I’m getting married next fall and I haven’t a clue what to wear to the three of four bridal showers between now and then. Any ideas? —Moira

When you’re planning your outfits, keep in mind that this is the bridal shower, not the bachelorette party. By which we mean your mom and several other people old enough to have birthed you will probably be there, so dress like an adult. Just make sure it’s a really cute adult by choosing something conservative in shape and whimsical in details.

When it comes to celebrity proposals, we expect big bling. Size matters, people. But now hubbies-to-be with money to burn should probably think again before purchasing a major rock to adorn their love’s ring finger. You see, in case you haven’t noticed, we’re kind of in a recession, and the idea of flaunting just how much money you make has become a bit grotesque. Instead of showing off their brilliant diamonds, which cost the men hundreds of thousands or even a million or more dollars, ladies are opting for simple wedding bands instead of doubling up their ring finger metal. So if your dreams are to wear a ring that hurts your finger, you might want to hold off on the proposal until the economy turns. [Stylelist]

Wedding uber-website Style Me Pretty has teamed up with the folks over at Google to bring brides-to-be wedding-specific (and brand-new) Google Docs Templates to keep their big day organized. They’re seriously useful—guest list templates, scheduling docs, seating charts, a vow-writing template and a music list—all documents that you can share in the usual Google Doc way. Now, you and your mom or soon-to-be-mother-in-law or fiancé can all make changes and updates from different locations (great if you don’t live near your family and are sick of sending that excel spreadsheet back and forth!). They’ve really thought of everything. I’m eyeballing the day-of scheduler right this very second! [Google Wedding Template Collection]

Even though I have no plans to get hitched myself at the moment, wedding dresses are very much on my mind right now. Our blogger Nina is presently searching for one, as is my dear friend Courtney, and another pal is actively not searching yet because she’s too intimidated by the entire process. Another, erm, “acquaintance” who has settled on a fiancé but not a gown is Chelsea Clinton, whom Hillary said (in a recent CNN interview) wasn’t quite there yet.

Why is the search so damn frustrating? Maybe the problem is with the bridal gown market in general. Here’s one solution.

Watch your back, Martha Stewart. Introducing the latest in online magazines, Nonpareil—a DIY-obsessed, gorgeously photographed, budget-friendly wedding magazine. (Can we talk about how much I’m loving this shift to online magazines? First Lonny and now this little bit of web genius and creativity!) All of a few hours old, this first installment of the mag is called “Beautiful on a Budget”—uh, is there a more perfect theme? I think not. Especially when it comes to the bank-account drainers that are weddings. Anyways, they’ve got a darling, felt boutonniere DIY, a how-to on ribbon-weaved headbands and a pretty helpful listing of vendors and craft destinations. Newly engaged folks or anyone who likes to look at pretty photos and get your DIY on, head on over! [Nonpareil]

A lot of Americans get married. In fact, 70 percent of men and women 25 to 44 are married—or have been. But how do you know when it’s time to go from GF and BF to bride and groom? We asked 15 women from around the country to tackle this age-old question.

So, yeah, I’m getting married this year, but you knew that. As I’m trying to figure out what the hell to do for my wedding, I’ve been pouring over loads and loads of wedding photographer blogs for inspiration, ideas and a reprieve from the machine that is the got-to-have-the-most-expensive-everything wedding industry. Mostly, I’m not sweating much of the planning—the day is going to be perfect, more because I’m marrying the guy I l-o-v-e, not because the flowers are the exact right shade of coral or peach, but that hasn’t stopped me from becoming completely obsessed with wedding and engagement photo blogs. Seriously, they’re like crack—my Google reader is infested with them! So, seeing as though I scroll through enough photos to make my eyes water up and glaze over each week, there’s been one hilarious trend I’ve noticed ...

I’m going to be a bridesmaid for the first time this summer and don’t have a clue what this entails. I know I’ll be wearing a dress of someone else’s choosing and standing at the front of a church for a long time, but what do I have to do for the bride from now until the wedding day? Who knows? So, when I heard there was a book that would tell me all of the expectations associated with the position, I said, “Send it over!” After reading The Knot Bridesmaid Handbook: Help the Bride Shine Without Losing Your Mind, I feel like I have a lot of work ahead of me; from what I read, being a bridesmaid is practically a full-time job and I didn’t even know I was supposed to do half of the responsibilities mentioned in the book! Keep reading for five things every bridesmaid should know that I didn’t.

Nice day for a white wedding? Winter brides, if you haven’t outfitted your bridesmaids yet, here’s a stellar option—Quail, the adorable and affordable dress line, has branched out into custom bridesmaid gowns. The styles are fun and flirty with tons of options to appease your posse—choose from cute strapless numbers with florette bodices, bow straps, organza skirts, plus a variety of out-of-the box color combos. The fashions are customizable, and best of all, so are the prices (the designer works on a sliding scale). Despite all the other bridesmaid dresses you were told you could “totally wear again,” you might actually give the goods from Quail a permanent space in your formal wardrobe. [QisforQuail.com via Refinery29]

“I am officially a MOTB: a mother of the bride. And I am very excited about it ... But it’s daunting to try and plan a wedding. Madeleine Albright called me the other night and said, ‘Well, when I was Secretary of State and had not a minute to myself, I had to plan a wedding, so if you need any advice, just call me,’ And I said, ‘I’ll be calling.’”

—Hillary Clinton, on daughter Chelsea’s engagement [CNN]

If you have a wedding video, I am sure it is very lovely, beautiful, and romantic, but, my God, this is a wedding video for the ages. I’m not really up on all things wedding video-related, but I kind of thought they were boring, hand-held affairs that the newly married forced their unmarried friends to watch as some kind of passive-aggressive punishment. The wedding video of model/actress Roselyn Sanchez and model/actor Eric Winter is another story altogether. Held at a historic fort in San Juan, Puerto Rico, it is probably one of the most glamorous and romantic weddings I’ve ever seen, and the video is a really sweet and gorgeous homage to the couple, their union, and their guests. I’m verklempt, people! [The Red Sole Bride]

Newlywed Ivanka Trump wants to take the stress—and originality—out of popping the question. Dudes can say goodbye to, err, thinking about how to ask women to spend the rest of their lives with them. That’s right, boys! Say goodbye to picking a special spot, planning the evening, and making a heartfelt speech. Ivanka has got you covered. Now, men who buy an engagement ring at Trump’s Bridal Bar on Manhattan’s Madison Avenue score a free, one-night stay at the Trump International Hotel or the Trump SoHo, which will open in February. As if the woman wasn’t already wondering why she’s randomly spending the night in a five-star hotel, Ivanka takes the mystery out of the proposal completely by putting a dozen roses and champagne in the guest’s room. Peeps also get a three-course dinner and breakfast in bed. Right. She’ll never see it coming! [People]

So … we spent the Thanksgiving holiday down in Florida with my folks, which meant Future Husband got a big “welcome to the family” glimpse of how the holidays with MY family works: lots of kids (there were no less than 8 kids under the age of 8 on T-day), lots of wine, and lots of sports. Minus the kids part, it was basically just like every Sunday at our house. Overall, we had an awesome time, which was great.

When my mom was in town this past weekend, we went to the mall. Not just to go to the Gap, which she had a 40 percent off coupon for (the woman always has a coupon for either the Gap, Banana Republic, or Bed Bath & Beyond), but to go to the bookstore to look for bridal magazines. Before I was engaged, I had to stop myself from buying one of those magazines. I wouldn’t even pick one up, for fear of jinxing myself and never getting married. As someone who is OCD, I’m surprised I didn’t back up four steps and do a circle after looking at them.

Last time I was a bridesmaid, the dress was brown. Not the sort of brown that makes you look like death as you plot ways to get back at the bride after you’ve fulfilled your bridesmaid duties, but just brown and shiny enough that I’ll never wear it again. Given that I spent a couple hundred bucks on the damn thing, I’m obviously none too pleased about the fact that it will sit in my closet forever because I feel guilty throwing it out and un-cute wearing it.

Now, however, it looks like I might get a do-over. My brother is getting married in September and the chances that the bridesmaids dresses will be a flattering and re-wearable black are looking good. His (awesome) fiancée and I checked out a few options the other day, settled on a style, and now I’m just waiting with bated breath for her to decide between black and purple.

Celebs are always throwing parties, so it’s no surprise that sometimes their tacky, weird, over-the-top or just plain fugly invites get leaked. The Kardashians are particularly bad at keeping their private events, well, private. The funny thing is, it’s pretty easy to tell which invitation came from which celeb. So let’s play a little game. After the jump, match the invitation from Column A with the celebrity who sent it from Column B. I’ll post the answers in an hour in the comments section.

A few years ago, a vaguely goth friend of mine got engaged to her boyfriend, who is so gothtastic that his name might as well be Azrael. The two of them planned a pretty non-traditional wedding—they wanted to fly to Transylvania and get hitched in a haunted castle. But when they told their parents this, their plans got the kabosh. They ended up getting married in Ohio, instead. Today, I saw another story about a spooky wedding dream that got the smackdown. Lisa Panensky and Jim Nieves have been planning their wedding for over a year. They signed a contract to exchange their vows in the Old Dutch Church in Sleepy Hollow, NY, which you may remember from Washington Irving’s creepy tale, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. But when the reverend heard this week that they planned to play the theme song from “The Munsters” during their ceremony and that they were going to wear costumes, he canceled their wedding and sent them a refund. What a party pooper. What’s a Halloween-loving couple to do? [AOL]