Looking for special gifts to give your wonderful wedding party? Check out Ponko, a unique online shop that gives you access to tons of handmade gifts AND the opportunity to send requests directly to a designer! It’s your chance to turn your signature wedding flowers into a gorgeous pendant for bridesmaid necklaces, or to design cuff links for your groomsmen yourself.

This blend of technology and style is the perfect way to infuse your own creative spark into gifts for everyone who will make your big day a huge success, but there are plenty of ready-to-buy gift ideas on the site as well if you are too pressed for time to make a special order. Check out this darling dragonfly necklace, this modern fan (perfect for outdoor weddings!) and a cool “zen” puzzle (to help your friends focus on the morning of your nuptials).

Celebrities don stunning jewelry, fancy hairstyles and drop dead gorgeous gowns on the red carpet as if they were getting married. Why not steal their hairdos to look fabulous on your big day?

Up-dos: Eva Mendes’ messy up-do adds effortless, carefree style and romance to your wedding day (About.com). Kelly Ripa’s do is flawlessly styled and perfect for a formal evening (InStyle). Anne Hathaway’s braided updo is a style trend that will transform your locks into hair heaven (InStyle).

Lovely Locks: Let your hair down with these beautiful hair trends! Selma Blair’s sleek style is great for gals with short hair (People). Blake Lively’s long, wavy hair with intertwining braids looks beautiful and is perfect for a beach wedding (InStyle). Romance is alive in Fergie’s loose and gorgeous curls (People).

Black and white are a classic pair that can easily transform any wedding into a modern affair. Add them to your wedding decor for a simple and easy way to bring glamor back to your special day!

Camilla canisters from Pottery Barn are showing up in Halloween fashion but they also make your candy bar modern and sweet.  Pottery Barn Black Candelabra and stylish Flip Video Camera meld fun and function to make this black and white event complete.

This Two-Tone dress from White House Black Market and this handsome MW tux from Brides will keep your wedding in style.  And I love this black tie bouquet from Martha Stewart!

Invite them to this contemporary gathering with Dotted Floral Wedding Invitations. This Black and white round cake (photo from Brides) is a work of art, almost too pretty to eat!

Beautiful and relatively inexpensive this Kissing Hearts necklace from Fossil make a charming gift for you or your bridesmaids.

Show off pictures from your honeymoon and wedding in these designer frames by Umbra.

Bobbi flats from Kate Spade are stylish and comfortable and will take you from your wedding day to the honeymoon and beyond.

This salad server set from Designer Things is modern and chic. It’ll make even the most mundane activity, serving salad, an act of style.

Invite guests with Letterpress for a look of luxury! Vintage Swirls Wedding Invitation.

One of the most exciting parts of planning a wedding is sharing the festivities with all of the closest people in your life, especially your bridal party. While celebrating and picking out dresses can be a blast, being a part of the wedding party is also a big job. Because most people will consider being selected a great honor, it’s important that you ask your closest friends and family to be a part of your bridal party in a special and memorable way.

I’ve compiled some of the best links to help you ask your bridal party to…well, be your bridal party!

-About.com Weddings has a great list of creative and fun ways to ask your bridesmaids.

-Wedaholic has compiled a huge list of unique ideas for asking your friends to be a part of your wedding.

-This bride from New York shares her tips for popping the big bridesmaid question. Although many of the suggestions are specific to New York, each of them can be adjusted to fit your situation, no matter where you live.

-How about an edible delight to make any of your sweet-tooth friends smile?  Aisledash suggests these adorable custom-printed cookies.

-Check out this cute thank you note on Wedding Paper Divas.  Because all of our cards are easily customizable, you can feel free to change the wording on the front to “Will you…?” or even “Be my Bridesmaid.”  A personal note inside will make this a special keepsake for any of your maids.

Another great idea is to purchase a set of customized personal stationary as a small token of your appreciation.  Instead of a couple’s name, use your friends name and initials to customize this great monogrammed note card or this sweet bouquet card.  Any of our thank you notes can be personalized to fit your bridesmaids, and they’ll receive a thoughtful stationary set they can use again and again!

I’ve found a whole bunch of cool wedding things for you to browse through. Like how about wearing sneakers on your wedding day or would you ever get married at a fast food restaurant? Check out the fun finds I found this week!

1) Celebrity wedding goddess Mindy Weiss planned a wedding where her bride switched into these Steve Madden shoes. She said it made cool photos and was like sneakers with heels. I think Stargaze the silver sandal on the right would be perfect for a seaside wedding.

2) Three couples got married in a row at White Castle, a fast food restaurant chain. Talk about a budget wedding-can I get an order of fries with that?

3) If you and your girlfriends love the Harajuku girls from Gwen Stefani’s video and album, check out these Harajuku Lovers fragrances from Sephora. They’d make unique gifts for your bridesmaids and flower girl too!

4) Take these gorgeous journals from Paper Source with you on your honeymoon and let them inspire you to record all those memorable memories of being newlyweds!

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?

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.

“Sex and the City” was famous for mismatching bridesmaid dresses. In Charlotte’s first wedding, all of the girls wore the same gorgeous, cream-colored fabric in three different cuts. In her second, the dresses didn’t match at all. Then, when Miranda married Steve, I think she didn’t even have official bridesmaids, and in Carrie’s flubbed wedding attempt to Mr. Big, the bridesmaids wore the same style of dress in three boldly different colors.

I love “Sex and the City,” but does anyone ever really pull this look off? Under what conditions can you make it work? And does it detract from the cohesive look of your ceremony to have bridesmaid’s dresses that don’t match? What do you think about mismatching bridesmaids? Rant or rave!

Although I didn’t have one of these, I did put together a few necessary “just in case” items and stored them all in a large Ziploc bag. It included pins–for those unfortunate wedding attire mishaps–hair pins, perfume, band-aids for anything that I was hoping wouldn’t happen, my earrings, tissues and checks to pay my hairstylist and makeup artist. This worked well for me, but in case you want to be even more prepared for the unexpected there are a variety of kits you can buy.

Target has one that sells for $49.99 and includes things I didn’t think of, such as hairspray, static remover and clear nail polish.

With You in Mind, Inc. also makes kits from $54.95 for the groom (including things he might not think about packing ,such as cuff links and socks) and the bridal party.

Abernook also sells kits ($50) for the bride, groom and bridesmaids that can be used for the wedding day and afterward for the honeymoon. And Ready Set Bride also has a truly chic kit by Roxy for $68.

If these seem too expensive, you can always make your own kit. Check out The Knot’s article, “Planning: The Bride’s Emergency Kit” for ideas on what you’ll need.