Pittsburgh's Biggest Summer Bridal Show

Wedding Clickers.com 

The next bridal show in Pittsburgh (July 22) will feature Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta's Monte Durham (who also happens to be from West Virginia!). If you're new to Wedding Clickers shows, click here to register to attend. 

And since I love podcasts, I was excited to find out that Monte has his own wedding podcast.
Say Yes to the Dress: Monte's Take podcast

Let them eat cake!

So what exactly is that nestled between the ice cube trays and Wal Mart brand frozen cauliflower?

That, folks, is the top layer of my wedding cake.

Here is what my cute little grocery store cake looked like on my wedding day (photo from Amberlee Christey Photography).

After our wedding, my husband and I stayed at a hotel. The next day we made our way home to drop off my dress, his tux, etc.. (No reason to drag all of that on our honeymoon, right?) We came to find out that our kitchen was a disaster zone. Flowers, cake parts, food, and various other wedding day items strewn about by family members who stayed at our house that night. I noticed the cake top was in the freezer, but I didn't see if it was packed well or not. We needed to get on the road to Florida!

When we came back from our trip I took the lid off to take a peek at the cake, and I noticed some ice crystals. Freezer burn isn't something that I want to eat, personally. I really didn't think we would eat it on our first anniversary anyway, honestly.

Last October was our first anniversary. We left for a long weekend in Myrtle Beach. We also forgot to bring along the cake (what the heck, we could have taken a nibble and see if it tasted okay or not).

Now, a year and a half after our wedding, our little cake top is still in our freezer. I have to move it around now and then to make room for french fries or frozen veggies, but I like seeing it in there. I have no plans for it. It's just... there. ;-)

However, if you'd like to read about someone who had more success eating their cake on their first-anniversary, read this post from Carrots n' Cake!

Old Town Winchester, VA Strolling Bridal Show

Elisa from Bluebells in Winchester, Virginia would like to invite West Virginia brides to the Old Town Winchester Strolling Bridal Show in downtown Winchester. This sounds like so much fun! Brides in the Martinsburg/Charles Town area, are you going? 

(Thanks to Elisa for the information!)

Did you know that Winchester is the wedding capital of Virginia? Brides who choose one of the area's wonderful venues will not have to look far to find amazing caterers, photographers, florists, wedding planners, and so much more.

If you're planning a wedding in the Winchester area, then plan to attend the 2^nd annual Old Town Winchester Strolling Bridal Show. This unique bridal event will be held Sunday, June 24, 2012 on the downtown walking mall.

Brides will register at Kimberly's (135 North Braddock Street) between 11:30am-12:30pm, and then stroll the walking mall meeting wonderful wedding professionals of every type. To win great prizes, brides their have their cards stamped by each professional they meet and then turn the cards in at the last stop, the George Washington Hotel (103 East Piccadilly Street) where they will then attend the fashion show and finally, the prize drawing.

Please visit the Event’s Facebook Page for updated information (a list of participating vendors is coming soon):  www.facebook.com/OldTownWinchesterBridalShow

Getting a New Engagement Ring

This is a photo of my friends Ginger and Joe, who were married in 1993. (Yes, the same Ginger who proposed to Joe on Leap Day in 1992.)

After they got engaged Ginger found this ad for a ring in the newspaper. (Weiss Henebry's was a jewelry store on High Street in downtown Morgantown, it's been out of business for years now.) After deciding this was the perfect engagement ring for Ginger, the couple put in on layaway. In November 1992, nine months after their engagement, Ginger finally got to put it on her finger.

In 2006, in their 13th year as a married couple, Ginger was at work when she looked down and noticed the diamond was missing from her setting. To say she was upset was an understatement (I can't even imagine how upset I would be if this happened to me!) After searching frantically on the floor with no luck, she assumed she must have lost it outside near her home.

She put the setting away for a few years, thinking one day she would replace the diamond. It wasn't a priority for her at that time, but she did miss her engagement ring.

In January of this year Ginger decided to take a bunch of old jewelry to the Kuehn Sisters, also on High Street in Morgantown, to see if any of the gold she had was real. She had also decided to use it as an opportunity to take along her engagement ring setting to see how much it would cost to replace the diamond. Among the jewelry Ginger had taken to price was a loose blue zircon stone, which also happened to be her birthstone.

Because adding a diamond was a bit too steep, Ginger decided to use the blue zircon in her setting. The owners at Kuehn Sisters turned her 4-prong setting into a 6-prong setting and added the blue zircon. And here are the results!

The price was extremely reasonable and Ginger is now back to wearing two rings on her left finger.

So should you get a 6-prong setting engagement ring? Jewelers say it's safer, if one prong breaks, you will most likely not lose your diamond. The drawback is that some say your diamond will look smaller and a little duller maybe, and your ring will be harder to clean.

I have a 4-prong engagement ring and I get it inspected twice a year. My heart does stop when I clank my hand against something. I always check to make sure my diamond is still there. I do have a warranty, so I can get it replaced, but of course I'd rather have the original diamond my husband picked out for me!

So to sum up - get warranties on your rings, take them in for inspection, and keep your eye on them!

Wedding Podcasts

When some brides plan a wedding they love to devour all the information they can. They love to hit the wedding section at Barnes & Noble, buy all the magazines, and live on various wedding blogs. Wedding brain can definitely take over.

Well for those brides I ask: Have you listened to any good podcasts lately?

I am addicted to podcasts. I spend two hours a day in my car commuting to work, so I love that I can plug my iPhone in and have something interesting to listen to for all that time.

While I was planning my wedding I was, naturally, addicted to wedding podcasts, and also Disney World podcasts, as I was planning our honeymoon as well. (These days I'm still very much addicted to my Disney World podcasts because we have another trip to the World scheduled this fall! Yay!)

A lot of the podcasts I listened to a few years ago aren't updated any longer (looking at you Northeast Ohio Wedding Show!) But there are a lot more out there. If you're new to podcasts and planning a wedding, you should check out the Wedding Podcast Network, which is actually a group of different wedding themed podcasts that you can download individually.

A video podcast that I absolutely loved was Get Married TV , featuring full-length episodes of Get Married, hosted by wedding expert Colin Cowie. I've watched every episode. ;-)

Listen in the car or on the treadmill. Just search "wedding podcasts" on iTunes and go crazy!

Wheeling Wedding Videos

I'm ready for a long weekend, how about you? I hope everyone has a great Easter!

And now on to weddings... today's post is a collection of wedding videos from Wheeling. Links to the wedding vendors featured in the videos are at the bottom - check them out!









Oglebay Resort
Bethany College
Fineline Weddings
Ovation Images 

Plus Sized Brides: Koda Bridal (Pittsburgh)

Where's my plus sized brides? Koda Bridal, a plus-size bridal shop near Pittsburgh, is having a David Tutera for Mon Cheri trunk show this Wednesday! So leave work a little early and head up there! ;-)