Here's some fashion advice from the book "Where to Seat Aunt Edna: And 500 Other Great Wedding Tips" (Hundreds of Heads Books, www.hundredsofheads.com, $13.95), straight from people who've done it.
“Your wedding dress determines what sort of jewelry you can wear. If you are wearing white, like I did, you are limited in what kind of necklace you can wear. Your best bet, with a white dress, is to go with a classy string of pearls.”
—Shannon Lietwiler, Keezletown, Va., number of wedding guests: 120
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“Go with a dress style that suits your personality. I had picked out 14 dresses that I wanted to try. But the one I chose seemed a little more classic than all the others.”
—Eloise Milliken, Hackettstown, N.J.
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“Men, carry a pack of mints with you. Share them with your bride throughout the night. It’ll make you look prepared. If you want to really go James Bond, carry a lighter, too, in case you run across anyone needing a light.”
—Steve J., San Diego, Calif., number of wedding guests: 175
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“Your everyday hair is for your everyday dress. You need a super special ’do to match that dress. Get a magazine with photos of actresses at the Oscars and choose something you see there.
—Candace Mistelli, Boardman, Ohio, number of wedding guests: 150
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“Thigh-high stockings are a bad idea on your wedding day. Right before I was about to walk down the aisle, mine fell down to my ankles. My wedding coordinator literally had to reach underneath my dress to pull them up.”
—S.A., Lake Forest, Calif., number of wedding guests: 150
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“Plan a theme and carry it through: I based my theme around my dress. It was romantic, an ivory silk strapless gown with yards of fabric, several different kinds of lace, pearls, and small ribbons. Because my dress looked so historical and classic, we married at the Atlanta History Center and had a black-tie wedding with a “big band” and white-glove service. We also drove away in a 1942 Rolls-Royce!”
—Monica, Atlanta, number of wedding guests: 115
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“Never let your husband pick out his own tuxedo. My fiancé was talked into a really trendy, over-the-top, gray number that would have been just horrid. I wanted to be surprised, but luckily, he asked my sister to give him a second opinion. Crisis averted.”
—D.E., San Francisco, number of wedding guests: 200
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“When picking out your wedding shoes, consider more than just how they look. Remember, you are going to be wearing these shoes for a while. I chose a heel that was a little too thin and a little too high. It made walking down the aisle a little trickier than it should have been.”
—Alice Duke, Covington, Ky.
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“My mother-in-law and I made my wedding dress together. We were both into sewing, and it was a wonderful way for us to bond. Since it wasn’t a first marriage for me, we made it out of this amazing scarlet-and-silver silk. I had a red MGB at the time, and I made the dress to match the car. It sounds silly, I know, but it did look pretty cool, driving up in that red car in that red dress.”
—Susanna, Charleston, W.Va.
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“I went dress shopping in New York City with my three best friends and we found my dress in the first store we went into. I still tried on 10 others just to be sure, but I eventually went back to that one. It was pretty expensive—$800!”
—M.B., Weehawken, N.J., number of wedding guests: 70
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“I don’t recommend that the bride do her own hair. But if you want to do it yourself, and you are going to try something you’ve never done before, experiment before the big day. I thought it would be a nice personal touch to do my own hair. But it turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. I ended up running to a salon at the last minute and begging them to take me. Let a professional do it.”
—Pam Waxter, Keezletown, Va., number of wedding guests: 175
© 2006, Hundreds of Heads Books, Inc.