I finally got the opportunity to sit down and watch Bride Wars with Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway. It was a fun movie portraying friendship and truly outlining the stresses of wedding planning.  You see how personalities flare during big moments—unfortunately the movie is too true in a lot of situations.

As always I am looking for inspirations in the smallest scenes during these wedding movies.  I have listed my top 9 from Bride Wars below, let me know if I missed anything!

1.  Little Girls Dream at early ages:  These dreams were represented by a blue hair pin in the movie.  The two girls formed their picture of a dream wedding at age 7 after seeing a bride getting married at The Plaza. These dreams were still strong years later when they were both engaged and planning their weddings.  As you grow up I think many times these dreams do change as you mature, but I think this movie portrays how important it is to not lose sight of these first beginnings.  Although they will change, the seed was planted at an early age!

2. Short Term Weddings:  You see in this movie very clearly how short term engagements are absolutely possible but you have to be organized and know what you want! Venues and vendors book up at least a year out, and if you are being picky on who, what and where be ready for a longer planning period!

3.  Bridal Beauty:  The big question of most brides is how early do I begin the beauty process…Do I go self tanning, or do I trust not to burn in the sun?  Should I do my normal highlight routine or should I go a bit blonder for my wedding pictures?  I could easily focus a month on questions surrounding bridal beauty, but I think the main lesson learned from this movie is start early!  Whatever the routine you choose to use, practice, practice, practice!  Give yourself enough time that if you are uncomfortable with the results you can re-do them with no stress attached.

4. Exercise: In order to feel your best and remain relaxed, exercise is an important part of the planning process!  Schedule time to work out whether it is running, lifting weights or a walk around a nearby park.  What struck me about this movie is have a partner to help motivate you!  Grab a close friend and use it as an hour catch-up session.  I have known friends who refuse to talk on the phone until their scheduled walk so they save their stories to spill during the hour, making the time fly by.  Another key to the exercise time is this is your time to escape, don’t invite someone to join you if they are going to discuss wedding details that will add to your stress. Use this as a time to focus on everything but the wedding!

5. Wearing Mom’s Dress: Anne Hathaway decides early on that she is going to wear her mother’s wedding dress, despite trying on other Vera Wang dresses and loving them!  This is an interesting part of the movie due to her decision being based on her thinking how much it will mean to her mom.  This is very sentimental and could be a very unique detail to add to her wedding.  The only part of this decision I would argue is she didn’t talk with her mom beforehand, if she did she would realize that her mom wasn’t as passionate as she was about her old wedding dress.  Of course she was touched by the thought but she wanted her daughter to be happy and wear her perfect wedding dress, not what was perfect for her years back.

6. Importance of the Maid of Honor: During the movie when the two best friends start arguing and are forced to choose alternate maid of honors you see the importance of this role in your wedding.  You need to choose carefully or your plans might not run as smoothly.  You need someone in your life that will not only offer their honest opinion but someone who will support you throughout every decision that needs to be made. Sometimes your fiance just doesn’t understand the importance of the save the dates or the color of the bouquet…you need the outside opinion from someone who is looking out for your best interests!

7. Groom’s Input: Guys approach decisions much differently (we could spend another month discussing this specifically!)  When the wedding chaos began between Anne and Kate, their husbands were the first to suggest a double wedding.  While this wasn’t an option for either girl, it is an example how guys look at solving the problem outside of the box.  They have no ‘wedding rules’ to follow, so to them everything is fair game.  I suggest if you can’t find a solution to a planning problem, go to your future husband for a suggestion…he may surprise you with the simplest answer as the best conclusion.

8. Hiring the ‘RIGHT’ Vendors: As you saw in the movie, having the right location along with the right wedding planner and the best florist is key to a successful wedding day.  Every bride will find different vendors that fit her style, but by hiring the right vendors for her wedding—she will realize that they have relationships around her city that will help guarantee other vendors that fit within her wedding plans.

9. Brother giving away his sister: I think all of the brides out there who are getting married without their father present to walk them down the aisle, should be inspired by this movie to choose another important person in your life to give you away. Kate Hudson chose to have her brother walk her down the aisle, to give her away, but it doesn’t even have to be a man in your life…find anyone, a grandmother, close friend or uncle to share in the honor.

What inspired you from this movie? Was it the lavish Vera Wang dress or the divine ceremony decor?  Let me know what I missed above!

In case you missed my first Monday Movie Inspiration on The Wedding Date, I am compiling ideas from each classic wedding chick flick we love, and making a top 10 favorites for each show!  We know these movies are entertaining, but I would suggest looking at each of these as a destination for inspiration for your own wedding.

Movie:  My Best Friend’s Wedding

Starring: Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz & Rupert Everett

Quick Recap: Not until Julia Roberts long-time friend says he’s engaged, she realizes she is in love with him.  She sets out to get him back, with only days before the wedding.

10 Top Inspiration Finds from ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding‘

1. Unique Maid of Honor Dress - Julia Roberts dress in this movie is a solid, off-the-shoulder purple gown, while the bridesmaid dresses are patterned and bubble hemmed.  The design and color of the dress is different, allowing your best woman to stand out in all the pictures!

2. Get your Tuxedo Fitted Early - You would be surprised at the number of men that go in 4 – 6 months before the wedding to get measured for their tux and never return until 4 days before the wedding.  Just like the bride goes in for 3 fittings so should the groom (well at least one!)  Try on your tux early so you know it fits or the tuxedo company will have time to get a different size last minute!  This will only help relieve stress as the days get closer.

3. 4-Day Wedding Weekend – Dermot makes a comment about the wedding being a 4 day event. This isn’t always possible due to family schedules and work priorities, but if you have the vacation I would highly recommend making your wedding weekend a long celebration!  Those that  come in to town will have planned events to attend and you can spend extra time with them. Spend one night with the family and get away with the girls for one night!  Take a spa day or a golf outing to relax, you have worked hard planning for a year, now is your time to enjoy it!

4. Backyard Wedding - The family in this movie is blessed with a beautiful backyard!  They played it up with beautiful white umbrellas and tents!  Having the space for your guests to mingle in the comfort of your own house is a great way to entertain at your wedding!

5. Opposite Sex Best Man & Maid of Honor - If you have spent your good and bad times with your best friend and he happens to be a man, don’t count her out as your maid of honor quite yet!  Recently more and more couples are having their bestest standing next to them despite gender!

6. Long Sleeve Wedding Dress -  I thought it was interesting seeing Cameron Diaz dressed in a long sleeved gown.  While this is an older movie, the trend has changed dramatically to strapless gowns!  If your typically a more conservative person, don’t think you need to follow a trend…make a fashion statement with sporting a long sleeve gown that you are most comfortable in!

7. Out of the Box Bridesmaids Dresses - If you have seen this movie than you know that the bridesmaid dresses are far from anything normal!  On the other hand, these dresses truly reflect the personalities of the women wearing them and they make a huge statement.  They aren’t a solid color or a normal shape.  Don’t be hesitant to go “outside of the box” and risk surprising a few of your guests with the style!

8. Relax and have Fun at the Rehearsal Dinner - One of the most famous scenes from this movie is during the rehearsal dinner when the family breaks into the song “Say a Little Prayer”.  This is a great example of forgetting your stresses and truly taking time off to relax the night before the wedding!

9. All White Wedding – There are so many variety of colors and different shades to choose from when it comes to a color scheme for your wedding.  Sometimes the most beautiful weddings are kept simple and pure with everything draped in white.

10. Perfect Gift :: Loan a Song - Gifts don’t always have to be tangible!  One of my favorite parts of this movie is at the end, when all of the chaos is done, Julia Roberts lets them borrow “their song”  until they find one of their own.  I guarantee these types of gifts mean more coming from the heart than a 10 speed blender!  Don’t think the couple expects a certain type of gift, if you have something that is sentimental…it will be cherished much longer!

I want to know what ideas or inspiration you gained from the movie, ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding‘.

There are hundreds of wedding movies that are filmed every year representing the celebrations and troubles brides go through to plan their perfect day.  There is so much inspiration in each one of these movies and I plan to go through them one at a time, and pull out the great ideas within the storyline.  First off I am starting with one of my favorite wedding chick flicks, The Wedding Date.

Movie:  The Wedding Date

Starring: Debra Messing & Dermot Mulroney

Quick Recap: Kat Ellis (Messing) returns to her parents’ London home for her sister’s wedding. Overwhelmed at the thought of confronting her ex-fiancé, who dumped her two years before, she hires a handsome male escort (Mulroney) to act as her new boyfriend.

10 Top Inspiration Finds from ‘The Wedding Date‘

1. Top hats the men wore in the wedding -I love these!  We rarely see these in weddings in the U.S., but I think they add a lot of character to the wedding.

2. Hair piece Debra Messing wore – The hairpiece Messing wears during the wedding is fabulous. It reminds me of what I usually see in a peacock themed wedding.  It is a great accessory to make the maid of honor stand out and looks great with the teal dresses!!

3. Variety of bridesmaid dress styles – This is becoming more of a trend with modern brides (remember this movie was made back in 2005).  Brides are realizing that not all of their friends are made with the same body type and are personalizing each dress to fit the girl.   This will allow your bridal party to be more comfortable walking down the aisle and in pictures.

4. Cathedral veil worn over her face -I have still seen these long formal veils in elegant churches and formal settings.  With the new trend of the blusher veils these longer styles are not used as much.  What I also found interesting was the way she wore the veil covering her face as she walked down the aisle, another trend that I haven’t seen much recently!

5. Outside reception decorated with pink lanterns – Although risky, renting tents and hosting an outside wedding reception can end up being fabulous.  It was decorated beautifully with pink lanterns strung about for additions of color throughout!

6. The day before the wedding spent relaxing at a BBQ - The reception dinner is tradition, why not extend it to an all-day event spent celebrating with your friends and family from out of town.  This will distract you from worrying about your walk down the aisle and force you to relax and have fun with everyone who is there to support you.

7. Themed bachelorette parties - So often I see bachelorette parties with the sole purpose and “theme” of simply drinking. Why not have some fun with the party and create a true theme around an activity or item that the bride enjoys.  In the movie they had a golf theme where all of the girls dressed up accordingly and each new place they went was a different “hole”, ending the night with 18 holes.

8. Decorating the bride and groom’s get away car - It is fun to rent a flashy car to drive into the sunset with your new bride.  However, a fun event for the groomsmen is to organize and deface the groom’s car as a get-away car.  I have seen some really creative and funny designs that the bride and groom have driven away in.  Always a great laugh and serves for a great photo memory.

9. Taking dance lessons before the wedding day – Grooms may loathe the idea of dance lessons, but the thought of dancing alone in front of 250 of your friends and family might just be enough to scare him into the idea.  This is a fun time for you and him to learn a few new dances but overall just feel comfortable with each other for your first dance.  If you know the song you want to dance to, bring it with you on a CD and practice with an instructor, most likely they will give you some tips for the song!

10. Limit the number of drinks at weddings -  Throughout the movie you see numerous times when drinks affect a variety of different peoples actions.  Whether it is too many drinks before you stand up and give a speech and end up saying something you might not want to, or it is that one last drink that makes you make a decision you regret the next morning!  Usually in the name of celebration people tend to drink more than they might normally.  Know your limit, especially if you play a big role in the wedding, you dont want to be “that person” embarassing yourself at the end of the night!

If you have seen this movie I want to know what ideas or inspiration you gained from the movie, ‘The Wedding Date‘.