So I’m sorry for the lack of {aPRettySocialBride} posts (and posts in general from yours truly), but today I have a short and sweet one to share with all you brides out there.

If you haven’t heard of Etsy, you’re missing out. It’s an awesome place to find tons of handmade and vintage goods — not only for your wedding, but also for your everyday life. I love it! And needless to say, it’s a major source for decor and other things related to my upcoming wedding.

But there’s one item I’ve been super excited about. A few months ago, my wedding photographer Jennie Andrews posted about this on her blog, and I’m dying until it gets close enough to my wedding day so I can order one.

What is it?

This awesome, adorable hanger for your wedding dress photos:

They’re custom made, so you can chose any words (I’m going with “Mrs. Denton” myself) you’d like. And for only $25, this might be one of the least expensive wedding day items!

Don’t you just love it?!

Have you found other cool Etsy items? Share them here!

Alright, I know…it’s been a few weeks since my last {aPRettySocialBride} post, and I’m sorry! It’s been a crazy few weeks of wedding planning, and my blog moved a little bit to the back burner. But in spite of my busy-ness, I have a post for you to enjoy today.

As I’m really getting deep into the planning process, I’m learning things along the way. So I wanted to take this week to update you all on where we’re at now, and what we’ve learned so far. Hopefully my lessons learned will help other brides.

So without further ado, here are 4 lessons learned in a busy few weeks of wedding planning:

1. Getting married in a public place is a hassle.

Well, Michael and I have changed our ceremony venue once again. However, this time I think is the last. If you’ve been following our planning via this blog and/or Twitter, you might have noticed that a month or so ago, we changed the plan from a church ceremony to an outdoor ceremony at the World’s Fair Park Amphitheater. And while the Amphitheater seemed like a really cool place for the ceremony, we ultimately realized that having a wedding in a public place is a hassle — and it costs a lot more!

While it’s pretty cheap to rent out the venue, there are lots of other things to consider that really end up driving the bill higher. For instance: hiring security to keep out the bums, paying after-hours delivery fees on the chair rental, renting a vintage Rolls-Royce to make my grand entrance, creating 10x the decorations to cover a venue so large, etc, etc. While this type of ceremony probably works well for many people (and I’m not trying to discourage anyone else from doing it), it just didn’t work with our minimal budget.

So where is the ceremony now? On the Veranda at L&N Station. Now that we’re having the ceremony at the same venue as the reception, it’s just easier (and less expensive!)

Lesson learned: Be sure to factor in ALL the costs and hassle associated with one decision.

2. Crowdsourcing the Internet is a good way to find the best bridal shops.

The Internet is an invaluable resource in just about every aspect of wedding planning. Case in point: Knoxville has probably 20 bridal shops, and I only had one weekend with my bridesmaids in town, so I certainly didn’t have the time to visit them all. How did I narrow down the list of shops to visit? A combination of Google Local Search & Reviews, Facebook and Twitter. These are great tools to get real opinions on where you must go, and where you should probably skip.

While I scheduled 3 appointments for the day, the majority of my online research led me to one shop: A Joyous Occasion. And by far, this was the shop I was most impressed with. I even found THE dress there! While this was a shop I had never heard of prior to my crowdsourcing attempts, this ended up being the one shop I’m glad I visited.

Did I also mention I happened upon a 10% off coupon for the shop while researching online?

Lesson learned: Don’t neglect your resources. Other people’s opinions might just lead you in the right direction. It did for me!

3. Dress shopping is easier with bridesmaids & family around.

On the topic of my dress hunt, I couldn’t be more thankful for my awesome bridesmaids & family members. Picture this: You walk into a bridal shop and hundreds of dresses are on the racks in front of you. The look SO different on the rack than they do on, so how do you decide which dresses to pull?

For me, I tasked my ‘maids & the moms with pulling the ones they thought looked cool (and were within my budget range), and they did an amazing job! It was exciting to be surprised by each dress I tried on, and they offered an objective eye as to what might look good on me. The result? Someone picked out an amazing gown for me to wear on my wedding day, and I couldn’t be more thankful!

Lesson learned: Trust the ladies in your life. They’ll lead you in the right direction.

4. When you know, you just know.

Okay, okay, so I’m really pumped about my gown, thus why this list is predominately about it. But I tried on about 30+ dresses last Saturday, and while many of them were pretty, when I tried on THE one, I just knew. Of course, to torture myself, I went back to all the other stores and re-tried on my favorites there too, but I really couldn’t get this one out of my head.

Lesson learned: Much like true love, when you know, you just know. Keep that in mind and go with your gut on this one.

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So while it’s been a busy few weeks, it’s also been a good month for learning. Fellow brides: what have you learned through the course of your wedding planning? Do you have tips to share with me and other brides?

It definitely took Michael and I a while to find inspiration for our wedding. Our colors changed about 5 times, our ceremony location has been in limbo, and I was having trouble deciding on an overall theme to tie all the elements together. You may say we still have a lot of time — and we do. But it’s tough to get much of anything booked when you don’t have colors or even a general direction.

Lucky for us, in the past week, it’s finally all started to come together. And that’s thanks in part to some very inspiring websites that I’d like to pay tribute to in this week’s aPRettySocialBride! So if you’re having trouble finding inspiration for your wedding, check out these great sites.

1. Pretty Chicky

Pretty Chicky is an awesome wedding inspiration blog I found. While I love bigger bridal idea sites like The Knot, smaller blog sites like Pretty Chicky are nice because they’re a lot less overwhelming. Sometimes, it’s hard to sift through everything on The Knot to find the ideas that really work for you. Pretty Chicky makes it a little easier. Shari, the girl behind the blog, posts awesome inspiration boards a few times a week, and her taste is amazing! She’s really helped me settle on some ideas, and her blog is one I visit often. If you’re a girly bride looking for a girly wedding, check out Pretty Chicky!

2. Dessy

Dessy is a helpful site for two reasons. (1) They offer tools to help you build your own drag-and-drop inspiration boards, complete with color choices, their collection of Pantone bridesmaid dresses, and more. It’s easy and fun, and is a great way to put all of your ideas in one place. However, if you’re like me, Dessy is awesome because (2) They recently added inspiration styleboard galleries for other brides to post their boards! This is an awesome way to get ideas. You can click your colors and voila — a bunch of premade inspiration boards are right there on your screen. Helpful, huh?

3.  Polyvore

Polyvore is another really unique and helpful site. Like the others, it’s complete with enough styleboards to give you ideas for 20 weddings! The difference here is that Polyvore also tells you were you can buy all the products you see. While the site isn’t just for weddings, there are a ton of wedding ideas there, and it’s always nice to know you can actually find and buy the things you see. You can also add the “Clip to Polyvore” button to your bookmark toolbar, so when you see something online that you like, you can add it to your own styleboard later.

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So that’s where I found my inspiration. Where did you find yours?

This week’s {aPRettySocialBride} is a guest post by fellow bride-to-be, Andrea Shifflet. Like me, Andrea is on a budget. Unlike me, Andrea is a lot more laid back when it comes to planning her big day, so I figured she would be perfect to provide some insight on how she’s been able to keep her sanity in the process. After all, I need it! Don’t you?

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I’m not your typical bride in that I haven’t been dreaming about my wedding day since birth (gasp!). My laid back attitude about the whole process has lead to some eye-rolling from my friends and family, but it has also kept me from overspending and stressing out.

Here are 10 ways I’ve kept my sanity during the process:

1. Keep the guest list low. We’re inviting only those who we really want to share this moment with. Our guest list is less than 100 which saved us money on food and drinks.
2. Choose a simple color scheme. I picked black and white for two reasons: (1) My bridesmaids ease of finding a dress they will ACTUALLY wear again, and (2) I can’t mess up decorating in black and white right?
3. Pick a multi-functional venue. We chose the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts to hold the ceremony and reception. This makes it easy for guests and easy for me to deal with problems that may arise that day. Plus, we got a great price since we did a combo deal.
4. Beg, borrow and steal. I’ve put the word out to friends and family about my black and white theme, and one of my co-workers graciously donated items I will be using as part of my centerpieces. Total cost: $0.
5. Do it yourself. I designed my own save-the-dates, invitations and programs and will be printing them at work for a minimal cost. Our save-the-dates printed for $8. I also made my own card box (because I can’t stand the weird traditional bird cage thing) for a cost of $15.
6. Opt for a small photography package. One of my bridesmaids does photography on the side, so we decided to hire a photographer for just a few hours. I had a hard time finding one who had my date open and was willing to only do a few hours, but I finally found someone. As a bonus, I get TWO photographers! Total cost: $500
7. Hire a day-of planner. It hit me that there are so many details that need to get done the day-of that I won’t be around for. I didn’t want the burden to fall on family or friends, so I decided to hire day-of wedding planners, and it’s the single best investment I have made to date. They’ve already been a life saver in getting logistics figured out and ensuring that they will take care of all the crazy things that will happen that day. For the ease of mind I will have, the price tag of $750 is worth it!
8. Ask questions. Other brides are very eager to share their knowledge, so visit wedding forums like those on weddingwire.com for good advice. I posted a question and received 10 responses within minutes, so use your online resources to your advantage.
9. Start early. I’ve been chipping away at things ever since I got engaged so that when it came down to the last month I didn’t have a ton of last minute decisions. Often, brides make a decision solely because there’s not enough time to look at other options, which will cost you money in the end. Plus, you won’t be draining your bank account all at once if you spread out the planning.
10. Stay level-headed. I’ve had one too many brides tell me to elope because the wedding planning process is so difficult, so make sure to relax and enjoy this portion of your engagement. A laid-back attitude can go a long way when dealing with mishaps. And I promise you’ll have them!

Are there other ways you’ve been able to keep your sanity in the wedding planning process? Share them here!

*Andrea (@CSCAndrea) is the communications specialist at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Ill. She is an Illinois State University alumna (go Redbirds!) and enjoys incorporating new PR strategies into the education sector.

Any bride or groom knows that planning a wedding can be tough. I personally am still 10 months out, and it’s been a lot of work already! However, there are lots of free tools out there that have helped (and will continue to help) me…and they could help you too!

Here are my favorite six…

1. Twitter

In my first {PRettySocialBride} post, I detailed how I used Twitter to crowdsource my vendors. Twitter is an awesome tool for this! There are tons of past brides and grooms, along with wedding planners and the like on Twitter, and I’ve found that they’re all more than willing to help. Crowdsourcing isn’t a replacement for research, but it is a really great place to start…and to find recommendations. Think word-of-mouth only your friend-base reaches much further.

2. Facebook

Michael and my wedding party spans the globe – from Tennessee, to New Jersey, to Florida, all the way to Costa Rica and Iraq – so you would think it would be a bit challenging to keep in touch with everyone. However, we’ve found great success with Facebook for this one so far. Even when planning my dress shopping weekend, the easiest way to coordinate all the girls has been via Facebook messaging. I assuming this one will continue to be helpful as time passes. It’s simple and ultra-helpful. I’d be lost without Facebook!

3. The Knot

The Knot has quickly become my favorite website to browse when I have downtime. With tons of photos and articles, it’s an awesome place to get ideas from everything to hair – to escort cards – to dresses – to colors…and much more. I’m pretty sure its photo galleries are ENDLESS! And these are all real wedding photos, many with descriptions on how you can replicate their style. The Knot also has other helpful tools like checklists, budgeting tools, guest list tracking and more.

4. Adobe’s Kuler

I’ve been SO indecisive when it comes to our wedding colors. Our original color scheme was hot pink and black, but the venue has dictated otherwise. Knoxville’s L&N Station is a gorgeous restored building with stained glass windows, eggshell blue walls, lots of gold trim and a maroon and yellow tiled floor…so I guess you can picture what pink and black might look like in there. Kuler is nice because I was able to import a photo of the stained glass and pull colors from it. It’s also helpful with figuring out which colors compliment each other. So what are our colors now? I’m thinking some shades of light blue, dark purple and pink.

5. WeddingBee

I actually stumbled upon WeddingBee a few times while I was searching random questions in Google. It’s a great place to check out the forums and the classifieds, as there are lots of other brides there to answer questions for each other and to sell some of their old reception decor. From what I’ve seen, there are some pretty good deals on there too! And what are you planning to do with all those glass cylinders and random decoration items when your wedding day is over? I’m listing mine on WeddingBee!

6. Remember the Milk

Remember the Milk is more than just wedding – it’s all things to-do lists! I recently went on a hunt for a good web-based to-do list too that would also sync with my Android phone — and RTM is the one I ended up with. The reason it’s on this list is because you can make tabs for each list. I have one for work, personal, and a separate one for my wedding deadlines! It’s a perfect free tool to track everything I need to do.

So there you have it — my six favorite free tools (so far). What tools did you find helpful when planning your wedding?

With tonight’s post, I’ve decided that {aPRettySocialBride} will be a weekly series posted every Monday. That said, I’m sorry this is post is slightly later in the day. It’s been a long weekend of family, wedding deposits and bridal shows followed by a long Monday at the office…but you might know how that is ; )

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Today’s post is about engagement — not the kind that comes with a sparkly ring on your finger, but rather the kind of engagement that happens every day on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks.

We often rate a person’s or a company’s social media presence by how well they build and promote relationships online. I’ve talked a little bit before about how important it is for companies to engage with their customers and potential customers online (and by engage, I don’t mean trying to sell something), but today I have a pretty great case study to back it up…

Lisa Spegman, owner of KnoxPlanning (an event planning company here in Knoxville), and I have known each other for a little while via social media. She is someone who has been very helpful to me as I’ve been crowdsourcing to find my wedding vendors (she even referred me to my wonderful photographer!)…and yet, through the process, she didn’t try to sell me her services once. She provided tips and vendor referrals as a friend, never once plugging that she wanted me to hire her.

Fast-forward a few weeks and I’m on the verge of signing the contract to have Lisa coordinate my wedding…

At the point I decided I wanted a day-of coordinator, I didn’t think of anyone else but Lisa. She had been so helpful to me through the process so far (for free) that I knew she would be the right person to handle my big day.

So what’s the lesson for businesses here?

Don’t jump on Twitter and immediately start trying to sell your product or service. Be genuine. Engage. Befriend those that might (or might not) one day want to give you their money. I understand it might seem like a long process, but it could (and probably will) have a big pay-off in the end.

Everyone — consumers, brides, etc. — wants to work with companies and people that they feel good about. Be that person. Be that company. Be more than just a faceless brand or a salesperson. Build those relationships first, and the business will follow!

What do you think? Have you had a similar experience?

Back in November, I wrote a post announcing my engagement and my intention to use social media as much as possible in the planning of my wedding. Today, I bring you a new blog series — aPRettySocialBride : )

In this new series, I’ll detail how I’m doing in my social media wedding planning, including tips and tricks for you to do the same.

So without further ado, here’s the first post in the series: Crowdsourcing Vendors.

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I’m a big fan of crowdsourcing. Since I witnessed how well in can work in Pyxl’s Help Us Name Us campaign, I’ve been interested in using it in other situations. Some call it lazy…I call it efficient!

When it came time to find wedding vendors, I was a little lost. I didn’t grow up in Knoxville, and I’ve never been to a wedding in Knoxville. In addition, Michael and I are among the first of our friends to tie the knot, so we really had no where to turn — except for social media of course : )

My first priority was the photographer. After the wedding, the only tangent things you keep are the husband, the rings and the photos, so I wanted to make sure we hired the right photographer. But as you may know, photographers are a dime a dozen, and in my experience some of them barely know what they’re doing. In Knoxville, there are 1,077 local search results, so how’s a girl supposed to know where to begin?!

Lucky for me, I’m a twitter-holic and I have quite a few Knoxville followers, so I tweeted a simple question:

“Anyone know of a good wedding photographer in Knoxville?”

I received an outpouring of recommendations. Wedding planners told me who they would suggest. Happy brides told me who they had used. Other photographers offered their services. This was an awesome start!

I created a master list, scoped out their portfolios and blogs – (Hint to photographers: Have a blog! I was really impressed by those that did. It gave me a chance to see recent work, not just the very best work. I ultimately decided I would choose a photographer that ran a blog related to their work.) – and sent an email about pricing to the few whose work I liked best.

After considering what recommendations I’d received, whose style really fit what we were looking for, and the price of each, Michael and I met with our top choice: Jennie Andrews.

Upon meeting with Jennie, we knew she was the right fit and we signed a contract with her the next week…but it all started with one simple question on Twitter.

After finding success with the photographer, Michael and I continue to pose questions on Twitter and Facebook related to our wedding. Whether asking for advice or vendor referrals, we’ve had success so far, and I highly recommend crowdsourcing to other brides and grooms.

After all, it’s just like word-of-mouth, except on social media, your friend-base is much larger : )

All you have to do is pose a simple question and see what answers you receive. Of course, it still requires a little leg-work once you compile a list…but having a list of recommendations is a great place to start!

Have you had similar crowdsourcing success? Do you have questions for me? Let’s chat…

After declaring on Monday that I’m going to be using social media as much as possible in my own personal wedding planning, I thought it was fitting for me to post a little something about the groom who changed his Facebook status and tweeted at the alter. Literally…right before the “you may kiss the bride”. Check it out…

Of course, I personally am not planning to do any social media-related activity while at the alter next November. I think Michael would be kinda mad at me lol…but I think it’s funny and perhaps even a sign of the times that someone else did.

Social media is truly infiltrating every single aspect of our lives. Well, most. Maybe someone will tweet while giving birth? Who knows…

Either way, it interests me that Facebook, Twitter and the like are getting so HUGE that no one (I can’t say that for sure but I’m assuming) was hurt or offended by the groom’s online wedding updates…even though a wedding is a sacred ceremony that often takes place in a church.

What do you think? Are we getting too involved in social media for our own good? Should status updates stay clear of certain situations?

Personally, it doesn’t really bother me either way. To each his own I guess. But I’d love to hear your opinions!

In case you didn’t catch my big announcement on Facebook this weekend or my tweets this morning…I’m getting married! As of Saturday night, Michael and I are engaged to be married on November 6, 2010!

So what does this mean for my blog? Well, in true PRettySocial style, I’ve decided that I’m going to use social media as much as possible in planning my big day. So of course, I’ll document the journey with you all via my blog in hopes that I can help others plan their weddings in the most efficient way I know how…via social media!

In a way, this is kind of an experiment, but I’m confident I’ll be able to do it.

Of course, I’d love any tips or advice anyone may have. After all, this is my first time planning a wedding…so feel free to comment, email me, tweet me, etc! I’m all ears (or eyes I guess in the case of social media)!

Stay tuned…