DIY Bride™

Hey Michiganders,

DIY Bride Amanda needs some help scoping out a venue…

Hi There,
You mentioned that you have a lot of Michigan brides checking out this site, so
I thought I’d ask my most difficult, stressful and time-consuming question.  Is
there any one out there who can help me find my ideal wedding site in Metro
Detroit?  I live out of state now, but I’m from Troy and my family still lives
there.  Here’s our holy grail: a beautiful place with good indoor and outdoor
options for the ceremony (reception can be indoor only) that is an appropriate
size for 150 people.  This place will preferably have some flexibility in the
kind of stuff you can do (like bring your own booze, buy extra hours, etc), will
not be a golf club or hall, and will not be a wedding factory.
If we were doing it where we live now, we know of converted barns, large art
galleries and an Arboretum that would fit the bill, but since we don’t live in
Detroit anymore, we’re having a difficult time coming up with the sort of place
we really want.
Oh yes, last caveats, preferably a place that has no insane rules (like no red
wine or no food inside) and will be “nice” enough for mom and dad who are very
kindly footing the majority of the bill.  It will be a civil ceremony and we’d
like to do both in the same place, near Detroit (not Ann Arbor).
If anyone has any suggestions, I would be insanely grateful.

Amanda

Hey everyone!

Making the site more interactive and conducive to member-to-member sharing is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Finally, it’s happening! This month brought some cool new features to the DIY Bride forums. In addition to easier-to-navigate forums, you’re now able to:

• Create your own photo gallery and/or share your swell creations in our project galleries
• Create and manage your own DIY blog

Both features are available to DIY Bride members in good standing. Membership to DIY Bride is free. To sign up, simply go to http://www.diybride.com/community/register.php . Blogs, galleries, and forums may not be used for business/commercial purposes by any member.

If you haven’t visited the forum and downloads area since the changeover to new software, you’ll need to reset your password. Please follow the link below and enter your email address. You will be emailed directions to resetting your password: http://www.diybride.com/community/login.php?do=lostpw&email=$email

DIY Bride member, imastep, has a question I’m hoping you etiquette-savvy readers can help out with:

I am looking for suggestions on how to word the invitations for my step-daughter’s wedding. Her father and I have paid for the engagement party, and are paying for the wedding ceremony, wedding reception, breakfast for out of town guests the morning of the wedding (and nearly all the guests are from the brides mother’s family), etc. Her mother is paying for her dress (they remain close), the grooms family is paying for the rehearsal dinner. My husband and I do want to include her mother’s name on the invitation (as well as the groom’s parents, e.g. son of…). But, at the same time, we do want it to be clear that my husband and I are the hosts of the party. None of the books seem to cover this situation…any suggestions?

As announced last week, I amended the iPod contest to make it more fair to all who entered.

Using Random.Org to pick random comment numbers, here are the 3 winners:

Pick #1, commenter #17, is The iPod Winner: Amanda (there’s more than 1 Amanda… check your comment number.)

Pick #2, commenter #47, wins a $25 iTunes gift certificate: Emily McGinley

Pick #3, commenter #6, wins a copy of The DIY Bride book: Laura

Congrats! Winners will be notified by email today with details on how to collect their prizes.

Thank you to everyone who entered!

Thank you to everyone who entered the Win an iPod Nano contest! The entries are all so great which puts me in kind of a bind. The contest rules stated I’d pick 10 of my favorite entries and let the community vote for their favorite. As I think about it, that’s really kind of lame. First, there’s NO WAY I can narrow down the entries to 10. Second, it’s not very fair to judge based soley on my musical tastes. (Granted, I have pretty vast and eclectic music preferences. Still…)

So, here’s what I’m going to do to make the contest fair to everyone who took the time to enter:

• On Monday, 8/18, I will randomly select 3 eligiable entries.
• The first pick will win the iPod.
• The second will win a $25 iTunes gift certificate.
• The third will win a copy of The DIY Bride book.

Since the rules have changed, I’m giving all entrants an opportunity to remove themselves from the contest if they no longer wish to take part. If that’s you, please shoot me an email before Monday and I’ll delete your entry.

Fab Finds Friday is a weekly showcase of some of the fabulous resources available to the wedding community. This week’s wedding goodness is for our Vancouver, BC-area readers. (Vancouver is one of my favorite cities in the whole world, by the way.)

Are you decorating-challenged but want to decorate your (or someone else’s) wedding? You’re in luck, my Vancouver friends. The Wedding Decorators are offering how-to instruction beginning in November. Courses will include:

• Decorate a head table
• Cake table decor
• Backdrops
• Bouquets, bouts, and other florals