Wedding Chair Bliss

Wouldn't these be great for an outdoor wedding venue! The Sheetseat is produced from a sheet of plywood and can be folded back to it's flat form with only 3/4" thickness. What a space saver! If you listen closely, you can almost hear all the wedding planners in the world rejoice.

Follow-up To The Crazy Wedding Dance Entrance

You knew it was coming, and here it is... The Unexpected Divorce Entrance. Ha!

See more funny videos and Funny Videos at Today's Big Thing.

10 Free SEO Tools Every Wedding Blogger Should Know About

This is the first article in a 10-part series from BrideTide that highlights how SEO (search engine optimization) can be used to help those with a wedding blog achieve more visitors, better rankings and targeted quality of traffic.

SEO For Wedding Blogs: Part One

Hey all you wedding bloggers! Today's lesson will highlight 10 SEO tools that anyone can use to help improve their overall search engine marketing efforts. Each one comes with a detailed description about the tool and how it can be beneficial to a wedding blogger. Oh yeah, all of these SEO tools are 100% FREE to use! Enjoy, and don't forget to leave us a comment if you find this lesson useful and educational!

Check your Website Grade
Website Grader is a free seo tool that measures the marketing effectiveness of a website. It provides a score that incorporates things like website traffic, SEO, social popularity and other technical factors. It also provides some basic advice on how the website can be improved from a marketing perspective. Simply type in your blog URL and the tool will do the rest!

Analyze your backlinks
Search engine optimization greatly depends on quality of inbound links to increase your rankings. Backlink Watch helps you find info about your existing inbound links. It includes anchor text, pagerank, quality of backlinks by finding total outbound links any restriction of the nofollow tag. This is a good way to make sure most of your back links have the keyword "wedding" or "weddings" implemented.

Know your Google PageRank
PageRank is one of the methods Google uses to determine a page's relevance or importance. Google assigns a numeric weighting from 0-10 for each webpage on the Internet. The higher your PageRank, the better. PRchecker is a free and simple way to check your blogs PageRank. If you check the URLs of some of the more popular wedding blogs, you will see that their PR is high, which shows why you see their website in a lot of your bridal search queries.

Use better keywords
Using the correct keywords in your blog post title and article copy can make a huge difference in the amount of traffic your blog receives. Did you know that the term "wedding gown" is searched 550,000 times a month while the term "wedding dress" is searched over 4 million! Choosing the right keywords in your post title is an easy way to help boost your traffic. Use the Google Adwords Keyword Tool to help you target the terms your visitors are looking for.

Build backlinks
Building quality backlinks is one of the most important factors in Search Engine Optimization. A backlink could be considered as a quality backlink if:
1. The Theme of the backlinking website is the same and relevant as your website.
2. It links to your website with the keyword (keyphrase) that you are trying to optimize for.
In other words, if you have a wedding blog, try to build a back link profile from other wedding related websites. With that being said, we'd like to introduce you to BrideTide.com. Our website is dedicated solely to everything wedding. Not only is this a way to build quality backlinks to your blog, but it's an awesome way to introduce your site to a ton of our regular readers searching for wedding related info! Totally Free!

Get Analytical
Google Analytics is a free service offered by Google that generates detailed web tracking statistics about the visitors to a website. Powerful, flexible and easy-to-use features allow you see and analyze your traffic data in a simple visual way that will help any blogger with their overall marketing initiatives. You can greatly benefit from this data by finding out how your visitors are finding your wedding blog on the Internet. Once you know this info, you can then optimize your blog to rank higher for other searches that could help drive traffic.

Keyword Analysis
The Keyword Analyser can be used to analyze your blog and give a report on what words are used, and how many times they are used. This will give you a look at the keyword density of your site and allow you to focus more on the keywords that you want to rank for. This is a great tool for any region-specific wedding blog to make sure they are targeting local web traffic. 100% free to use.

Optimize your meta tags
The use of meta tags in web pages are often used by search engines as a source of information to help them to decide how to list and rank your website. Meta Tags are not always required, but as a rule of thumb, it makes more sense to take advantage of them than to leave them out. Use this free Meta Tag Tool to generate a targeted wedding meta listing for your blog.

Be unique
This Similar Page Checker allows you to determine the percentage of similarity between two pages or two websites. Why is this important? Because search engines are known to act negatively upon websites with duplicate content. It's also a nifty way to find out if another similar blog is copying your creative content.

Stay on Alert
Google Alerts is a free service offered by Google which notifies its users by email about the latest web and news pages of their choice. From a SEO standpoint, this tool can be used to notify you each time your blog is mentioned by someone on the Internet. Simply enter in your blog name, type in your email and click "Create Alert". Presto! You will then be sent an email each time someone talks about your wedding blog on their blog!

We hope you enjoyed Part 1 in our wedding SEO series. Part 2 will be coming out shortly so don't forget to subscribe here!

Alcohol-inspired Wedding Rings

These alcohol-inspired wedding rings from Swiss luxury jeweller, Piaget, look as refreshing as their are sparkling. Imagine picking up the tab on these!
The Caipirinha is a 18-carat white gold ring with 214 brilliant-cut diamonds, one round-cut green tourmaline and one citrine.

The Sex On The Beach ring is in the same white gold with the same diamond count but with one round-cut pink tourmaline and one peridot instead.

The Blue Hawaiian is a 18-carat white gold ring with 121 brilliant-cut diamonds, with a single cushion-cut blue topaz and white chalcedony with a round yellow sapphire

Can you tell the difference between David's Bridal vs. Vera Wang bridal shoes?

Could you tell the difference between a $600 pair of Vera Wang shoes and a $60 David's Bridal pair? Not as easy as you might think... and that's how most frugal brides like it. On that note, this article cleverly compares some popular Verga Wang bridal shoe styles in a slideshow format that tests your shoe savviness between pricey and not-so-pricey options. You might just be surprised!

See the comparisons here.

Wedding Stat of the Week: Full Service Wedding Planner Spending Down Slightly

This week's wedding statistic comes from The Wedding Report. It seems engaged couples are spending slightly less in Q2 of 2009 compared to Q1 for full service wedding coordinators and planners.

Also, don't forget to folllow @weddingreport on Twitter

The Lego-Themed Wedding

Ahhh... Legos. How you've become part of our pop culture. From children to adults, Legos are synonymous with fun. Maybe that's why Christina over at Intimate Weddings has featured this fun-loving couple that celebrated their big day with a Lego theme. Truly unique! .

See all the wonderful pictures of the Lego Theme Wedding here.

Stop Motion Proposal: Man Uses 550+ Pictures Pop The Question

Stop Motion Proposal from Kent Yunge on Vimeo.

Cute! Kent Yunge, using over 550 still photographs, created this stop-motion proposal to ask his wife-to-be for her hand in marriage. The tune is New Amsterdams "Turn Out The Light".

First Look: Get Married reveals newly-launching magazine cover

Hey all you brides! We've got the first screenshot and cover details showcasing the highly anticipated Get Married magazine that is set to launch October 2009 from folks over at Get Married Media.

The inaugural cover will feature a bridal tablescape design challenge showcasing the latest and hottest in bridal décor trends and inspiration. Word on the street is that celebrity florist Mark Held of Mark’s Garden in Los Angeles will lead the first cover challenge shot and nationally-renowned photographer Elizabeth Messina will capture.

Held, who created stunning designs for the nuptials of Fergie and Josh Duhamel, Heidi Klum and Seal, and Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, had the challenge of creating a gorgeous reception table. We're sure the cover will be simply amazing!

Want a FREE copy?
Oh yeah, did we forget to mention that you can get a FREE complimentary copy of the first issue of Get Married magazine?! Simply visit www.getmarried.com/magazine to reserve yours and be part of the excitement!

In addition to offering the first issue of Get Married magazine for free, one lucky bride will win some of the actual products displayed on the cover tablescape as well as the 8-piece Lenox Ivory Frost dinnerware set showcased in the cover. How cool is that!

Other details:
- national syndication
- semi-annual publication
- 100-page glossy format
- 8” x 10.5” size
- 60/40 editorial to advertising ratio
- newsstand pricing
- initial circulation of 300,000 per issue

We will definitely share more details with our readers as they emerge but until then, don't forget to reserve your FREE copy today!

De Beers Reports A 99% Drop In Net Profits For First Half 2009

Stunning news from the diamond industry. The world's largest diamond producer, De Beers, has reported a 99% drop in net profits for the first half of 2009. De Beers made only $3 million in net profit versus $316 in the same period just one year ago. They have also reported that the sales of rough diamonds were down by 57%.

"The industry has been severely impacted by the global economic environment being the most difficult in decades," said the company, which has cut its global workforce by 23% and temporarily halted production at mines in Africa and Canada.

The Growing Trend of Non-Matchy Bridesmaid Dresses And Bouquets

If you are a bride planning a non-traditional bridal celebration and are thinking about giving your bridal party some creative freedom with their ensemble, you're not alone. This article from Rashana over at The Bridal Party explains that once a bride chooses a cohesive wedding color palette, allowing each maid to choose her own dress style and possibly even the flowers for her bouquet ensures everyone is comfortable and is a clever way to set your wedding apart from rest. Agreed. Read the entire article here and don't forget to follow @thebridalparty on Twitter.

Star Couple From Wedding Aisle Dance Video Bounced From Hotel/Flight By ABC

"New York is cut-throat." That's what Kevin and Jill Heinz, the now-famous aisle dancing wedding couple from Minnesota, told a NY newspaper after being kicked out of their hotel and having their flight cancelled by ABC.

Apparently, when ABC execs learned that NBC had agreed to fly in the ushers and bridesmaids to reenact their dance with the newlyweds on the "Today" show, they decided to cancel the couple's hotel and flights! NBC quickly moved the couple to another hotel and agreed to fly them home. Who new the morning TV booking wars were so vicious!

The infamous wedding dance video has been viewed almost 7 million times on YouTube.

Ultimate Wedding Ring For The Golfer

For any golf fanatic. More info can be found about this ring on Etsy.

We've Been Reviewed At KillerStartups.com

What a cool way to start our Friday! Just received an email from Gonzalo Arzuaga (co-found of KillerStartups.com) letting us know that BrideTide.com has been reviewed on his site! Insanely awesome!

For those of you that don't know, KillerStartups is a huge website community that features the newest and hottest Internet companies that might become the "next big thing".

If you feel BrideTide offers a valuable service for planning brides and have a minute to spare, please drop by and cast your vote (one simple click) to show your support.

Thanks to everyone in advance!

How Green Is Your Wedding? Take The Quiz

The Discovery Channel has created this neat little question wedding quiz on their Planet Green website that tests your "enviro-friendly green" bridal knowledge. Sample questions are:

What's the most effective way to cut your wedding's carbon footprint?

What should you NOT worry about when registering?

It takes about 3 minutes to take the quiz and the quick tidbits and facts definitely make it worthwhile. Click here to check it out.

Creepy Robotic Bride Makes Debut In Japan

A female humanoid robot, created by Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, was unveiled today in Osaka, Japan. Here actual name is the HRP-4C and she daunted a wedding dress to announce her arrival to the world. Around the office, we call her "Creepy McCreeperson".

The female android, stands 5'2" tall and weighs 95 lbs with her batteries installed. During here debut, she "walked" down the runway, she took time to eerily glance around the room and was able to strike a few calculated poses. All of this while in a wedding dress.

The video below shows the HRP-4C in all of her, ummm...bridal glory.

BEST Wedding Entrance Dance Ever!

Love it! I bet the reception was a blast!

Bridesmaid Uses Industrial-Strength Velcro To Hold Dress Up...Bad Idea!

Don't you just hate it when you are wearing a dress and throughout the course of the night it starts to loosen, which results in you constantly having to adjust and pull at it just to keep it fitting correctly?

Yeah, we hate it too, but that scenario is nothing compared to the results this creative bridesmaid had to endure when she decided to use industrial-strength double-sided Velcro to try to remedy the situation. Needless to say, the results are pretty bad and she ended up losing a few layers of skin, along with her sense of accomplishment. Ouch!

The Average Cost Of A Wedding Drops 14% In 2nd Quarter 2009

The latest wedding industry statistics issued by The Wedding Report confirms that couples are continuing to cut back on their budgets when it comes to their bridal celebrations, but certain areas are starting to see an surprising increase in demand . Here are some highlights:

*The average cost of a wedding drops another 14% from $19,212 in Q1/2009 to $16,546 in Q2/2009.

*Items that saw the largest decrease in demand; items related to the honeymoon and day-of-coordination, with decreases as much as 54%.

*Items that saw the largest decrease in spending; jewelry, reception and ceremony accessories, with decreases as much as 52%.

*Items that saw the largest increase in spending; transportation rentals and decorations, with increases as much as 68%.

*Items that saw the largest increase in demand; Combined services (ceremony and reception) including music and services related to the reception, with increases as much as 180%.

**Results are based on 909 survey samples of both couples and wedding vendors across the US

It's A Same Name Wedding

This isn't a joke. An engaged Florida couple has the same first and last name.

Kelly Hildebrandt will marry Kelly Hildebrandt.
Don't believe us? Check it out here.

$20 Drive-Through Weddings Offered at Florida Store

A store near Tampa,FL is offering $20 weddings from a drive-through window.

Couples who pull up with a marriage license and a witness over the age of 18 can tie the knot without even turning off their car engine. The store is a remodeled former dry-cleaning business that takes advantage of the big sliding glass doors where customers used to pick up their laundry.

As of today, the store has yet to officiate any in-vehicle wedding vows.

Man Proposes To His Girlfriend With 9,999 Roses!

Talk about romantic! A gentleman in East China decided that that his proposal to his girlfriend would be uniquely unforgettable by using 9,999 real red roses! The actual proposal took place in the room of a very popular hotel but the excitement started way before. Hundreds of roses were displayed in the shape of a heart on the grass on the way to the hotel and friends held huge bouquets of roses at every floor to welcome his blushing bride-to-be. Inside the room, hundreds of flowers and petals were beautifully arranged to create his masterpiece. As expected, the girlfriend said "yes".

For the record, 9,999 roses equals 833 dozen!

You Definitely Don't Want These Flowers At Your Wedding!

Choosing your flowers for your big day can be both stressful and fun, but it can also be deadly. Whatever you do, stay away from any flower on this list of The 7 Most Beautiful-But-Deadly Flowers in the World. The scariest part is that they all look like regular everyday flowers!

69 Amazing Resources to Help You Plan Your Dream Wedding

You know how we love lists! So when we ran across these 69 Amazing Resources to Help You Plan Your Dream Wedding article from Love Hacks, we just had to share it! So much info in such an easy format to read! A must read for any planning bride.

Read the entire article here.

Groom 101 From The Man Registry

Hey fellas! We just wanted to take a sec and let all you grooms out there know there is a resource JUST FOR YOU to help you survive all the aspects of planning a wedding. It's called The Man Registry and it's cooler than a cold beer on a warm day.

From Chris, owner of The Man Registry:
"Guys, we know you're experts on just about everything. But when it comes to weddings, it's only natural to have a burning question or two. Our Groom 101 section includes all of the articles, checklists, and tips that you'll need to get ready for the big day. We know wedding planning isn't the most entertaining thing in the world. We also know that you don't want to spend an entire evening researching weddings, so we've kept all of our content short and to the point."

Well, there ya go. If you got some wedding questions you need some answers to, need some groomsmen gifts, or just want to check out their awesome man wedding registry head on over to the place that was built by guys, for guys.

Visit TheManRegistry.com
follow on twitter: @themanregistry

The Wedding Day Ghost Photo

Our intern found this photo of a wedding day ghost photo on this website that was originally submitted to About.com.

Details:
This is a photo of my aunt's wedding day. The year was 1942, and the photo was taken with a box camera. On some of my feedback I'm told it's not really there! Well, I know it is. This picture has been passed down. Please give me some feedback. I would like too see what everyone thinks. It was taken in Jasper, Alabama. -- Liz

What are you thoughts?

20 Things Every Woman Must Do Before She Gets Married

The good folks over at The Frisky have put together a list of 20 Things Every Woman Should Do Before She Gets Married. Out of all of them, we think #20 is the most interesting. See then entire list here.

Wedding Vendor Contact Sheet

If you're planning a wedding, you know how quickly things can become unorganized or chaotic. Thankfully, this free downloadable wedding vendor contact sheet from Real Simple could be super handy in helping keep track of all the phone numbers and contact info for all of your wedding vendors. Just download and print!

7 Lessons on Wedding Planning for Brides to Be

Great article over at The Stimulist that outlines 7 pieces of advice for any soon-to-be-bride. Here’s an outline of what one planning bride learned in the first six months of her engagement:

You CAN buy your wedding dress alone
You will NEED to handwrite your guests' addresses
You WILL be bullied into registering for stupid things
You HAVE to buy a wedding cake serving set
Don't forget the tasting flutes
CC your bridesmaid on all shoe-related emails
You CAN break tradition where you see fit

Read the entire article here.

Lottery Winner Waits Until After Engagement To Reveal His $16 Million Secret

Lisa Johnson can say with complete honesty that she fell in love with a man who she believed had nothing. Let us explain.

After 10 months of dating, Lisa gleefully accepted a proposal from her then-boyfriend Joe Johnson, who besides being a wonderful gentleman, harbored a little secret that would change their lives forever. You see, Joe was a £10 million (US$16.2 million) lottery winner, who decided not to share his financial situation until he found a woman who would marry him for love, not for money. His property portfolio, fleet of expensive cars and the private jet vacations could definitely be quite a distraction for true love, that's why Joe decided not to mention all of this until he knew for sure that Lisa was in their relationship for all the right reasons. Once again, true love wins.

Bride Makes Her Own Wedding Rings From Gold She Panned Herself

Looking for a way to save some money for your wedding? Are you willing to get your hands a little dirty? Why not follow the lead of Daisy Thurkettle-Roper, who has been panning for gold in Britain and turned her nuggets and flakes into wedding rings for herself and her new husband.

This might be THE ultimate DIY wedding project!

Marry This Woman, Get A Free 1992 Jeep

That's right folks, you read the title correctly. A Utah woman has put a classified ad on a local city news station that offers a free 1992 Jeep Wrangler to any gentleman that will marry her.

For the record, the Jeep has a lift, safari top for the summer/hard top for the winter, rear locker, 33" tires an 8000 lb winch. Oh, did we mention it comes with kids?

Here are the Terms and Conditions:
- Marriage must last a minimum of 5 years.
- Must include a honeymoon
- Must include weekend trips (in the Jeep) to Moab

As an added bonus, the deal also includes a Honda 400EX. Seriously.

I assume a car wash would be an appropriate wedding gift? If you happen to be interested, you can email wedding.jeep@hotmail.com

The Coffee Filter Dress

What would a dress made entirely out of coffee filters look like? Absolutely gorgeous! Rachel from the Austin Wedding Blog shares this frugal fashion find and explains that it took the dress maker over one month to design and construct. Devastatingly brilliant.

See all the coffee filter dress pictures here and don't forget to follow @AustinWeddings on Twitter!