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Divorce is a huge, life-altering event. When a marriage doesn’t work out, it is a genuine tragedy. Everyone copes with grief in different ways, and some people use gallows humor as a coping mechanism. Because of this, there has been a recent trend towards “Divorce parties”. Yes, you heard me right!

What in The World is a Divorce Party – And Why Would You Ever Throw One?!

A divorce party is a tongue-in-cheek celebration thrown as a morale booster for someone going through a divorce. While this concept will seem unpalatable to many, it’s important to remember that many people use this type of dark humor as a way to deal with a devastating situation. The rise of Pinterest has led to a boom in parties for all situations, including divorce. There have also been a number of celebrity divorce parties: Shanna Moakler had a divorce party after breaking up with Travis Barker, while Jack White and Karen Elson threw a joint divorce celebration.

How to Throw a Divorce Party

So how exactly does one throw a divorce party? I have actually thrown two different divorce parties for people in my life. The first one arose because a friend had joked about the above-mentioned celebrity divorce parties, so I suggested having one for real, since we both share the same twisted sense of humor. The second one happened later that year, when someone else in my life heard about the divorce party I threw and thought it was hilarious – so I offered to do one for her, too! The most important thing to keep in mind is that this would not be appropriate to suggest to anyone other than a divorcing friend who has already joked about throwing a party; this is most certainly a “Know your audience” situation.

So bearing all that in mind: Let’s say your BFF loves the idea. Here’s how to throw an awesome divorce celebration:

Plan a Menu as Refreshing as Your New Start

Divorce Cake

Divorce cake

Baking a cake is a customary way to mark a special occasion, so why not make a divorce cake? I ended up making a “Cake” out of cinnamon rolls: I had a package of cinnamon roll mix in the pantry, so I baked the rolls according to the directions and allowed them to cool. I then took the included icing mix and stirred in red food coloring, so what when I drizzled it over the rolls, it would look like “Blood”. I then stacked the rolls on top of each other to make a “Cake”, and used a tube of pre-made black icing to write “Happy Divorce!” on one of the rolls.

I did a playful twist on wedding cake toppers by taking a couple of action figures and using them as divorce cake toppers! The male action figure is Neo in the final part of the Matrix trilogy; this action figure came with detachable heads to represent Neo’s journey in the film, so I posed the figure to make it look like he had “Lost his head” thanks to this silly sci-fi action figure sword.*

Divorce Party Drinks

When I ran across this line of “Mad Housewife” wine, I knew it was a perfect drink to serve at a divorce party! Speaking of drinks, that brings us to…

Get Crafty: DIY Divorce Party Ideas

Ex-Husband Blood, AKA How to Make Custom Labels For Wine Bottles

One fun craft that I created for a divorce party was this bottle of “Ex-husband blood”.* To create this, I took a bottle of red, hot-sauce-flavored vodka and made my own label for it, which I am also sharing as a free printable, because that’s what friends are for:

Free divorce party printable – click here to download and print

Poison wine label – click to download and print

To create your bottle, simply print both image files above, cut them out, and use double-sided tape or glue to affix them to the bottle. The larger label goes around the center of the bottle, while the smaller “XXX POISON” label goes right under the cork. This makes a really funny craft – and when you propose a toast to drink the ex-husband’s “Blood”, be sure to tell everyone that these shots will be as bitter and unpleasant as the marriage itself!

Repurpose a Card

A quick and easy DIY that doesn’t require any crafting skills is to simply repurpose a card. I found this “Congratulations” card at the dollar store which took on a new and hilarious meaning when given in commemoration of the divorce party!

Save The, Errr, Date

Unlike a wedding, there are no hard and fast rules as to when to throw a divorce party. In one instance, I held the party over the weekend of July 4th and dubbed it “(Name’s) Independence Day”. In the other instance, the party ended up taking place on the same day that my friend’s divorce was finalized. She framed the divorce paperwork and displayed it on a table during the party! If the divorcing person is already working with an attorney, such as tampa divorce attorneys Quinn & Lynch, he or she can ask them for a timeline – some divorces can drag on, in which case your friend may need moral support during the long ordeal; or if the marriage will be dissolved quickly, planning the party to take place on the date that the marriage will be final can be a welcome distraction.

So what do you think about divorce parties: Funny or tasteless?

*This is of course meant as a joke. Please, do not chase your ex-husband with a toy sword or attempt to drink his blood, not matter how nasty your divorce may get!

The post How to Throw a Divorce Party: Crafts, Menu & Ideas For Your Divorce Celebration appeared first on Blog My Wedding.

This is a sponsored guest post.

Organizing the perfect wedding step by step begins a few months before the big day. For things to follow the course of course, it is advisable to have a checklist through which you will pass in chronological order of what you have to do. As you sort things out of the list, check out your tasks and focus on what’s left. http://www.theweddingspecialist.co.za advises you to what you should include in the checklist for organizing the perfect wedding step by step:

10-12 months before the wedding

• First of all, set the civil wedding date and date of the wedding. Make sure your religious ceremony is not scheduled. First, check the religious calendar.
• Set your wedding budget and priorities. Try to make a list of expenses to get you an approximate idea of the total cost of the wedding.
• Search for organizational ideas. Online there are blogs for brides, social networks, wedding websites and magazines. All this is of real use in organizing your event.
• Set up a list of preliminary guests. Surely this will change over time, but each couple needs to know in advance whether they want a big or an intimate wedding.
• Choose godfathers and bridesmaids.
• Start looking for the perfect wedding location. When choosing a location, keep in mind the wedding style, the weather, but also the capacity of the reception hall. The price and menu are other criteria for selecting the desired location. Once you have found the perfect location for the ceremony and reception, sign the contract with the restaurant and book the church.
• If the wedding organization seems overwhelming, choose a professional wedding planner who can connect with all wedding vendors (photographers, cameramen, bridal salons, florists, etc.).

6 to 9 months before the wedding

• Take care of choosing your wedding dress or bridal suit.
• Order the wedding rings.
• After choosing a cameraman and a photographer, book the teams that will ensure the sound at the party.
• Book the florist and decorator.
• Find the right honeymoon destination in advance. The sooner you book and pay in advance, the more you will find a cheaper flight and accommodation offer. Check this

3 months before the wedding

• Set the final guest list.
• Send your invitations and ask your guests for a firm answer if they participate in the wedding or not.
• Choose testimonials and order them. Couples who want to offer creative gifts to their guests can count on handmade testimonials.
• Establish floral arrangements for table decor, church candles and carnets. Order flowers for the bride and bridesmaid.
• Get dance classes. After choosing a song for bridal dancing, learn the dance steps under the guidance of an instructor.
• It is time for the bride to program her beauty sessions. During this time, she has to talk with a make-up artist, but also with a hair stylist who can provide her hairstyle.

2 months before the wedding

• If you are not legally married, check the list of documents required for Civil Status.
• Order the wedding cake.
• Choose a DJ or music band, according to your preferences and budget. Set up a playlist, as well as the songs that mark the most important moments of the wedding, from bridal dancing to cutting the cake.
• Finish the wedding outfit, choosing the latest accessories.
• Buy gift for your godmother.
• Book accommodation for guests coming from other cities.

One month before the wedding

• Buy the wedding outfits.
• Contact the wedding vendors to confirm reservations made at the restaurant and the church.
• Get in touch with your cameraman, DJ or band engaged in the entertainment to confirm your presence on the set date.
• Buy party drinks if they are not included in the menu.
• Get in touch with a car rental company to ensure the transport of brides and guests.

3 weeks before the wedding

• Take care of prenuptial medical certificates for the civil marriage.
• Check out the wedding ceremony, and if necessary, make the necessary changes.
• Go to the hair and makeup test.
• Set the latest menu details and room decoration. Taste the food.

The post The Wedding Planner Chronicles – Organizing the Perfect Wedding Step by Step appeared first on Blog My Wedding.

Photo by Jason Hill Photography

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are mine.

Ever since I was a child, I had a very specific vision of how I wanted to look on my wedding day. I’ve always had a love for beauty and fashion, so my dream was to basically look like wedding day Barbie with long, glamorous, platinum blonde hair! So once I was an adult and the big day was approaching for real, getting the right hair was a big priority for me. I’ve been going to my hairdresser Nicci Carannante since 2007, and we have a special synergy and friendship. She has a remarkable talent for understanding what I want and giving me hair that looks the way I want long after I leave the salon. We began planning my “Wedding hair” about 2 years before the wedding, when my hair was dyed hot pink. We began slowly bleaching my hair out from pink to platinum, taking our time so that it wouldn’t be damaged, and eventually ending up with the perfect shade of platinum blonde.

Photo by Jason Hill Photography

In addition to doing the hair for my wedding, Nicci was also our officiant, so she styled my hair right before the wedding – then headed up to the altar to perform the ceremony! Jai actually built her a custom hairdresser’s table that also doubled as her podium during the wedding. She worked carefully to created the glammed up, flowing style that I wanted, complete with tiara and cathedral length veil. Moments before the wedding, we went over how the ceremony would go, and discussed how to handle my veil. I was adamant that I wanted the veil to be over my face as I walked down the aisle, but in all the busyness of our DIY wedding, hadn’t rehearsed having Jai lift the veil and we didn’t want it to throw him off or pull my hair out of place. I decided that when I walked up to the altar, I wanted Nicci to lift my veil so that it would look perfect. We had planned for her opening statements to mention that she was my hairdresser, and she explained this to the audience after lifting up my veil to present me to Jai, and it was a very special moment.

Photo by Jason Hill Photography

Perfect wedding day hair looks different to every bride. There’s a million different ways to get the style you want: For me, getting the right look involved a few years of planning, growing my hair out, and dying it repeatedly. For some brides, hair extensions or wigs can be another way to achieve that dream look. If that’s an option you’re considering for your own wedding, then you may want to look up Divatress, an online retailer that sells wigs for women in every style you can imagine. No matter what you envision yourself looking like on your big day, there’s an option available to suit your taste – because you deserve to feel like a diva on your wedding day!

The post Getting Perfect Wedding Day Hair appeared first on Blog My Wedding.

Photo by Jason Hill Photography

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There are oh-so-many details to think about when planning your wedding; it’s so unlike any party or event that I’ve ever planned before! There are so many aspects and traditions to consider that you wouldn’t normally think about in any other situation. One of the logistics you’ll have to consider is transportation: How will you and your groom arrive at the venue, and what will you make your “Getaway” in after the ceremony is over?

Photo by Jason Hill Photography

We were very fortunate that Best Man Nathan offered his beautiful, fully restored 1961 Lincoln Continental for us to use as our getaway car for our August wedding. Not only was it a load of fun to spin around town in, but it made such a fun conversation piece during the wedding – the guests clamored around to look at it, and our photographer loved shooting it – the car made a perfect backdrop for what would become some of our favorite wedding photos! Fun fact: This is also the same car that Maroon 5 used in their famous wedding-crashing video for “Sugar” – how perfect is that?!

Photo by Jason Hill Photography

Now, when it came to the nuts and bolts of packing and transporting the many, many, many boxes of items for our 100% DIY wedding, practicality reigned supreme as we made use of our good old Chevy truck to haul everything out of the venue. Hint: If you’re doing a DIY wedding, a truck is pretty much a necessity in my opinion! By having a “Fun” getaway car for the ceremony combined with a “Practical” truck for moving everything around, we covered all our bases. And we had fun decorating our truck too!

The best advice for making sure everything runs as smoothly as possible at your wedding is to really visualize everything. Where are you driving to the venue from? Will you go with your groom, or separately? What are you transporting to the venue? Who is helping you? How do you want to make your “Big getaway” at the end? Are you into vintage cars like us, or have you always dreamed of rolling up to the chapel in a stretch limo or hummer? Thinking this through and having a plan will help you out a lot during the big day.

You can best prepare for the big day by doing a little research on the type of vehicles you’re thinking about using during the wedding. Cars.com is a great resource for information on every type of vehicle, from luxury, make-a-statement cars like Rolls-Royce to practical work horses such as a Ford F-150. The website gives you detailed information about popular vehicles, taking you inside and out to point out selling points and practical limitations. For example, if you thought a zippy little sports car might be cute for your grand entrance, a read through of Cars.com might point out that the interior would be too compact to comfortably fit your wedding dress – like I said, there are so many details with a wedding that you don’t usually have to consider! So whether you’re pondering what getaway car to go with, or shopping for your first vehicle together as newlyweds, Cars.com has you covered.

The post How to Choose Your Wedding Getaway Car appeared first on Blog My Wedding.

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Jewelers Mutual Insurance for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

As I write this, I am exactly one week away from my wedding! It’s hard to believe that the day that has been in the works for so long and dreamed about since I was a child is just 7 days away. Wedding planning is a true whirlwind, so it’s important to steal a moment away from spreadsheets and to-do lists to remember why you’re getting married in the first place! So this morning, I am reminiscing about the day that we got engaged.

We consider New Year’s Day to be our “anniversary”, since it was after a friend’s NYE party that Jai and I realized we were a perfect match. Because of this, Jai knew that he wanted to propose over New Year’s. The year that we got engaged, we were spending New Year’s Eve together at home – just the two of us relaxing, enjoying dinner and talking about our future. Jai then told me that I should play a round of World of Warcraft with him, so I logged on to my computer.

When I got into the game, Jai had created his own customized quest with personal messages to me. My character was led to a treasure chest and when I clicked on it, it revealed a ring and the message: Will you marry me? I stood up from the computer and hugged him in real life while crying happy tears!

The next morning, we went over to his grandma’s house to tell her the happy news. We made conversation while she and her daughter were taking the Christmas tree down, and then casually said, “Oh, by the way, we got engaged last night.” Jai timed this for when they had put the Christmas ornaments down so that they wouldn’t drop them in their excitement as they screamed and jumped up!

Back in the 1980s, Grandma used to run a jewelry store, and still had some nice rings in her safe deposit box at the time of our engagement that were leftover from her shop. So after she hugged us, she said, “I have some rings if you’d like to look at them…oh, you probably want to buy your own, though.” I said that I would very much like to see her beautiful rings, and the words had barely left my mouth before Grandma was putting on her coat and excitedly hurrying out the door to the bank to bring some rings over for me to look at!

Jai had wanted to pick out the ring with me so that I could get exactly what I would like (this is pretty common these days! Learn what brides-to-be want in an engagement ring). As we looked at Grandma’s rings, my eye was drawn to a beautiful 14k platinum diamond ring. It was stunning and fit my style perfectly – it was the one! We took the ring to a local jeweler to have it re-sized, and after we got back, Jai surprised me before a dinner party I was throwing by putting on a nice suit and taking me outside to propose a second time with the ring. And that’s how this whole wedding adventure began!

Getting some henna art to show off my ring hand after we got engaged!

I’ve learned so much about weddings during our engagement, especially since we’re doing it DIY and I am serving as my own wedding planner. There are so many details to think about! For our wedding bands, Jai and I are both wearing heirloom rings from our respective grandparents. From getting the rings sized to finding out about spacers and how to properly clean them, I’ve learned quite a bit about jewelry in the last few months!

Since our rings are so meaningful to us, it’s very important that we keep them safe during the chaos of the wedding day, so I’ve been taking a crash course on Jewelry Insurance 101. Jewelers Mutual has a lot of great advice for keeping your rings safe to give peace of mind during a sometimes-stressful time. Since they specialize in jewelry insurance, they are the experts in protecting these symbols of your love. Whether you just got engaged or are celebrating a milestone anniversary, you can Get a free jewelry insurance quote online in minutes and scratch one more item off your to-do list!

What’s your proposal story? Did you get ring insurance after you got engaged? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

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