Be one of the first to have the opportunity to shop the heavily discounted, drop dead gorgeous wedding gowns offered at the Brides Against Breast Cancer Gown Tour!! Onewed has **free**  tickets for VIP nights and power hours for upcoming June, July and August Brides.(tickets can normally cost up to $40 per bride). Many of the dresses are new and have been donated by stores or designers, and you won’t want to miss this!
Register now at OneWed and win these tickets by doing either of the following things:

1) Leave a message on the BABC Facebook Page saying:
I want OneWed to send me to the BABC event in (name of city), make sure to include a link to this story (you can use this tiny link to make it easier: http://bit.ly/8YpFJh). Once you’ve done that, come back here, tell us you did it and leave a comment letting us know your name, your email and what city you want to go to.

OR

2) Send a tweet saying: I want @onewed to send me to the @babctour in (name your city) #breastcancer http://bit.ly/8YpFJh then come back here tell us you did it and leave a comment letting us know your name, email and what city you want to go to.

You have to do this at least 2 days before the sale so that we can make sure to get you on the list!

The first TEN (10) brides to respond for each city win a free ticket for themselves and a friend!

Here are the upcoming June, July and August tour VIP dates, more info can be found on their site.

Lincoln, RI: June 25 at 6 PM Twin River Casino
Houston, TX: June 25 at 6 PM Renaissance Houston Greenway Plaza Hotel

Austin, TX: July 2 at 10 AM, Renaissance Austin Hotel (Power Hour)
Charleston, WV: July 11 at 10 AM, Marriott Charleston Town Center (Power Hour)
Syracuse, NY: July 16 at 6 PM, Renaissance Syracuse Hotel
Dallas, TX: July 23 at 10 AM, Hilton Arlington (Power Hours)
Jacksonville, FL: July 23 at 6 PM, Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront
San Antonio, TX: July 31 at 10 AM, JW Marriott San Antonio (Power Hours)

Tulsa, OK: August 6 at 10 AM, The Mayo Hotel (Power Hours)
St. Louis, MO: August 14 at 10 AM, St. Louis Union Station Marriott (Power Hours)
Kansas City, MO: August 19 at 6 PM, Evergreen Events in Paola
Pittsburgh, PA: August 20 at 6 PM, The Fez Banquet and Events Center
Ft. Lauderdale, FL: August 28 at 11 AM, Hilton Deerfield Beach (VIP Champagne Brunch)

As a wedding coordinator I am almost always at the back of the ceremony site running around to ensure the event starts on time and everyone is in their place.  I can honestly say nothing irks me more recently than guests who stroll in on their own schedule.  Never have I ever started a wedding without having a group arriving late, so this expectation I understand and fully support.

Weddings are interesting time wise because if you are in the wedding party you have been up since 8 am prepping for the big walk down the aisle.  You usually end up sitting around the church or ceremony site for around 4 hours taking pictures, getting dressed and doing a lot of waiting.  You will always have certain guests arriving 45 – 30 minutes prior to the start time and you will always have the late comers.  Why this is such a sore point for me personally is nowadays unless you are hosting a catholic wedding, most ceremonies are around 25 – 35 minutes.  If you arrive even 10 minutes late you have missed 1/3 of the main event.

Most wedding have a time range of about 10 – 15 minutes before the start where you will have a rush of everyone arriving which will create lines and will back up the seating time a bit. By planning ahead and expecting this rush you can usually get everyone in their seats with enough time.

You know if your family tends to be late.  As a bride, make sure you tell your wedding planner or designated person your ‘must haves’ to walk down the aisle.  Maybe you won’t mind as much if cousin Joe or friend Fred isn’t in his seat yet, but you refuse to walk down the aisle until Grandma Dianne is in her seat.  Once everyone on your main list has been seated than anyone else that arrives late will kindly have to wait in the back until there is a good chance for them to sneak in the back, hopefully not interrupting.

There is no fashionably late when it comes to a wedding.  As a guest you need to leave yourself enough time to have a buffer in case traffic hits or you get lost.  No one wants to be “that person” walking in late, pulling the attention from the bride and groom.  Trust me, next time you will want to be on time!

He didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.
-Clarence Budington Kelland.

This is not an unrealistic expectation.  Expecting the focus to be on  you, on YOUR wedding day does not seem out of line, but there are numerous brides that become bridezillas due to this expectation not being met.

YES you are the bride and the day is about you

YES you spent the past year preparing for this day and planning every detail

YES you have a lot of money invested in the day

YES you have been working out, tanning and beautifying so that you look your best on this day

YES you attended everyone else’s wedding and centered the attention on them, now it is your turn

Now I am going to make a side-note that I am asking you to understand – Everyone else has their lives happening at the same time as your wedding. Although this is an obvious statement – some brides take the ‘Focus on me’ to the extreme and want everyone else’s lives to be put on hold.  There is a difference between wanting the focus to be on you and being selfishly ignorant of others emotions, relationships and problems around you.

This is a hard expectation to write about because there are bridesmaids that get jealous and attempt to dramatically steal the attention – trust me I’ve seen it!  But there are also bridesmaids and family members that genuinely want the focus to be on their bride but may have a tough situation going on in their own life.  This expecation I believe is a two way street – Brides need to realize that lives do go on and be patient, but bridesmaids and family need to realize that there is a huge expectation of every bride to want the attention on them, just for the day.

What do you think – is this truly a two way street?

This may seem like a selfish expectation to those who have not yet planned a wedding. But when your time comes and you put a year into organizing your wedding and an average of $30,000+ for the day, you may be surprised how your expectations will change.

I have heard numerous people quote an etiquette belief – when attending a wedding in New York for example that your gift as a guest is expected to be equal to the amount that the host is spending per person at the wedding.  So if you estimate that the reception price is around $100 per person your gift should reflect the same.  I would love to hear from others if this etiquette expectation is true and if so where it is practiced.

I don’t necessarily believe that you have to look solely at cost and numbers when you attend a wedding but I do think that by accepting an invitation, as a thoughtful gesture you should give the couple a gift of celebration.  It is assumed you have up to one year to give your gift, so if you don’t show up with an elegant box don’t fret.  I remember I received a gift 8 months after my wedding and it was a fabulous surprise and I was just as grateful 8 months later for the thought.

What are your thoughts/experiences on expectations of bringing gifts to a wedding?