Imagine how cute these Party Beans containers would be in gift baskets for your wedding guests, adorned with a photo of you and your significant other—or dog/cat/hamster/goldfish, whatever—and a small caption. It’s extremely easy to personalize your favors with photos, colors, and words of your choice. There’s even a mini barrel, perfect if you’re getting married at a winery!

Bonus: when the candy is gone, the tins can be re-purposed. I swiped the little glass container and filled it with water a single, floating flower for a calming desktop decoration. Or, you can compete for the most popular coworker by keeping the container full of candy!

I learned this and other fascinating pieces of wedding history when I went to see eleven historical wedding dresses at the “Unveiled” event in my hometown of Auburn, CA.

Individual dresses are displayed at different locations: the Bernhard Museum (where you’ll see the sweetest pink flower girl dress from the late 1800s!), and the Placer County Museum in the Auburn courthouse, where a 1929 dress is the undeniable showstopper. The lacy tiered skirt stops just below the knee, but the sheer veil cascades well beyond it, pooling in lacy loveliness at the bride’s feet. The photo shows a solemn wedding party. I hope they went on to have a better time at the reception!

You can see the collection Tuesday–Sunday, 11–4 at the Gold Country and Bernhard Museums through November 2009, and daily, 10–4 at the Placer County Museum until May of 2010. Admission is free.

If you’re inspired to go vintage for your wedding, take a look at The Red Dress online bridal salon. They have anything from Renaissance wedding dresses to 1940s glam gowns.

Are these wonderful or what? Bridal Party: How about including a picture of the bride on the bridal shower invitation? Guests will be buzzing about the event before it even begins.

Read our latest article for more ideas, and check out zazzle.com.

If you’re dreaming of an outdoor event, Central California brides have some fresh choices in the Paso Robles and Central Coast Wine Country. Enjoy this inspiration board, with photos courtesy of our insanely talented Central California event professionals:

Event Venue: Meridian Vineyards in Paso Robles
Flowers: Panacea Event Floral Design
Cake: The Cakery
Cake Topper: Love Bird Embrace by That’s My Topper
Wedding Invitations: Designs by Yu
Favor Decorations: Hand Painted Butterflies by Eliza Fig
Dress: Nataya 1920s wedding dress, available at The Red Dress in Morro Bay, or online

We arrived at the Oceano Hotel & Spa in the afternoon and settled into our room. It was delightful, with a fireplace and couch, eating area, and a large bathroom with full-size soaking tub! After a rainy morning on the road, it was great to slip in for a long hot soak.

I was charmed by the shabby chic decor—the bed even had organic linens! After we spent the afternoon relaxing in these very pleasant surroundings, we met with owner Nancy Nerhan, who showed us around the hotel. Those of you planning a wedding in Half Moon Bay take note: Their banquet room has a dance floor with a large skylight over it, so wedding guests can spend the reception dancing under the stars.

That night we walked over to Sam’s Chowder House, where I tried my favorite seafood dish, cioppino. The food was delicious, and we sat at the window with a view of the sunset over Half Moon Bay. Walking back, we discovered a path that takes you along the waterfront, right to the hotel.

We spent the next morning exploring the tide pools at Moss Beach. Afterwards, Jaya napped while I took a stroll through Harbor Village, a light-filled boutique mall connected to the Oceano Hotel. I stopped in at Savvy Skirts for some retail therapy. The name itself means smart women, and it’s all about celebrating the girl in all of us: fun, stylish and practical gift items for the super busy woman. The story of how this company came to be is inspiring.

Their website is a great place to look for gifts for your wedding attendants, too!

That night we dined at Crab Landing Seafood and Steak House, which is just outside the Harbor Village. There was a live jazz trio playing on the lower level, easily heard on the upper level where we were seated. The ambiance was very modern and upscale. Since both Jaya and I love sushi, I kind of expected that we’d order that, but the other items on the menu looked so interesting we both couldn’t resist! I had salmon-wrapped scallops that were just out of this world. 

All in all, our road trip was a perfect way to celebrate 5 years of being married, and we didn’t even have to go far! Just another reason to love California.

If you’re lucky enough to have a venue with a view of the outdoors, remember that taking inspiration from a natural landscape doesn’t mean you have to wear wildflowers in your hair or walk barefoot down the aisle. California brides are fortunate that they can simply look out the window for color ideas that are sure to make a statement, from the bright bottle blues found in the Pacific to the vibrant mossy greens of Muir Woods. We’ve created this Inspiration Board to show you an example. The palette is totally No Cal: sophisticated, sexy, and a little unexpected.

Location: Sofitel San Francisco Bay in Redwood City 
Invitation: Wedding Paper Divas, Falling Leaves
Wedding Dress: Kirstie Kelly for Disney Fairy Tale Weddings: Ariel Collection Three, available at Bridal Bliss 
Bridesmaid Dress: Kirstie Kelly Maidens for Disney Fairy Tale Weddings, Ariel, available at Bridal Bliss
Flowers: Tapestry 

However, if you’re like me and are one of those brides who’s looking forward to sharing a little trinket with your guests, here are a few ideas to personalize your wedding favors:

1. Lemon Drop Love: Marianne and her future husband met over a lemon drop obsession when they worked at a trash collection service. They both frequently purchased the candies out of the break room vending machines, so they began meeting there and, eventually, love bloomed. Their wedding favors were lemon drops in little dump trucks. The best man told the lemon drop love story in his toast, and everyone had fun competing in dump truck races on the dance floor.

2. Homemade Treats: You can’t go wrong with homemade goodies. Roseann’s mom makes the best snicker doodle cookies in the whole wide world. That’s a fact. For Roseann’s wedding, her mom placed homemade snicker doodles in pretty cello bags tied with French ribbon. The card read “From our family to yours, thank you for making our day the sweetest ever!”

For my own wedding, we filled half-pound candy boxes with homemade truffles. The boxes were engraved with a statement that said, “the sweetest things in life are those you share with the ones you love. Thank you for sharing our day, Kathy and Marv.” Before we even made it home, Marv and I had 15 phone messages from guests saying they ate their box of chocolates on the way home from the reception (that was a half pound per person—not family!) By the end of the next week, we’d heard from everyone who attended our wedding that the chocolates were gone!

3. Photo Op: Christine and Bob framed their place setting cards in these beautiful little frames that doubled as their favors. During the event, their photographer took a picture of each and every guest with the couple so they’d have a picture to send with their thank-you card, sized to fit the frame.

If you have some ideas for how you plan to personalize your favors for weddings, showers, birthday parties and other celebrations, please comment below!

Add this to the list of “why didn’t I think of that?” wedding registry ideas: Registering for experiences instead of things. After The Wedding Day was founded on the idea that relationships are made stronger not by what you have but by the time you spend together as a couple. Brides and grooms can register for tickets to a Dodger’s game or a performance at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, or even a Palm Springs getaway. It’s a perfect way to supplement your honeymoon or plan ahead for a special first anniversary.

For our 5th wedding anniversary, my husband Jaya and I decided to take a short trip from our hometown of Auburn to places we had each frequented separately in our early adulthood—but this time, we’d be together! The journey started in San Francisco, at the California Academy of Sciences. Since the new building was recently completed, this was not the Academy we remembered. Some elements are still there, though, like the massive pendulum that shows the movement of the earth, and the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton that once served as greeter to the scads of schoolchildren and other visitors.

Steinhart Aquarium was always my favorite part of the Academy. Jaya once worked here, donning a diving suit to take care of the tanks. The new facility didn’t disappoint us. Jaya and I wandered through exhibits of living jellyfish, coral reefs and tide pools with as much excitement as in our youth. Several exhibits amazed me with their sheer artistic composition. The animals showed off their vibrant colors and energy, like living paintings.

As we explored the aquarium, I couldn’t help but imagine the space as the backdrop to a fabulous event. Then we came to a glass tunnel, where we stood UNDER the water, looking up at the fish swimming above. I decided it would be the perfect spot to set up the bar! This was the lowest level of the four-story rain forest dome, which is just like stepping into that ecosystem, complete with colorful amphibians, as well as free-flying birds and butterflies.

Next, we drove down the coast to stay at the Davenport Roadhouse in the tiny town of Davenport, just 10 minutes from Santa Cruz. Our room was very comfortable, with rustic wooden love seats outside the door to let us take full advantage of the ocean view. We ate in the Roadhouse Restaurant, a large room with brick walls and a cheery fireplace, where I had the best risotto I’ve ever tasted. We’ll definitely return here in the future.

The next day we visited Año Nuevo State Reserve. I once gave elephant seal tours here as part of a course at UCSC. If you want to go, you need to get tickets in advance, but it’s easy to do. Visit their website and you can book months ahead. The tours take place rain or shine, as Jaya and I found out, getting more than a little wet on the three-mile trek! However, the animals were more active in the rain, so we thought it was well worth it.

Next on the agenda was a trip to Half Moon Bay, but more on that in my next post…

To get you in the wedding mood, here’s a little inspiration from her own blog, Brown Bag:

Sure, I’m a floral designer, but sometimes, I’m a seamstress, other times a floral engineer, and more important, a decorator. I like to think outside the scope of flowers. To be ahead of the times, one must embrace and craft her way through the craze of DIY, eco-green, and shabby chic movements.

Here’s my project for the week that is affordable, great for DIY, but also something exceptionally charming to show that floral designers aren’t necessarily wedded to flowers.

For this floral button boutonniere, you will need:

3 Dainty floral buttons
2 Medium floral buttons
1 Bolt of matching ribbon
1 Roll floral tape
1 Box of pins
Medium gauge green wire
Wire cutters

Step 1. Loop green wire through button holes, then cover wire with floral tape.

Step 2. Once all buttons are individually secured, place them accordingly.

Step 3. To keep the button boutonniere together, pinch the 5 wires tightly and secure with green floral tape from the top to the button.

Step 4. Cut off any remaining wire so the stem measures no longer than 2.5 inches.

Step 5. Wrap your choice of ribbon from bottom to top, and secure with a straight pin. Make sure the pin does not poke through the front! You don’t want to accidentally poke someone when you pin this on them.