Toddling Down The Aisle (Tiara optional): Flower Girl Fails and Finding a Way Around Them

Toddlers and Tiaras on TLC, like many of their shows, can be compared to a train wreck.  It’s horrifying, but you can’t look away.  The little terrors strutting the T&T stage got us to thinking about a common wedding problem: the Flower Girl Fail. They come in several forms

  •  The Wee One: She’s somebody’s niece, and she’s simply too young. She’s destined to get halfway down the aisle and either scream for mom, or announce over Pachabel’s Canon that she’s made “a wee” in her new tights.  Avoid this one by staying with kids 5 and over.
  • The Ham: Need we explain? She’s a scene stealer – and this is your movie.  They’re fine being cute down the aisle, but then they should be whisked away to the back of the ceremony space.  Avoid leaving them at the front to pull focus with a little dance or other mischief.

    A special moment with the flower girls- they might remember it forever, or might go in one ear and out the other.
    A special moment with the flower girls- they might remember it forever, or might go in one ear and out the other.
  • The Wallflower:  She’s adorable – the picture perfect flower girl – but she’s scared to death and doesn’t really want to do it.  The solution? Don’t make her.  There’s always an enthusiastic little one somewhere in the mix – there’s no need to put anyone in therapy over some petals.

So there you have it – three Flower Girl Fails and how to avoid them.  The most important thing is to remember you’re dealing with a kid, and to be patient.  And be sure to tune into the best TLC train wreck…I mean reality show…we’ve seen lately, “My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.”

Workin’ 9 to 5 – At Something Other Than Planning Your Wedding

my own office at work :-)
Remember - do some work at work!

What do you say when someone asks you what you do for a living? I’m guessing for 99% of you it’s not, “Oh I’m independently wealthy so I spend the work-week eating bon-bons and planning my wedding.” So that means there are brides in offices, retail establishments, and government jobs all over the country, brimming with news about your latest nuptial truimph or travail.  One word of advice:

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Guess what? Your co-workers are well aware you’re getting married. So is your boss. In this economy, we do not advise you to to keep reminding them that you’re really distracted by a big non-work project.  Surfing wedding websites during office hours is another way of pointing out that your focus is elsewhere for the next year or so.  And while that may be true, at least make an effort to show some enthusiasm for your work.

Take heart, little brides! One or two co-workers will want to live vicariously through you, and so inevitably dishing about flowers and dresses will occur.  But other than with Bridget in accounting, try to maintain the Separation of Work and Wedding.

Quick! Minimize the window! Here comes your manager!

Hillary Clinton’s Honeymoon Advice

Official portrait of Secretary of State Hillar...
Image via Wikipedia

What could be worse on your honeymoon than finding out you’ve arrived at your destination in the middle of a country wide labor strike? or flu epidemic? Well, Hills and her team at the State Department, in addition to headband shopping and making sure no one touches the Indian Prime Minister with their left hand, have put together a great resource for all honeymooners and other vacation-taking Americans. The Travel Advisory website will alert you to where the Government really thinks you should avoid.  And though they mess a lot up in Washington these days, when they say skip the Kenyan safari right now, ignore the cheap tickets and listen. They don’t make the warnings lightly.

As for Hillary’s other honeymoon advice, no matter how well she says pant-suits travel, leave them at home, k?