AisleDash

Have you ever gone to a wedding and felt like you weren't included? Not a flash-back-to-8th-grade-cliques feeling, but just a feeling that you're not quite getting a personal connection to the couple. Maybe you don't know them well or maybe you've lost touch over time, but you definitely don't feel personally included in all the festivities.

When you make your wedding plans, you want to try to reach out and create that personal connection for all your guests, because, well, they'll just have a better time that way. Everyone wants to feel like they know you – or got to know you better – at your wedding. Here are some ways to reach out to guests who might not be in your daily inner circle of friends.

Welcome out-of-towners. Welcome packets with local restaurants, entertainment options, and in-room snacks offer convenience and make guests feel at home. Short on time? Even a simple greeting card saying, "Welcome Aunt Mabel and Uncle Oscar. FI and I are so glad you're here and are looking forward to seeing you tomorrow" can provide that personal touch.

When you get invited to a Renaissance theme wedding, you are expected to get into the theme. The bride and groom don't really expect you to pull a 16th-century ball gown out of the back of your closet, but they do hope you'll dress the part.

Costume stores are a great place to look for clothes for a Renaissance wedding. You're probably not going to ever have an occasion to wear such an outfit again, so look for costume rentals in the yellow pages. Ebay is another great place to look for bargains on Renaissance inspired clothing.
Ask the bride and groom about the dress code. For theme weddings, dressing up is usually more important than dressing formally, so if you like the more casual clothes of the period better than the super-fancy, super-layered stuff, go with what you like!

One of the greatest stresses for any bride and groom is the matter of the guest list -- who to invite, who to leave off and who to constantly bump heads over. Capping the guest list is a wise financial choice as the headcount dictates the cost of many things. Just a few examples: most venues charge you for dinner (either sit-down or buffet) by the headcount, the cake is quoted to you by the headcount, the favors, the save-the-date cards and the invitations are all ordered with the headcount in mind. If you keep your guest list to a set amount, the costs will be cut across the board. It makes logical sense, but that doesn't make it any easier.

You want to invite everyone in your mutual address books, and sometimes just the families alone can add up to 50+ people. How do you make the hard decisions over who to include and who to, well, exclude?

Over a month ago, Jason Biggs (the actor who did the unthinkable to an apple baked good in American Pie) married his girlfriend, Jenny Mollen, in a super-secret ceremony. Super-secret, meaning that not even the couple's families were invited to the City Hall nuptials.

The couple is reportedly planning on holding a second vow-swap later this year, this time in Napa Valley, surrounded by friends and family. Biggs' American Pie co-star, Alyson Hannigan says she's hoping to make it to the event. She seems happy to be invited, seeing as how she found out about his newlywed status via text message.

Jason and Jenny are expecting their first child this summer.

According to The Knot, one of the big trends this year is to let your guests vote on things for your wedding, much along the lines of the Today Show's Race to the Altar. We're slightly skeptical.

If you're doing this on a television show, cost is irrelevant because the show is footing the bill. However, for the rest of us (at least those of us without supremely deep pockets), price is a consideration -- one that guests might not take into account. You could certainly only give them inexpensive options to vote on, but still, if they choose the most expensive for everything you let them vote on, you could bust your budget.

One of the hardest things about being engaged is knowing when to share and when to zip your lip. If you work in an office, you will likely run into a couple of challenges.

First of all, your coworkers will probably ask you all about the details, and you might really want to share every single bit of planning -- it's fun to have people excited for you! At the same time, though, you need to make sure you're holding your own as far as your job goes, so even if you're dying to share your new wedding website (and show your coworkers your favorite AisleDash posts), you need to still focus on work.

Aside from just handling your duties during work hours, you need to consider how the sharing of details will affect your guest list. If you tell people all about the wedding, they'll expect to be invited, so if you're trying to keep your guest list numbers down, you need to keep your plans to yourself. Check out this article at Forbes for more advice on handling your wedding at work.

We've given you some cool ideas for guestbook alternatives here at AisleDash -- check them out here, here, here, here, here, and here. But, after reading this post at Polka Dot Bride, we've got to say that we weren't thinking as outside the box as we thought. You can turn anything into a guestbook!

The thing that got our little minds cooking was the surfboard. Seriously, who thinks of a surfboard as a place for guests to sign in? But, it's a fabulous idea for someone who wants to hang up something that works with their decor -- it showcases their personality to their guests, it'll draw attention once it's up on the wall, and it's unique.

It made us consider what else could be turned into a guest book and kept out for display. Check out the gallery to see some of our thoughts, and be sure to tell us about your ideas in the comments. Even if you won't use it for your wedding, it might help out someone else!

If you're having a summer wedding, we hope against hope that you're slathering on the sunscreen to avoid getting sunburned (and to keep from developing unsightly strap lines). However, if you're getting married in an area where your out-of-town guests might have occasion to spend time outside, either at your wedding or in the days surrounding the Big Day, why not welcome them with a basket full of outdoor, summertime goodies?

Think about the events you'll be asking them to attend and the activities in which they might partake while in town -- will they be out in the sun at the hotel pool? On the beach? At a barbecue? In the woods? Then, determine the types of items items they might find most useful. Check out our gallery for products we think would be a hit with any out-of-town guests.

Depending on the bride's location in relation to bridesmaids, friends, and family, a number of different bridal showers could possibly take place.

Many times there's a family-based shower, which includes aunts, cousins, grandmothers, etc. Then, there might be the slightly more risque lingerie shower with the bride's best friends. And then there are the showers based on organizations to which the bride belongs -- church, work, clubs, etc.

Mariah Carey's private wedding to Nick Cannon certainly was exclusive. So exclusive, in fact, there the pop diva actually had more people on hand to help her with her hair and dress than she had guests.

The bride and groom had just three friends each at their nuptials, but they intend to make it up to friends and family who weren't invited -- by having a wedding every year. Perhaps they're taking a cue from uber-romantic celeb couple Heidi Klum and Seal, who celebrate their anniversary each year in the same place with a vow renewal and celebration. Or, maybe they're just trying to keep the peace with snubbed family members.

Either way, we figure it's a good bet that Mimi will still have more hairstylists on hand than guests. She knows what's important!

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!

Did you miss out on something exciting before you got hitched? Manolo for the Brides discusses the importance (or lack of importance, as the case may be) of the "Do THIS before you get married" lists.

Decidedly Uncomplicated puts together a welcome bag ... and they come out to $37 each! Find out what she kept and what she nixed.

Weddingbee's Miss Tiramisu has chosen a wedding song, but not until she and her Mr. went through a long and arduous process of elimination, including dissecting the lyrics of every possible contender. However, they made a great choice, and her reasons for choosing or not choosing a song might just help you out.

Spring and summer are upon us, and that means we'll likely be heading out to some fabulous outdoor weddings. We love an outdoor wedding -- it offers extra opportunities to accessorize!

Here are a few of our favorite styles for this summer -- some are best left to the guests, but some of these would be adorable on bridesmaids, or even on a bride in the right wedding. However, we have a few suggestions for the ladies regarding sunglasses at weddings:

Backless bras have been around for quite some time, but generally they've been geared toward women who don't need too much support. That's fine and good for them, but what about the women who truly need support? Should they give up on their dreams of a backless dress?

Not at all! Maidenform has come out with a revolutionary new backless bra that goes all the way up to a 38DD. You might have seen it on American Inventor, where it originally debuted, but it's now being sold by Maidenform for just $32.

There's no tape involved -- it actually has straps, but keeps the back fully bare. The cups are designed to give you a smooth line and to prevent slippage, so you'll look natural and feel comfortable. This could save a lot of girls a lot of trouble in finding the right bras to wear under their low-back bridal and bridesmaids' gowns!

You want to save your wedding memories for a lifetime, but everything -- even the best day of your life -- can get fuzzy with time. And, as most brides can attest to, the details of your wedding day can definitely seem blurry in hindsight. You were so busy enjoying finally being Mrs. So-and-so, you forgot to notice how the place cards looked on the table. Thankfully, the photographer captures things to fill in your memory's holes, but there are other ways to remember the day and all its beautiful facets. Take your guest book, for example: when you break open your wedding guest book in twenty years, you may have a hard time conjuring up the image of "Bill" who wished you "all the best." But, if you combine a nice Polaroid of Bill with his message, you'll be void of all confusion.

There are a few different ways to put together a Polaroid guest book, and they all lead to beautiful album you can visually cherish for years to come.

Not long ago, Wendy found these platters from Serendipity Crafts. They're a simple and creative alternative to a traditional guest book. The plates are printed with your names and wedding date, and they come with a special pen your guests can use to sign. Like a guest book, only better, right?

Unlike a guest book, a keepsake platter is something you can display and use. Our Name is Mud sells similar platters, but not just for weddings -- also birthdays and other special events. Their Congratulations platter, pictured above, is perfect for weddings and sells for a very reasonable $59.95.