My bloggings now on pictage.com

Pictage just published one of my blog posts. Check it out here:
http://www.pictage.com/planning-guides/destination-coastal-weddings-in-northern-new-england

or here:
http://katiering.blogspot.com/2009/04/wedding-tip-18-me-ma-coastal-locations.html

;)

Wedding Tip #26 Bridesmaid & Groomsmen Duties

So now you're a bridesmaid or a groomsman... what's your job? Just keep in mind your #1 priority is helping the bride and groom and you'll be fine. Think of the best man and the maid/matron of honor as team captains. They're in charge of all the events and should delegate duties to the rest of the bridal party so they can help.



Bridesmaids:
• Be supportive but honest. Tell her what you think; but only when she asks for your opinion! And... if she doesn't seem to like what you have to say - drop it! You can do it your way for your wedding.
• Purchase your dress & have alterations. Make sure you do this all on time so she doesn't have to bug you!
• If the groom is unavailable for tastings, registering or even to make the seating chart - be ready to step in and help your girl out!
• Don't complain about the dress, shoes or other bridesmaids (even if they are annoying)!
• Go to a dress fitting to learn how to bustle the bride's gown.
• Throw/attend bridal shower (the party may be thrown by family)
• Throw/attend bachelorette party
• Remind the bride to eat/drink enough water on her wedding day
• Hold the Bride's bouquet and fix her train during the ceremony
• If she throws her bouquet try and catch it - no one wants to see it hit the floor!



Groomsmen:
• Get fitted for & rent tux (Don't forget black socks)
• If the groom leaves for his honeymoon right away return his tux for him
• Throw/attend bachelor party
• Usher in guests
• Escort bridesmaids from the ceremony site and into the reception party
• Dance with bridesmaids, single guests, and even grandmothers!
• Have a good time, if you're dancing & enjoying yourself by bringing the fun more guests will follow your lead!



Full Bridal party:
• Show up, stand up, look good! (aka guys don't forget to shave and ladies give yourself a mani/pedi)
• Decorate the get-away car with "just married" and/or cans
• Throw an engagement party - if their family doesn't or as a "friends" party
• Attend the rehearsal and be cooperative and attentive!
• Put out fires! If anything doesn't go according to plan on wedding day do your best to fix it so the bride and groom have a fabulous time!
• Hold the rings
• Two bridal party members need to be the official witnesses and sign the marriage license (usually best man & maid of honor)



Give a toast! One of your most important jobs as the Best man and maid/matron of honor is giving a speech. Here are some tips for making a great best man or maid of honor speech!

• Add little bits about how you met the bride or groom and your relationship with them. However, it should not be all about that. Focus on what a cute couple they are, how they're prefect together, and stories about them as they first met until now.
• Give advice. This can be serious or silly, and it is especially good to give if you're married. You've heard it all before... "never go to bed angry," "It's all about compromise," "take care of each other"...

Don't:
• Don't embarrass them. Remember, GRANDMA is there! (if you must say something risky say it at the bachelor/bachelorette parties or rehearsal dinner)
• Don't make it a novel. Keep it short and sweet so you don't lose anyone.
• Don't speak "off the cuff" unless you've very good and experienced at this type of speech giving! Make notecards
• Don't use too many inside jokes
• Don't make it all about you & the bride/groom. It's about THEM... as a couple! Not that you've know them since 1st grade and the childhood games you used to play...


Lines I've heard & liked:
• Tell him to cover her hand with his. Then tell him that's the last time he'll ever have the upper hand.
• Tell them that you hope that this is the day they are the least happy together, because then they'll only have happier and happier future days together.
• You knew they were really in love when he did x for her (like skipped watching a big game, drove hours just to see her...)

Free books are awesome! :)

Check out what I got in my email today :) You better believe I'll review another photo book on my blog!

"Dear Katie:

At the suggestion of renowned historian Linda Gordon, author of DOROTHEA LANGE: A Life Beyond Limits [W. W. Norton & Company; October 19, 2009; $35.00 cloth], I’m contacting you to see if you’d be interested in considering her new book for a feature on your blog, particularly because you once did a post on Lange. Though Lange is widely regarded as the most influential American female photographer of the twentieth century, little has been previously published about the woman behind the camera until now.

Mother, artist, feminist, cripple, political activist, and environmentalist, Dorothea Lange was a complex figure whose life stretched across many eras of American history and many fields of culture. In DOROTHEA LANGE, Linda Gordon charts Lange’s journey from polio-ridden child to wife and mother, to San Francisco portrait photographer, to chronicler of the Great Depression and World War II. Over one hundred of Lange’s images—many of them previously unseen and some of them formerly suppressed—are reproduced in this book. Now, in the midst of another major depression, Lange’s unique photographic vision is as significant as ever.

Linda Gordon is the Florence Kelley Professor of History at New York University. She is the author of numerous books and won the Bancroft Prize for The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction. If you’re interested in covering the first comprehensive biography of Lange, please contact _______ with your shipping address to receive a copy or with any questions.

Best,

Emily"