AisleDash

Longtime readers already know that we believe that a summer wedding doesn't mean that you have to give up on elegance if you don't want to. We've shown you many ways for the women in your wedding to look fabulous while keeping their cool.

But what about the fellas?

Details magazine offers tips to help your man look cool as the temperatures soar. For example, don't think he has to give up khaki to wear a tux - the option above is glamorous and unexpected. Check our gallery for more ideas, and be sure to read the full article here.

Guys, if you are renting a tux for your wedding, we have a piece of advice for you -- pick up your tux as early as possible.

What you might not realize is that, when you rent a tuxedo, the place from which you rent it might not have an inexhaustable stock of tuxes tucked away in the back. In fact, many times, your local tuxedo shop has the tuxes shipped in from another city. When they take your measurements, they send them to their supplier, who sends the correct size to the shop.

However, it doesn't always go smoothly. There's a lot of opportunity for error -- the person who measures you could be off by a bit, the measurements could get written down incorrectly in either location, the tuxedo sent to you could have been labeled as the wrong size, and, to be honest, it just might not fit correctly.

Having a difficult time thinking of a gift for your groom? Something personal, something different? What about a book of boudoir photos? The art of boudoir photography has been around for a long time. But it's back in style in a big way.

While we were at the bridal bazaar, we saw some examples of beautiful photos. At Woman Captured, the entire crew is female. You can feel comfortable getting whatever type of photos you think your groom will enjoy. The photos range from tasteful and playful to downright risqué and sexy.

Want to keep it a surprise? They can help you with that, too!

Check for a photographer in your area if you'd like to try some boudoir photos. And check back soon for an interview with a boudoir photographer to find out more about the process!

Wednesday Wedding Wrap-up is a weekly roundup of highlights from the past week, covering wedding blogs and websites, reality TV, even particularly hot scoop right here at AisleDash. Think we missed something? Leave your favorite highlight in the comments!

Bridalwave gives us the scoop on the $10,000 proposal.

Polka Dot Bride has us drooling over the idea of customizing our own bubbly. Cheers to that!

We love the Capiz Party Garlands at Hostess with the Mostess. But who needs a party? We want to decorate our house with them!

Wedding Bee's Miss Toucan discusses her hesitation toward registering for big ticket items. If you don't register for them, you have no chance of getting them, but you don't want your guests to think you're greedy ... what do you think?

The 1920s are making a roaring comeback in wedding themes. And to help make your 1920s-themed wedding planning go a bit easier, our experts here at Aisledash have tracked down the best-of-the-best so you don't have to. Take a look at the fabulous things we found:

In case you haven't noticed, guys often don't like to put a lot of work into what they wear. That's not to say they don't want to look good -- they just don't want to spend a lot of time figuring out how to make that happen.

Dressing for a wedding, therefore, isn't all that tough for men. They wear either a suit, a shirt/tie/slacks combo, or, if it's casual, khakis and a button down. That's great and all, but it's also nice if they can add a little extra style. It's even better if what they add is functional as well.

Enter the sunglass. For an outdoor wedding, this accessory can't be beat. The right style can make a man look infinitely more chic and fashion-forward than he actually is, while wearing a sport glass will do exactly the opposite. We don't mind even seeing the groomsmen and the groom in shades before the wedding, provided the frames are removed in time for the bride to come down the aisle.

Here are some of our favorite styles for men -- some are a little trendy, some are classic, but all of them are appropriate for a wedding-type of affair.

For your Roaring-20s wedding, you'll need to keep the men in period costume, too. If the women are going all flapper, what's for the men? Truth be known, men's wedding attire was typically pretty unremarkable. They wore their best suit, which, back then, would be a single-breasted three-piece suit, most likely black. And if that suits your menfolk, that's certainly straightforward.

However, there are some other options. For a casual wedding, the "Oxford Bag" was a major fashion trend for the men: pants with a high, wide waist supported by suspenders (aka braces), with very wide hems -- up to 22 inches. They were worn over a dress shirt, with or without a jacket.

If you're having a Roaring 20's theme for your wedding, there are any number of choices for attire and accessories. The 20s offered a wide range of headgear for the women, from head-hugging lace veils to veils with astounding headpieces to the popular cloche hat.

This was the time of hats for both sexes, of course. No one, male or female, left the house without a hat. The two most common forms of hats in the 1920s were both straw: the boater (sometimes called a skimmer), and the Panama. Now, true Panama hats, hand-woven in Ecuador and taking hundreds of hours to produce, are extremely expensive. Certain of them could easily cost more than the bride's gown!

You can do anything and everything over the Internet these days. Why should getting a custom suit be any different? Begun when newly-graduated student Heikal Gani needed a suit, he soon discovered that bespoke were far too expensive, but the ones he could afford were of poor quality and fit. A little research determined that tailor-made suits at reasonable prices were available -- if you knew where to look.

The result is Indochino, a new company which puts together the purchaser with the tailor to their mutual benefit. You are given instructions on how to measure yourself. You'll need a friend to help with this. Send the measurements in, and receive a custom-tailored suit. (But that fellow in the picture? See all those unflattering wrinkles on the thighs and butt? He's a poster boy for why you do NOT slouch around with your hands in your pockets.)

A made-to-measure suit without once leaving your home? Given how much most guys hate shopping, this sounds like an idea with potential.

You've said your "I dos," you've been toasted by your best man and maid-of-honor and you've made your way around your reception to say a quick hello to each guest -- it's now time to cut the cake. Once you have your sugary slice in hand, do you sweetly offer it to your new husband/wife or do you get feisty and smear it onto his/her unsuspecting face? Although it is your wedding day, and you should be allowed to do things in your decided-upon way, etiquette suggests you steer clear of this (somewhat tacky) trend. If not in the name of keeping cake off your wedding dress, resist the urge for the sake of your guests. Your reception will be filled with friends and family of all ages, and the majority of them came to witness an outpouring of love -- not an outpouring of icing. If it's something you're set on, save it for your one-year anniversary, a much better time to avoid eating the cake -- after it's a year old.

Kitchen showers are a popular pre-wedding party, and they're perfect for helping to stock the shelves of the soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. In addition to crock pots and blenders, it's fun to think of fun items that may not appear on the registry list but will be put-to-use and enjoyed by the happy couple. Classy Bride has a new gift idea that is perfect if you're looking for an original gift to bring to an upcoming kitchen shower -- aprons for the bride and groom. The bride's white apron trimmed in baby blue dons the saying "You may now kiss the chef" and the groom's solid-black apron says "Groomed for the kitchen." The aprons cost $20 each. The couple can enjoy cooking together, dressed for success in the kitchen.

And that's why you love him, right?

Why not honor his geekiness by bringing it into the wedding? If he remembers 8-bit, or if he can honor the roots of his passion, he'll love this 8-bit tie. It's made of microfiber. In other words, it isn't silk, but it feels like it. Being a high-quality polyester, it washes.

It's also a clip-on. No, this is not because we think geeks lack the coordination to tie a proper knot. It's has an important design reason! As the designers explain: "A real tie would end up creating a non 8-bit curved triangle knot at the top of the design. The 8-bit effect would be instantly lost. Nanny Nanny boo boo." Because geeks are mature like that.

If your guy is out-of-the-ordinary, maybe he deserves a ring that is, too. And we have just the thing for him: handmade wedding rings from Rob and Leighanne Thompson.

These rings are simply gorgeous. Take titanium or sterling silver. Add wood. Yes, wood. The results are stunning. Titanium and ebony. Titanium and bloodwood. Or maybe even a titanium tension set ring with a blue sapphire. They even offer some matched sets of rings as well.



You have to see these rings to appreciate their uniqueness and beauty. Each ring is hand crafted to order in sizes up to 15 or 16. And they are extremely affordable, too. So go take a look. We think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Found via the lovely Handcrafted Wedding.

Sometimes it's even harder to shop for the groom's side of the wedding party than the bride's. If you're the groom, you most likely want to buy your groomsmen gifts they will use and enjoy, and if you're the bride, you want your soon-to-be husband to find the perfect gifts without forcing you to spend hours upon hours picking them out for him. To save both of you the time it takes to scour every store in the mall, direct your guy to Red Envelope (redenvelope.com) where there are plenty of fantastic (and manly!) gifts made with the groom's best friends in mind. These men are taking care of the bachelor party and making sure the groom gets to the altar on time -- they really do deserve a thoughtful and original gift.

(If you're interested in a Red Envelope bridesmaid gift guide, visit here.)