Hope everyone has a great weekend! We will be back with more tips, trends and ideas on Tuesday.

Why not extend the bachelorette party with your girlfriends to a whole weekend instead of just one night? It’ll be a chance to relax with the girls, reminisce about your single days and celebrate the upcoming wedding. Check out HolidayGoLightly for planned destinations that include all types of trips, from adventurous tours like going surfing on Oahu to taking a relaxing sunset sailing tour at Martha’s Vineyard. Budget Travel also has its own magazine on traveling specifically with your girlfriends, and their website has great articles, including how to be sensitive to your bridesmaids worries about cost, an article titled, “How to Plan a Bachelorette Party” and a ton of featured deals for you and your girlfriends.

After you’ve figured out what you’ll do, send out these fun, chic cards to invite them all over for a memorable time!

This Spa Days Bachelorette Party Invitation would be great for–what else?–a spa themed weekend getaway! Or, if you’re having an elegant gathering involving museums, parks and maybe some shopping, send out these Lovely Butterfly Bachelorette Party Invitations.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

And, for an adventurous weekend including a few wild nights out, check out this Party Girl Bachelorette Party Invitations.

A few weeks ago we asked your opinion on pre-nups for the bride and groom, and today we are wondering about pre-nups for bridesmaids.

According to You & Your Wedding magazine, one in five brides ask their bridesmaids to sign pre-nups before agreeing to be in the bridal party. These agreements can require a range of conditions set by the bride. Some pre-nups include, but are not limited to the following list of demands: do not gain weight, do not get pregnant, do not cut or color your hair, do get a tan but do not show tan lines, no drinking, pay for a bridal shower and/or show up on time for all wedding related events.

So does this idea make you want to rant or rave? Is agreeing to pay for (and squeeze into) the brightly colored bridesmaid dress enough, or is a pre-nup actually a smart idea?

I was inspired by this week’s inspiration board when I saw a shoe with these same colors. Mint green and chocolate makes a refreshing combo that can be dressed up or down depending on how casual or formal you want to make your event. May this help inspire your own wedding theme!

Green and brown wedding cake and boutonniere from the Knot; Flora taffeta knot dress from Ann Taylor; 4 stone autumn ring by Fossil; Martha Stewart wedding favors; Brides.com captivating centerpieces; Wedding Paper Divas Edged Monogram Wedding Invitations; Franco organic assorted mint chocolate from Macy’s.

I adore the idea of an all-girl slumber party the night before your wedding. You will likely be a little nervous and jittery all night anyway, so why not gather your closest girlfriends for some giggles and games before your big day? To make the most of your last night of girly fun (without compromising your radiant glow the next morning!), try some of these delightful ideas:

• Break out the classic boardgames! If you can find your old versions of Mall Madness or Truth or Dare, you can have a blast reviving your favorite games from the past. Life, Twister and Jenga are always good for a laugh!
• Watch your favorite romantic movies. Curl up on the couch in your “bride” pajamas and watch “The Princess Bride” for the millionth time, but steer clear of tearjerkers! Watch something that will make you smile in anticipation of your nuptials, like “Wedding Crashers” or “When Harry Met Sally.”
• Look through old photo albums or yearbooks. Laugh hysterically at your best friend’s rockin’ 90’s hairstyle in her senior picture, reminisce about your college days and discuss how much your taste in men has improved since the ninth grade!
• Keep up with your beauty routine. The day before your wedding, you are likely to have already had a manicure, pedicure, thorough shower and intense moisturizing session. That night, don’t ruin all your hard work by drinking too much alcohol, staying up late or chowing down on junk food, or you might end up looking puffy for your ceremony. Drink plenty of water and snack on fruits and veggie crudites instead.

Besides reading Diva Dialogue each day, what are your must-read wedding blogs? When we tried to narrow down the list for today’s “Link Love” feature we had a hard time limiting the list to just a few!

Below is our list of blogs that we think you should start reading today (if you are not already doing so)…

• Style Me Pretty offers your daily dose of simple, chic and stylish ideas for your wedding. We can’t get enough of this blog and its dedication to sharing all things beautiful.
• For great wedding tips and trends from real brides, check out the posts by the busy blogger bees on Wedding Bee.
• Besides the fact that the ladies from Southern Weddings Magazine are super sweet, the Southern Weddings blog also regularly features some of the most beautiful “real weddings” that we have ever seen!
• Wedded Bits on Brides.com offers tons of stylish tips and ideas for all of your wedding planning needs
• Hostess with the Mostess offers great ideas for all things entertaining! In addition to weddings, this site offers fabulous ideas for dinner parties, showers, bachelorette parties, holidays and so much more!
• We love all things sugar and that’s why one of our daily reads is IDOSugar, which offers interesting wedding related news, ideas and reader polls.

Know of a great blog that isn’t listed here? Share with us your favorite wedding blog.

When I was planning my nuptials, I made sure to remember from past experience how demanding it was to be a bridesmaid. From planning the shower and bachelorette party to working hard to make the bride’s day is the best it can be, the bridal party has a tall order to fill. Because of this, I wanted to make sure I gave my girls a thank you gift that they’d truly love and use. Although I stuck with the standard necklace/earring combo tucked inside of a chic clutch, I sometimes wish I had found something more unique.

I’m loving some of the ideas I’ve found across the internet, from blogs to online shops. Here are some of my favorites:

-Give your bridesmaids something they can use not only for the wedding day but for months after!  Makeup/brush sets are a great gift, and something everyone will use.  Check out the great deals at e.l.f., like this $25 set filled with tons of goodies.

-Etsy Wedding Blog features unique gifts for the eclectic bride.  Not only will you get insight into great gifts for your bridesmaids, you may find interesting pieces to incorporate into other parts of your wedding as well.  Recently, Etsy featured these sophisticated hair combs for brides…but wouldn’t they make great bridesmaid gifts as well?

-Advantage Bridal offers some unique personalized gifts, including monogrammed tote bags. I personally love the idea of a tote bag customized with initials and filled with small delights like snacks, bottled water, magazines and more for the long wedding day ahead.

I love checking out other wedding blogs, so was intrigued when I read Simply Stated: Nearly Wed recently. The blogger’s entry was a debate about save the date cards and whether they were necessary or overdone in weddings today.

According to the Wedding Report, a 2008 industry trend calls for couples to personalize their complete wedding suite, which includes Save the Date Announcements. And, while most are used specifically for destination weddings or weekend weddings, I personally think that they are a beautiful and fun way to introduce your wedding to guests early.

I’ve received several types of save the date cards in the past, from magnets to photo cards, and have always enjoyed getting them. In addition, if you have a lot of out of town guests like I did, or your wedding date is near a major holiday, and you may want to ensure that the majority of your guests will come by sending out one of these cards as a nice courtesy. Here are a few fresh save the date designs from Wedding Paper Divas that I love.

Blooming Branches

Berry Buds Ecru Save the Date Cards: Chocolate

Fern Save the Date Cards

We are all very excited to welcome Tara A. as a contributor to Diva Dialogue! Read on to find out what makes Tara so sweet, stylish and full of sophisticated advice!

Tara A. is a Marketing Specialist at Wedding Paper Divas. A former graphic designer, she loves to share her passion for Wedding Paper Divas’ chic, beautiful and artistic designs. She works hard to immerse herself in everything wedding-related, closely following the latest trends and styles in the industry. Her favorite designs are unique, simple and contemporary. Plus, with her own wedding only one year behind her, she remembers how everything exclusive and elegant made her heart flutter during the wedding planning process!

In addition to work and weddings, Tara loves fashion, food and wine, bad reality television, fitness, reading, being outdoors and watching sports (especially football!).

Look for Tara’s upcoming posts to learn more about her take on style, wedding planning and finding the perfect wedding invitations!

Today’s Real Wedding was submitted by En Pointe Photography. If you remember, En Pointe submitted last week’s Real Wedding featuring Melanie and Brian.

Cathy and Erik were married at the Bahia Hotel Resort in Southern California and held their beautiful reception on the William D. Evans Sternwheelers Boat. Guests at the event were treated to a fireworks show at the end of the night from nearby SeaWorld.

Cathy & Erik

July 2008

To submit a wedding for the Real Weddings feature, send photos and an event description to blog@weddingpaperdivas.com.