only solution. We’re not sure how Brooke’s lashes looked pre-Latisse, but we’ve gotta say, they sure do look full, feathery and pretty darn fabulous in those pix.

If you choose to fill out your sparse lashes with Latisse, you’ll need to start four months pre-wedding, and apply the solution every night, as directed, to get the full results in time for your big day. Of course, as with any medical treatment, there are a few potential side effects: These may include red or itchy eyes, possible eyelid-skin darkening and—gulp!—hair growth occurring in spots where Latisse comes in repeated contact with skin surface (steady hand, Houston bride, steady hand).

All that said, Web chatter among eye docs and Latisse users alike, and Latisse’s own before-and-after clinical trial gallery, seem to indicate that the stuff does work to boost lash growth.

Revitalash

Looking for a little lash oomph, but not quite ready to go the medical route? RevitaLash may be the beauty secret you seek. This eyelash “conditioner,” developed by an ophthalmologist as a gift for his wife, who had lost eyelashes as a side effect of breast-cancer chemotherapy, purports to thicken existing eyelashes while “encouraging” new eyelash growth. Like Latisse, RevitaLash requires that you start well ahead of your wedding—three months or so—to get the best results. And like Latisse, RevitaLash has some potential side effects like eye irritation and discoloration. Users report mixed results, but those who love the stuff REALLY love it AND their newly lush lashes. Might you, too?