Bridechilla™ Tip #28

Tip #28 – How to be a BRIDECHILLA™ – Stay chill (and we mean literally!) while out there in the Summer sun with our Bridechilla™ cap, “The Emily”.

The sun is shining bright, you’re hydrated, ready to take your cruiser around some gorgeous Napa Valley trails, and the only thing you’re missing is some shade to cover your head and eyes. We suggest you spare yourself that awful scalp sunburn and a hairzilla episode, and put on our Bridechilla™ cap, The Emily. It’s perfectly chill with a vintage touch, what better way to gear up for your adventure than try this hat?

A little about this piece of un-zilla wear: The Emily was named after one of our Bridechillas, Emily who had her Off The Beaten Path Wedding with now husband Matt in Napa in July 2011. The Emily is gently frayed and faded, and manufactured by Alternative Apparel. This perfectly distressed HAT has a been-to-the-front-lines-and-back look with a signature vintage-inspired style and distressed accents. Features pre-curved bill, velcro closure and a contrasting stitched box on the side.

DETAILS: THE EMILY

• Color – Khaki with Tangerine text
• 100% cotton chino twill
• Enzyme washed
• Destroyed accents
• Unisex regular fit
  

Purchase The Emily here. Happy riding!

A big THANK YOU to all of our new readers & followers, we are so grateful for each of you! Please don’t forget to stop by our shop sometime and see some other ways  you can wear the chill.

Bridechilla™ Tip #27

Tip #27 – How to be a BRIDECHILLA™ – Keep calm and hire a planner.

Here are  f i v e  solid reasons to hire a wedding planner and minimize your stress and maximize your chill on your big day.

Reason #1 – You’re newly engaged! At this point of your life you could be finishing up grad school, juggling two jobs, just starting a new one, or you might just have way too much on your plate to even think about taking on planning a wedding. Becoming engaged can come when you least expect it, so it might be hard to prepare for the wedding down the road while trying to maintain your current day-to-day life. But don’t let that be a detriment to your big day! Hire a planner and leave the vendor meetings, invitations, florals, and all that jazz up to them.

Reason #2 – Wedding planners more than likely have great connections with wedding vendors. This can benefit your budget tremendously. Instead of searching through hundreds of centerpieces and wasting hours of your own time, hire a planner to work around your budget and you’ll get the biggest bang for your buck.

Reason #3 – Planning a wedding comes with a lot of decision making. From colors to food, to the order of events to what kind of cake to have. Say you and your groom are butting heads trying to make a decision; having a third opinion (and a knowledgeable one) can save you and your future husband a quarrel and a big conversation. Hire a planner you can trust to help you with these decisions, so that you can both enjoy each other on your chill day.

Reason #4 – Of course wedding planners have TONS of experience with wedding etiquette and how to go about who to invite, who to leave off the guest list, where to seat that crazy uncle, and how to ensure every detail about your chill day goes smoothly and everyone has a great time. Hire a planner to ensure that every thing is done with careful consideration and thoughtfulness.

Reason #5 – Less stress, more fun. Wouldn’t you want some peace of mind on your chill day knowing that everything is being taken care of? Planning an entire wedding on your own might just be the perfect trick to becoming a “bridezilla”. And believe us, no one wants that. Hire a planner to be sure you can focus on being happy and being married.

A big THANK YOU to all of our new readers & followers, we are so grateful for each of you! Please don’t forget to stop by our shop sometime and see how you can wear the chill.

Bridechilla™ Tip #26

Tip #26 – How to be a BRIDECHILLA™ – Remember to capture a special moment with your mother!

  Photo by Solace Weddings

Hopefully our Bridechillas have remembered that Mother’s Day is right around the corner, (May 12th, for those of you who forgot! 😉 ) and have found a special way to show your mother how much she is appreciated. And even if you haven’t gotten your mom a gift yet, we really do love these ideas on Little Inspiration as well as this necklace we came across on Lisa Leonard Designs. Even just a lunch date would probably make for a memorable Mother’s Day.

Since we’re celebrating our mothers we just had to share some of these photo ideas for your chill day. If you’re looking to have a special photo with Mom, these are the perfect combination of sweet and fun.  And speaking of gift ideas, take one of your photos with mom to be framed and give it to her this Mother’s Day!

Photo by Taylor Lord Photography 

Photo by Mademoiselle Fiona Wedding Photography

A great mama-daughter photo.. this one deserves to be in a frame for sure!

Photo by Edison Photography

And isn’t this just a dream? This is from a must see post on Style Me Pretty Canada. Perfect if you’re planning a Mother’s Day tea party or even a picnic!

Photo by Rebekah Hoyt

Love this shot of the bride and her mother! What a great perspective, and so precious.
We’re sharing Bridechilla™ Tip #26 in honor of all the great moms out there. Don’t let a special photo with Mom slip your mind amidst all the other photos on your wedding day.. remember she will love to have a photo like this too! From all of us at Bridechilla, we wish you and your moms, grandmothers, and even mothers-to-be a very chill Mother’s Day!

“A mother is she who can take the place of all others but
whose place no one can take” –Unknown

Thank you to all of our new readers & don’t forget to stop by our shop sometime! P.S. Check out the Bridechilla Team tee, could be a great gift to the Mother-of-the-Bridechilla!

Bridechilla™ Tip #25

Tip #24 – How to be a BRIDECHILLA™ – Have seasonal fruits as wedding favors! 

This is a great tip for the DIY Bridechilla™ because it will give the opportunity to get crafty with packaging options. Using seasonal produce as a wedding favor is easy, chill, and delectable… not to mention it won’t blow the bank! You can buy your favors in bulk, package them in jars or burlap bags (if they’re small like cherries) or create a custom sticker with a personalized monogram to stick on them (if they’re something like apples or pears). Here are some of our favorite picks for favors categorized by season:

Strawberries and cherries are great favor ideas for a spring wedding, and we just love the pops of bright red they bring to the day. You can bag them up or make a homemade jam with a customized label. Or, you can even give your guests a strawberry plant to grow at home. Either way, both of these spring treats make scrumptious favors… and great snacks for the ride home!

Summer is just around the corner and if your wedding is too, you might want to start preparing yourself by knowing when the farmer’s market happens in your town. For a summer wedding, find produce like apples and berries. You can take either and make homemade jam or apple butter for your guests. Label with a cute phrase like, “we thank you berry much” or something even more clever.

To our Bridechillas having a fall wedding, we love love love these organic herb plants as favors. Pick up herb such as parsley, sage, rosemary, or thyme. These will have an aroma that your guests will enjoy, and you can tie them with twine and a tag that says “let love grow”,  or just a simple “thank you”. You can definitely have fun with this one Bridechillas!

Pears also make a great wedding favor for a winter wedding. Imagine how chill and stress free this guest favor is – order a custom sticker, stick in on, make a cute table with a sign reading, “take a pear” or “we make a perfect pear” and you’re set! The silly phrases are endless, but so are the possibilities of using seasonal produce for wedding favors. We’re only trying to inspire you to explore your options… now what seasonal produce will you transform in to a wedding favor?

Thank you to all of our new readers & don’t forget to stop by our shop sometime!

Bridechilla™ Tip #24

Tip #24 – How to be a BRIDECHILLA™ – Subscribe to the Bridechilla™ Blog!

So you’re following us on Facebook, Twitter, and you’re even pinning away (have you checked out our Bridechilla board?) with us on Pinterest, which are all key ways to follow the chill, but here is one more way you can stay even more up-to-date with the inspiration: We highly encourage you to subscribe to our posts by e-mail! Beneath our Pinterest graphic on the sidebar to the right of this post, you will see a “Subscribe by e-mail” option, and that is where you will be able to enter your e-mail and keep up with our posts as well as be a part of our monthly newsletter that is currently in production. And don’t worry – we are not going to spam your inbox. We’re too chill for that 😉

Thank you to all of our new readers & don’t forget to stop by our shop sometime!

Bridechilla™ Tip #21

Tip #21 – How to be a BRIDECHILLA™ – Add unique details to your wedding. Nothing says chill like little touches.

Your wedding day will be remembered by many, and there are tons of ways to make it even more chill in a personal way. By including small design elements that mean a lot to YOU in your chill day, this will make it even more memorable by you and your future spouse. It’s the simple things like the handwritten chalkboard signs and burlap wrapped bouquets that can make your wedding even more beautiful. Because what makes a chill atmosphere so perfect? The D E T A I L S. Everyone loves a small touch; even if it’s just a welcome sign with food favors for guests that have traveled from miles away or even a dog walking down the alter (you all know we love inviting them too). As a Bridechilla, you will never be the one stressing about the entire ceremony going well, you will be remembering the amazing little touches like the groom’s first look and riding a bike through wine country after the ceremony.

Bridechilla Jennine and her husband Ian having a memorable moment after their wedding!

P.S. Check out Niamah and Darren’s Off The Beaten Path wedding featured on Style Me Pretty to get a real good idea of what we mean by little details!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Bridechilla™ Tip #20

Tip #20 – How to be a BRIDECHILLA™ – Remind your groom to have some fun on the wedding day.

So your chill day is finally here! And you and the chill gals might be staying at a hotel with plans to use the entire morning to get ready for the day. And of course, the guys only take a small percentage of the time you do to get ready and need something fun to occupy the rest of their time until the ceremony. Being the Bridechilla™ that you are, you want to make sure your groom has something planned to keep the boys enjoying their day while the girls get dolled up.

Here are some chill ideas for groomsmen activities:

• Of course, the most popular suggestion is to play golf. If your groom loves the game this would be a fun activity for them.
• If they’re not golf fans, suggest a trip to the batting cages or a game of football… just make sure everyone comes back in one piece 🙂
• A card game or a game of pool are also great suggestions (and are much safer too).
• Brunch! Having a meal will keep their energy up for the big day ahead, and would also be a great way to relax.
• On the morning of the wedding, have the boys go to a classic barber shop for a shave.
• Take photos. This would be a perfect time to have your photographer get some shots of your groom and his groomsmen. If you need ideas for posing, there’s a few funny ones on our Pinterest!
  

Boys just want to have fun!

No matter what your grooms are up to on your chill day, it is important they are having FUN and enjoy the day from start to finish. Let the boys be boys and the girls will be girls. And everyone will be C H I L L.

Bridechilla™ Tip #19

Tip #19 – How to be a BRIDECHILLA™ – Remember that having a chill day means to be stress free. Enjoy yourself.

A lot of brides become stressed and overwhelmed when their wedding day has arrived. Before you cross over to the dark side (we’re anti-bridezilla, remember?) take a BREATH and think about the amazing day you are about to experience. Remember that there is nothing more frightening than an overstressed, strung out bride on what is supposed to be a CHILL day. Sit back, relax, and say “I do” with the tips we’ve listed below. Enjoy your day, enjoy love. Be the chill.

• Write a love letter to your husband-to-be. This will remind you what your chill day is all about and put a smile on your face as well.
• Having a morning at the spa with your bridesmaids will start your day off with relaxation in a stress free environment.
• Being comfortable is important. And you can’t go wrong with these robes we found on Etsy, plus your Bridechilla™ Team will love them as gifts!
• Give yourself extra time to get ready. Sometimes we underestimate how much time goes in to getting dolled up, so giving yourself plenty of wiggle room will prevent you from feeling rushed.
• Be the prime example of a Bridechilla™ means staying calm when things go wrong, so you want to expect the unexpected. Remember you cannot control everything so handle it with a chill attitude, and everything will sort itself out.
• Get lots of sleep! Have a good night of rest before your wedding. Yawning during the ceremony is not something you want to be doing 😉
• Eat a good breakfast. Make sure you have a hearty breakfast and this will keep you energized for your day.
• Stay hydrated! It will be a long day, so this will also keep your energy up.
• Have a plan. Of course plans aren’t bulletproof, but they will keep you a lot more prepared and relaxed about the itinerary of your day.
• Enjoy a nice glass of wine and just R E L A X.

Photo by Yan Photo.

Bridechilla™ Tip #18

Tip #18 – How to be a BRIDECHILLA™ – Make sure you’re keeping yourself in-the-know with all the chill wedding inspiration. We’re only a tweet away!

No we won’t clog your feed, but you can count on us keeping you updated whenever there is a blog post, Bridechilla™ event, and you will be the first to know when there is a new #GIVEAWAY happening right here on the blog.

Bridechilla™ Tip #17

Tip #17 – How to be a BRIDECHILLA™ – Show your valentine lots of love this year. Let us tell you how!

This year, we got an early start on our Valentine’s Day pinning. It’s hard not to when there’s just so much inspiration out there! If you know who’s going to be your valentine (or even if you don’t!) let us help you make the day special and full of some chill lovin’. Valentine’s Day should be a day spent with someone special, so why not make it a little fun? Check out our Pinterest here to get some great tips on how to make it unique and totally DIY.

And if you’re planning a little last minute gift – we LOVE this “52 Reasons Why I Love You” DIY we found on Little Gray Fox and Little Foto Fox.

 

Or how about these printable Valentines from Nest of Posies? The possibilities are endless for all of you last-minute planners 😉

Anything we’re missing? Find  SO MUCH more ideas over here on our Pinterest. Happy Valentine’s Day!