Hi everybody! I hope you have an incredible holiday weekend! I’ll be packing a tote bag with my eco-chic aluminum water bottle, some beach reading, and grabbing my flip flops to head over to the beach with my friends for a picnic to watch the 4th of July fireworks! What about you all?

{Image from Elements of Style}

Here’s some flag etiquette courtesy of The Finer Things:

• A flag should not be flown in inclement weather, unless it is an all-weather flag

• The flag should not be displayed in the dark. One should display a flag from sunrise to sunset unless it will be properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.

• Any time the flag is displayed in a place other than from a pole or staff, it should be hung flat with the blue/star portion (referred to as “the union”) at the observers upper left. The same is true when it is hung from a window– the flag should be positioned so that from the street, the union appears in the upper left hand corner

• When a flag is flown at half-staff, it should first be raised to the very top of the flag pole for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position

• A flag should never be draped across the back of things like boats, nor should it be used as a table cloth

• Flag pins should be worn on the left lapel near the heart

• A flag should never be allowed to touch what lies beneath it (whether the ground, water or an object

And, if you’re hosting a 4th of July party (rehearsal dinner or even a wedding!) and are looking for some patriotic goodies, check out these lovelies below!

{Images from Ritzy bee Blog, Hostess Blog, Hostess Blog, Hostess Blog, }

Kendra Wilkinson’s Wedding:

Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett got married this weekend, but the festivities began a week before. Kendra’s bachelorette party was planned by her former roommate Bridget Marquardt and took place at Guys and Dolls nightclub where Kendra wore a veil and skimpy dress. Bridget told Us Magazine, “Everything is falling into place. We have games planned. We are doing video messages as the girls walk in, we are going to play fun games, [and] of course presents. Sprinkles cupcakes has donated all these cupcakes for it, which I am really excited about.” Three days before the ceremony, Kendra, her bridal party, her mother, and grandmother headed to a salon to get facials, manicures and their hair done. They even had cupcakes with the bridesmaids names on them and the women got to pick out cute bikinis to take home. According to People, “After the hours of pampering, Baskett and some guys surprised the women and whisked them away to dinner.”

The day of the wedding, Kendra wore $100,000 worth of platinum jewelry by Michael Barin and a $20,000 duchesse-silk gown consisting of 55 yards of fabric covered in 1,200 crystals codesgined by herself and R-Mine Bridal’s Armine Ohanessian. Hank wore white as well as the groomsmen and the bridesmaids wore lavendar. The two were married at the Playboy mansion lawn where the wedding decorations included white rose petals and wreaths. Her brother, Colin, walked Kendra down the aisle among the 500+ guests.At the reception the couple danced to George Strait’s “Cross My Heart.” Even Hugh hefner got a little misty eyed! “It was a spectacular day, filled with emotion,” he says. “Her first dance was with the groom; the second, with me.”

According to People, “At the reception, guests dined on a banquet dinner from Playboy’s in-house caterer and a Fantasy Frostings wedding cake with the bride and groom’s monograms. The deejay kept everyone dancing until midnight, and not even the hum of distant paparazzi helicopters could spoil the mood. On Sunday, the newlyweds – Wilkinson in a tank top that read “high maintenance bride” – were snapped getting through security at LAX, before hopping a flight to St. Lucia for their nine-day honeymoon.”The couple is expecting their first child in December, so congratulations to the newlyweds and the new parents-to-be!

Eddie Van Halen’s Wedding:

Eddie Van Halen got married on Saturday to Janie Liszewski in Studio City, CA in front of 100 guests including his ex-wife Valerie Bertinelli. The couple’s personality could be seen throughout the wedding. The groom donned flip flops and the bride co-designed her Hanna Hartnell gown. Liszewski walked down the aisle with her Pomeranian dog, Kano, and mom to Van Halen’s “When It’s Love,” performed by the Sonus Quartet.18 year old Wolfie Van Halen gave his dad away and Eddie’s brother Alex officiated the ceremony, which was entirely written by the happy couple. The two-some also designed their wedding bands.

The reception was entirely non-alcoholic, so the toast was done with French apple cider and sparkling pear juice in lieu of champagne. It featured a candy bar with Pop Rocks, wax lips, candy necklaces and Lemon Heads. The organic appetizers included mini cheese burgers, garlic parmesan fries with chipotle ketchup and mini corn dogs.For the main course, guests dined on filet mignon, mojito prawns, orange rosemary chicken and grilled veggies. The cake was an olive-oil cake with whipped cream and strawberries, topped with white Hydrangea flowers. The bottom layer was a white chocolate cheesecake.The wedding favors were either a Kate Spade or Calvin Klein vase and flowers.Many congratulations to the happy couple!

Celebrity Wedding Proposals:

I finally watched The Proposal this past weekend (I LOVED it!) and although Ryan Reynolds was coerced into proposing to Sandra Bullock in the movie, most celebrity engagements happen by choice! So just how do the stars get engaged? Read on for their proposal stories and one proposal inspired by a hit song (hint: he liked it, so he put a ring on it)!

• Well, I guess there was another proposal that involved some coercion, LL Cool J says, “I drove my Porsche 110 m.p.h. and wouldn’t slow down until she said yes!”about his proposal to Simone Smith. I wonder how long it took her to respond.
• Jason Biggs proposed with an earring! “I proposed twice. I proposed once spontaneously – I didn’t even have a ring. I used an earring. We were in St. Martin. I just bought her these earrings and I took one out of her ear and proposed to her with it. And then I got a ring and did a more formal proposal on Valentine’s Day in Big Sur. It was really cool.”
• Kevin Jonas, the eldest of the Jonas brothers proposed to his girlfriend of two years the day after he arrived to New Jersey on an overnight flight from Vancouver. The brother had just performed, but showed up at Danielle Deleasa’s house to pop the question. Then, “She said yes, yes, yes like 500 times super fast in a row,” Kevin told People.
  
• Rachael Ray didn’t even know she was getting proposed to! “We were supposed to have moved into a new apartment that was being renovated. It wasn’t going to be ready for another four months. The first thing I was going to do in the new apartment was give her the ring. But that wasn’t going to happen, so I just reached into my bag, I threw the ring at her.” John Cusimamo says. Rachael’s response? “I thought it was a key ring, because I was always losing the keys to the apartment.”
• Melissa Rycroft from The Bachelor, Dancing With the Stars, and now Good Morning America just got engaged to her boyfriend of four months Tye Strickland! The on again, off again couple of more than 2 years reconnected after her crushing split from The Bachelor Jason Mesnick. According to People, “He popped the question at White’s Chapel in Southlake, Texas. The [on again, off-again] couple [of 2 years] later joined their respective parents for a celebratory meal at the Brio Tuscan Grille before heading out later in the evening to a reception with more family and close friends.” Take that Jason Mesnick!



• During a concert performance in Florida, Beyonce was singing her hit song Single Ladies (Put a ring on it), when she stopped singing and said, “I’m not sure if production knows about this, but Lindell has something he wants to sing.” The lucky guy went onstage and said, “Beyonce, you told me if I like it, I need to put a ring on it,”then he got on bended knee to present his girlfriend with a diamond ring in front of the entire audience. She gladly accepted to the sounds of the audience cheering them on.

Unconventional Weddings:

Some weddings defy convention, and these two definitely take the cake!

• In Saudi Arabia, a campaign has been launched for men to quit smoking in exchange for an all-expenses paid wedding!
• Two sets of identical twins got married in a joint ceremony in Russia! The twin grooms’ mother said that she recognized her own sons, but she could not tell the difference between her new daughters in law! Can you spot the difference?

The seating chart – our final frontier. This was our last truly giant task remaining. Sure fatigue was setting in, but ol’ Faye and I had some fight in us yet.

And last night we sat down to plot it all out.

The first thing was to figure out whom we were going to sit with. We had ordered 18 round tables which could seat 8-9 people each. But when we tried to seat people with us, we kept running into problems. Our first thought was to sit with our immediate families, but we could only do that if we separated people from their spouses and children – something we didn’t want to do. The same went for our wedding party (which has nine people in it, plus significant others).

So we did something which we originally poo-poo-ed (Wow. I never thought I would use poo poo as a verb – I truly am ready for my honeymoon).

So, we are going to sit by ourselves at a “table for two” (aka “sweetheart” table). While I love a great big dinner table full of fun people and conversation, I am actually looking forward to it being just Faye and me. It might actually give us a chance to whisper/shout sweet nothings to each other over the loud music.

Eric: You look amazing tonight!
Faye: Oh my god! Who’s in a fight?
Eric: Never mind.
Faye: Remember to breathe and stay in the moment.
Eric: That’s a good idea, we should go when we get back from the honeymoon.
Faye: Go where?
Eric: To the MOMA. I wonder if they have a new photography exhibit. I love those!

One table down, 17 to go.

For these 17 tables, we made approximately one million lists. We broke people down into the following groups.

1. People who are friends with each other from PA.
2. People who are friends from Thailand.
3. Family units.
4. People who went to college or high school with each other.
5. Single people or people coming without their significant others.
6. People who are loud and talkative.
7. People who are on the shy side
Etc…

The biggest problem occurred when someone belonged to more than one group. We had a hard time keeping track of where people were and if we had put them at more than one table. Or, even worse, just when we thought we had birthed the perfect table – we realized that we had seated together two people who used to date.

Then I found a life saving website, Toptableplanning.com. This is not a paid advertisement – I am just a happy user. It is a web-based program where for $20 you can lay out the floor plan, place your tables, add or remove seats, color code for gender, meal choice, etc. It made moving people around a breeze. Truly one of the most helpful things I’ve found.

In about an hour we had everyone snugly tucked at a table. The only other thing left to do was run it all by the parents, all of whom miraculously approved.

I have to say. This wedding might have a real chance of being a great time. I can just see it now…

Eric: I almost wish we were guests at this party!
Faye: Why would we give a test to Marty?
Eric: I love you! Baby!
Faye: Maybe? You love me “maybe?” Don’t you think you should know by now?

Well – that’s it for this blog until after the wedding and the honeymoon. At which point I will be no longer frazzled nor frenzied (although I might be sun-burned and broke). I’ll be back at the end of July to tell you how it all goes down. Wish us luck!!!!

Thanks for reading…

Go back to episodes guide to view upcoming episodes.

I’ll admit it: I am a Twilight geek. I’ve read all the books (more than once) and will be standing in line for the premiere of New Moon along with all the teeny boppers. Obviously all the vampire and werewolf stuff is cool, but what really intrigues me is the bond between Bella and Edward– their everlasting love. Maybe I’m just a hopeless romantic, but if you like Twilight as much as I do, you could consider having a Twilight inspired wedding. Unlike some blog posts I’ve read, a Twilight theme doesn’t have to be corny and overdone. It can have some simple touches that can hint at the more romantic aspects of the movie or book.

{Image from: Twilight}

Bridesmaids dresses: Edward’s favorite color on Bella was blue, so dress your bridesmaids in blue gowns, and add touches of blue to your own dress (consider tying a blue ribbon around your waist, or on your hair, use sapphire jewelry, etc.). Purchase a vintage style gown or incorporate lace and other vintage adornments.Have your groom wear a traditional tuxedo.

{Images from: Green Wedding Shoes, Southern Weddings Magazine}

The Twilight soundtrack has some great songs on it for a party and the instrumental music is gorgeous as well. You might consider having Bella’s lullaby or Clair de Lune for your wedding processional, or make reference to Edward by hiring a pianist for the cocktail hour. To get everybody dancing, incorporate tracks from the soundtrack like songs from Mute Math, Muse, and Paramore along with some of your other favorites. You could even give your guests a mix CD with your favorite songs and don’t forget to create your own personalized CD labels.

{Images from: Snippet & Ink, Beau-coup personalized CD labels}

Host your ceremony at sunset, so that your outdoor reception can start at dusk. This is to appease your vampire friends. Program your wedding date for a night that has a full moon (or close to one) to make reference to Bella’s werewolf friends. For your decor, be sure to include lots of twinkle lights, as well as plenty of white flowers everywhere. The Cullens love clean, light colors, and elegant touches like chandeliers so be sure to have plenty of lush white flowers for centerpieces and around your lighting. Place your flowers atop classic books from the 1800s such as Wuthering Heights (one of Bella’s favorites) or even on top of copies of the Twilight books (if you don’t mind the distractions they’ll provide to your female guests! Surround your flowery centerpieces with plenty of candles in diamond shaped holders and a crystal heart paperweight that resembles the charm that Edward gave Bella.

{Images from Twilight, Style Me Pretty, Telegraph, Southern Weddings Magazine, Style Me Pretty, Southern Weddings Magazine, Beau-coup crystal heart paperweight, diamond shaped holders}

To make reference to the vampires incorporate a hint of red by placing a single red rose to adorn your guests plates and to serve as place cards. Make reference to the vampires by serving red drinks like cranberry martinis and have your caterer create a crisp salad with red apple slices to reference the apple on the cover of Twilight. For favors, give your guests bride and groom caramel apples so they can take home their own piece of forbidden fruit or purchase individual red drinks (like red soda) and customize them with personalized labels that make reference to Twilight– perhaps with one of the quotes below. For the food, serve your guests some Italian food– to reference the first time Bella visits the Cullens at home or the first time she has dinner with Edward. Name your tables after Cullen and Swan family members as well as Werewolves (depending on the number of tables).

{Images from: Twilight, The Chef Alliance, Beau-coup bride and groom caramel apples, Pretty Bourgeois,

Pick your favorite line from the movie and incorporate it in your wedding, such as using it on your wedding favors, printing it on your personalized wedding napkins, and reading it in your vows. Here are some of my favorites:

• “When you can live forever,what do you live for?”
• “I Promise to love You Forever- Every Single Day of Forever.”
• “You are my life now.”
• “I’ll always want you. Forever.”
• “Look after my heart. I have left it with you.”

Here are some good ones for your vows:

• “He grinned his crooked smile at me, stopping my breath and my heart. I couldn’t imagine how an angel could be any more glorious. There was nothing about him that could be improved upon.”
• “Before you, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars — points of light and reason. And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn’t see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason for anything.”

{Image from: Beau-coup personalized wedding napkins}

Make your getaway in a flashy sports car like the Cullens prefer (like Alice’s yellow Porsche) and have your guests see you off with sparklers to illuminate the Cullens dazzling skin.

{Images from: Elizabeth Anne, Porsche}

Finally, for your wedding favors, give your guests some red candy hearts within elegant favor boxes or photo biscottis with a picture of you and your new husband emulating one of the iconic Twilight poses.

{Images from: Beau-coup elegant favor boxes, photo biscottis}

The rocky economy has everybody scaling back, but that’s no reason to have a wedding that is less than fabulous! That’s why Beau-coup has teamed up with Wedding Paper Divas to bring you ResourcefulBrides.com. This new site allows brides to come online and share their best advice for cutting costs without sacrificing style.

You’ll find tons of tips and great advice to plan a wonderful event! As if that weren’t great news, we’re celebrating the launch by gifting one lucky bride with a $500 gift card from Beau-coup and one from Wedding Paper Divas for a combined prize of $1000! All you have to do is submit your idea for the chance to win! So what are you waiting for? The deadline is July 21st, so head over to Resourceful Brides and enter!