Author Archives: Caitlin Kenney

Gift Guide: Quirky, Cool Finds for the Home

So, here’s what happened. I quite innocently thought, “Oh, I’ll make a gift guide for the site. That will be fun!”. Well folks, I may have a very serious problem. It quickly became clear to me that this sucker was going to need categories and a swirly number font. And multiple posts. If there is support group for people who obsessively create gift guides, please contact me. For the rest of you, enjoy. To come: Books, fashion, and the perfect finds for travelers, foodies and all those who love New York!

home goods ultimate bridesmaid gift guide1 Ombre Wooden Spoons | 2 Sumi Spoons Oblong Platter | 3 Mermaid Vase | 4 Letterpress Cork Coasters | 5 Penguin Friends Dessert Plates | 6 Ceramic Owl Speaker | 7 Click and Grow Basil Plant | 8 Pac-Man Mugs | 9 Himalayan Salt Tequila Shot Glasses | 10 A Morning Without Coffee Print

A Backyard Garden Bridal Shower

I’m so excited to share this beautiful backyard shower, complete with vibrant greens, pastel blues and plenty of chalkboard paint. I especially love the idea of personal photos with each bridesmaid commemorating the year you met! And I’m super-impressed with the newspaper bridal gowns. All of the bridesmaids pitched in to help pull off this DIY garden shower for bride PT, with plenty of personal touches—even a batch of adorable fondant pups.

Bridesmaid Kathy describes some of the preparation, much of which included finding creative ways to use thrifted pieces or items they already had on hand. (Kathy is also behind the amazing desserts!)

The bride and I drove around to various thrift stores and bought vintage frames to paint and turn into chalkboards days before the shower. She had the idea to add chalkboard frames to the disposable cups too, so that guests could write their names on them—luckily I even had cups available from a previous party. The cake stands for the dessert table were also thrifted. Another bridesmaid, Grace, provided flowers that were leftover from a friend’s wedding from the night before. I used those to fill my milk and sugar jar (also thrifted). PT had wanted a dog-themed cake and I thought, why not have her own dogs, Belly and BamBam, on it? Shih Tzu’s are not easy to sculpt from fondant! I also added sugar flowers to the cake since the theme of the shower was a backyard/garden style. Her wedding theme color was Tiffany blue, so I added a fondant bow in that color as well as in the trimming for the cake.

Photographer: Esther Huynh | Baked goods: Glenwood Bakehouse

Fashion Friday

This week’s Fashion Friday brings you one dress…sort of. We’re all familiar with the concept of the wrap dress—a one-size-fits-most style that can be tucked and tied to create unique silhouettes for each bridesmaid. Generally quite flattering on any body type, the wrap dress is versatile and a dress you’re likely to get a bit of use out of since it can styled to fit your occasion. But not all wrap dresses are equal. I was struck by the gorgeous color palette and added textures and patterns in these “octopus” dresses from Coralie Beatrix. She knows just when to sneak in some ruffles or flounces and lots of the dresses come in two-tone options that make them feel special and singular. The lovely photo shoot didn’t hurt, I admit. The dresses start at $79 and run to about $100, with some exceptions.


Save Our Heels!

We’ve all had the experience of sinking heel-deep in the grass at an outdoor wedding. You want to rock your cherry-red heels, but you don’t want to lose a shoe while walking down the aisle or spend the entire ceremony balanced lightly on your toes. Well, problem solved!

This Arizona couple set out stepping stones for each member of the bridal party. Brides take note! This is a fantastic idea—and it looks pretty cute too! You can check out their full wedding shoot here, complete with some darling personalized bridesmaid champagne flutes.

Photography: Danielle Daigle Photography

Will You Be My Bridesmaid?

Not every bride wants lace and glitter. This quirky card is sweet and simple with cheeky lips and mustache and a delicate dotted and filigree border.

This shimmering letterpress option is simple yet striking. The metallic diamond is bold and striking against the natural grain of the paper and the typography screams Deco chic.

Let’s get serious. Nothing says “Will You Be My Bridesmaid” like a bottle of wine. These peel-and-stick labels can be customized with your name and wedding colors, then apply to the wine of your choice. You could also adapt these to be a thank you gift to your maids on the day of the wedding by asking for a design that says “Thank you for being my bridesmaid.”

A card after my own bibliophile heart! This personalized crossword puzzle comes with the answers printed on the back and can be customized to your wedding colors.

Bold typography, a cute arrow motif and customizable color palettes with names like “sugar plum” or “lemon squeeze” make this card cute as can be.

5 Simple Bridal Shower Games (that don’t suck)

Bridal shower games are not mandatory, but they can help break up the day and be funny and cute. Save the racy stuff for the bachelorette though. At a bridal shower, you’re going to need activities that work for a mixed group of ages. Remember that people want to eat, drink, and chat, not have a regimented schedule of enforced games, so just choose a few to sprinkle in. And have prizes! People are more likely to take interest if there’s chocolate involved.

Bridezilla

Before the shower, make the most hideous veil you can with a cheap tiara, glitter, different colors of tulle—whatever you can muster. Then once all the guests have arrived, tell them that the word “wedding” and “bride” are banned. If you use one of the words, you are Bridezilla and have the wear the veil until someone else slips up! During your time as Bridezilla you are encouraged to add to the veil to make it more hideous if possible.

Ring Hunt

Hide fake diamond engagement rings around the house and tell the guests to collect them throughout the party and put them on as they find them. The guests wearing the most rings at the end of the party wins. This one is simple, non-invasive and will lead to plenty of cute pictures.

Chick Flick Charades

We all know how to play charades. But raise the bar by banning the typical tactic of acting out the words in the title. Instead, pairs of guests have to act out a scene from different chick flicks. You’ll end up reenacting the Katz’s Deli scene from When Harry Met Sally, snapping a jewelry box closed as Julia Roberts reaches for her necklace in Pretty Woman, or trying to jump into Patrick Swayze’s arms for Dirty Dancing. If both players claim to have never seen the film and thus cannot act out a scene, let them default to the title, but make sure you appropriately shame them for neglecting to watch You’ve Got Mail. You can also opt for a tiered point system: 1 point for just acting out the title, 2 points for a scene, and 5 points for acting out the entire movie in less than two minutes. Some other flicks to throw in: My Best Friend’s Wedding, Runaway Bride, 27 Dresses, Sleepless in Seattle, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Something’s Got to Give, Love Actually, Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Two Truths and a Lie

Guests take turns sharing two truths and a lie about the bride. It’s a good idea to announce this game early in the shower so guests have time to think of good facts. Maybe bring it up before lunch or dinner is served or before you open presents. The facts can be about their friendship or history with the bride—they’ve been friends for 15 years, they taught the bride how to drive, they shared a lost weekend in Myrtle Beach—or a little known fact about the bride—the details of her first kiss, what she really thought of her groom when she first met him, her biggest pet peeve. Everyone else writes down the number of the fact they think is false. Those who get it right get a little prize or a point and most points win at the end. Remember to keep this PG-13 if you’re in a shower with mixed age groups or that includes relatives or coworkers of the bride who may not need to know about her scandalous behavior in college…or six months ago.

Purse Scavenger Hunt

This game may seem too simple or overdone, but in this version you add an element of urgency. In the typical game you get a point for each item that you have, but in this version it’s the first person to find the item who wins. Watching women frantically rifle through their purses is what makes it funny. People will know they have that peppermint but they just can’t find it!

Come up with a list of items a woman might have in her purse. The host reads the items aloud and the first person to fish that item out of her purse gets a prize. You can also give out small prizes for each item, but then designate points to each item for a big reward at the end. Make sure it’s on a sliding scale so that easy items like wallet and keys get one point and harder ones like dog treat, pepper spray or corkscrew get more. Here’s a fun sample list. You’ll be surprised how many of these people have in their purses!

Wallet, keys, cell phone, mirror, lip gloss, foundation, mascara, deodorant, hairbrush, tweezers, umbrella, book, pepper spray, dog treat, condom, tampon, Advil, band-aid, stomach medicine, underwear, scissors, a Groupon, a stamp, a mint, a bottle of water, USB flash drive, a $50 bill, a menu, stain remover and bottle opener. You can also throw in a few things that require a little bit of extra effort. For example: a picture of the bride. Someone’s got to have it on their phone, right? A cup of coffee will have clever people riffling through their wallets for their Starbucks gift card.

Sorry for the short break…

Ultimate Bridesmaid has been off the radar for a few days now as New York City recovers from Hurricane Sandy. I am very lucky to live in an area of the city that remained largely untouched, with just some very high winds and lots of downed trees. We had power throughout the storm and the businesses in our neighborhood were true heroes, keeping food and water on the shelves throughout the disaster. The power returned to lower Manhattan yesterday and the city is starting to feel normal again as subway service returns and most people prepare to return to work on Monday. I’ve been working from a satellite office in midtown since Thursday with the J.Crew catalog team, trying to catch up on the time lost during the disaster. My heart goes out to all those whose homes were damaged and who are still without power, food or water.

J.Crew’s makeshift office in midtown.

In an ironic twist, I did actually experience a bridesmaid-related emergency over the past few days! A friend emailed to say that her bridesmaid dress was trapped in a closed tailor’s shop below 14th street that was without power. She put out an all-points bulletin for a floor-length black gown that might serve as a substitute. Luckily, she was able to rescue the dress from the shop on Thursday!

We’ll return to our normally scheduled posts in the coming days and thanks for your understanding.