Although it is an honor to be asked to help a dear friend on her wedding day, being a bridesmaid can be a tough job! Give your girls a little extra inspiration with this adorable video about the various cultural traditions behind being a bridesmaid, and then let her know how much you cherish her friendship and support. She deserves it!

Most people think of the white wedding gown as being one of the oldest traditions in the book.  When I was looking for my wedding gown, the thought never entered my mind to step outside of the white/off-white color realm.

However, trends have emerged pointing to a more nontraditional approach to the wedding gown.  A day doesn’t go by that I don’t stumble across some sort of colored wedding dress while thumbing through a bridal magazine.  Just recently, Diva Dialogue blogger Lea shared a photo of a gray dress with me:

Contrary to what you may think, colored wedding dresses are nothing new.  As a matter of fact, white dresses didn’t become popular amongst all class levels until the late 18th century.  In the case of the gray dress, this was traditionally worn by the lower class in the 18th century.

Step back in time even further and you’ll find that traditional wedding dresses in Medieval times were rarely white when planning an extravagant wedding.  Instead, they focused on jewel tones such as ruby, sapphire and emerald, and were often worn by princesses and the upper class.  Today, these choices still exist, such as this red Fiorenza dress from Maggie Sottero:

…And another example straight off the runway in emerald green…

So you tell us!  What do you think?  Do you like the colored wedding dress trend, or do you prefer to stick to the traditional varying shades of white?

In honor of Wedding Paper Divas’s newest luxury letterpress line, I decided to devote an entire entry about letterpress printing. What is letterpress? If you are not planning a wedding, it’s possible that this word is not a part of your regular vocabulary.

Letterpress is a type of printing used hundreds of years ago that involves the pressing of movable type onto paper creating an impression of the image in reverse. This is how you get that great textured look and depth characteristic of letterpress invitations.

Chinese woodblock printing started as early as 750 AD with well-known printer Johannes Gutenberg being cited as the inventor of movable print in the 1400’s. This was originally created as a faster alternative to hand written calligraphy.

What was once a fading art for hobbyists has now emerged into a cultural revival. One place where you will see letterpress printing as popular as ever is in wedding invitations. Because of its beautiful, rich look, it’s obvious that this type of printing will remain in style and continue to capture the hearts and attention of couples for a long time.

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterpress