Two Web Belles: Read All About It

1. Designer Bride Inc. is pooling the talents of Angel Sanchez, Carmen Marc Valvo, David Meister, and Lilly Pulitzer to present 48 wedding dresses (12 from each designer) that are priced from $1,000 to $3,500. These dresses, which are coming from four very different ready-to-wear designers, are slated to be available in June. We're really eager to see what each designer offers, and like the accessibility and variety Designer Bride is offering through their collective approach.

2. We saw these bottle opener cufflinks on CuffLinks.com and thought they could make for part of a cool groomsman gift. Another fave from the site are these smartphone 'links, which are just dorky enough to be a funny gift for the guy who is always typing away on his (you all know who you are).

3. This blog post from A Practical Wedding may be from the 2008 archives, but Meg's words ring true especially these days. There's something nostalgic and romantic about a city hall wedding: the simplicity keeps the focus on you and your honey. We love a big to do as much as the next belle, but we also love this. Fantastic weddings come in all shapes and sizes.

4. While one of the Wedding Belles is strictly an occasional caramel frapp kinda gal, the other is always jonesin for java. We've seen candy buffets a million times, and made the rounds at a mashed potato bar a time or two (real bacon bits? yes, please!) but something we could see really catching on at weddings is an espresso bar. If your venue is already equipped with an espresso maker you may be able to negotiate the service with them, but another option is a mobile specialty coffee service, like this one in Bethesda. Nothin' like a little late night jolt to keep everyone on the dance floor!

5. These pics from kiss the groom should serve to remind us what a great option black is for bridesmaids. All too often good ol' black is overlooked too easily for the rainbow of color options for 'maids dresses. But black photographs true in every light, and looks good with all skin/hair colors, all while hitting a bold, classic note. Obviously it's not the way to go for everyone, but just something to keep in mind when searching out dresses.