By Jennifer

On Shiny Orb you can browse thousands of inexpensive bridesmaid dresses on a single website. When you first arrive on the results page, all of these dresses will appear in your search results. To easily navigate this large selection, slide the price bar to fit your budget and uncheck the style-icons to narrow your selection to the dress length, sleeves, and neckline of your desire. You can also filter by designer by clicking the "Choose Designer" link.

We also wanted to offer some additional information and tips to help you search more effectively.

• Cocktail and Tea length: Typically, cocktail dresses fall above the knee while tea length dresses fall right below. However, dress manufacturers often interchangeably use these two categorizations. So, if you're looking for dresses with lengths around the knee, choose both cocktail and tea lengths in the search.

• Straight and Sweetheart Necklines: Sweetheart necklines can come in different strengths of "sweetheart-ness." Often what is called a "modified" sweetheart is a very gentle sweetheart curve that may sometimes be categorized under Straight.

• V-neck and Sweetheart Necklines: V-necks typically have straight sides to form a V while sweetheart necklines have a curve. Occasionally, the curve may appear straight or the straight may appear curved so you may want to select both categories to capture these borderline cases.
  

• Off-shoulder and Cap sleeves: Off-shoulder straps are usually categorized by the width of the strap. However, very wide off-shoulder straps may be found in the Cap sleeves category.

• Short and Long Sleeves: Short sleeves that reach no farther than halfway down the upper arm are categorized under Cap sleeves. Any sleeves longer than that can be found in the Other straps/sleeves category.
  

• Spaghetti straps and Strapless: Many strapless dresses have optional spaghetti straps, so if you are set on a spaghetti strap dress, be sure to look through the strapless dresses, too. Sometimes these spaghetti straps can also be converted into halters.
  

• Focus on style, not color: Most bridesmaid dresses are made to order and can be made in a huge variety of colors. Designers are well aware of the need to color-coordinate a wedding. Focus on finding the dress style you want, then click over to the vendor page to see the colors available.

   

Click here to download:

Searching_for_Inexpensive_Brid.zip (143 KB)

By Jennifer

By Cynthia

     

Click here to download:

Online_Photo_Books_tags_weddin.zip (174 KB)

By Jennifer

Elizabeth and I are proud to announce the launch of Shiny Orb, a new online store mixing real-time social shopping with bridesmaid dresses.

By Elizabeth

I last posted about the phenomenal results we received by quickly building a free online RSVP system using Google Spreadsheets. We wanted responses from the RSVP system integrated into our wedding planning spreadsheet. Anyone who has already created a Google Spreadsheet can get started with these easy steps:

• Open the Google spreadsheet you're using for your wedding planning
  
• Click on the button in the bottom left corner that reads "Add sheet"
  
• On that new worksheet, in the menu bar at the top, select "Form" -> "Create a form"
• A new window will appear, allowing you to customize your RSVP form -- we created ours like this:
  

After creating the RSVP form, make sure to press the "Save" button in the upper right. Then, click "Email this form" to send it to yourself. You'll want to try it to make sure it's live and working properly. Responses should automatically populate the worksheet you created within your wedding planning spreadsheet.

Once you've confirmed it's working, copy and paste the link to your RSVP form into your wedding invitations. Your guests will find it quick and easy to respond right from their computers, and you won't have to hassle with collecting and recording information pieces of paper.

Disclaimer: I previously worked at Google though not on Google Spreadsheets.

By Elizabeth

My husband and I used Google Spreadsheets to keep track of our wedding planning. It made collaboration super easy, because we could edit just one document online rather than sending an Excel spreadsheet back and forth over email. We used Google Spreadsheets to keep track of wedding-planning, our guest list, vendors, and our budget. We even used it to build an online RSVP system, which allowed us to receive responses asap. In fact, 50% of our invited guests RSVPed within the first few days of creating the RSVP system, and we were off by just one dinner plate at the reception! Having an online RSVP system was convenient, easy for us to create and manage, and completely free.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Google Spreadsheets, it's just like a collaborative version of MSFT Excel stored online. Anyone who has a Gmail or Google account can easily get started with the following steps:

• Get started
  • Go to http://docs.google.com/ and log into your Google account
  • In the upper left corner, click the button that reads "Create new" -> select "Spreadsheets"
  • Set up the rows and columns like on a MSFT Excel spreadsheet
  • In the upper right corner, click the button that reads "Share" -> select invite people -> enter in email addresses of all the people you want to collaborate with on this document (e.g. your spouse) 
• Set up worksheets
  • Click on the tab at the bottom of the screen that reads "Sheet 1", select "Rename" and enter a new name for your spreadsheet
  • To add a worksheet, click on the button at the bottom left corner that reads "Add sheet" -> enter in the name of that worksheet
  • Congrats! Now you can use this one document keep track of your invited guests, attending guests, list of vendors, schedule of events, and budget in separate worksheets.

All in all, Google spreadsheets was a HUGE help as we planned our wedding. Although at times it can be a little slow and a bit buggy, I'd highly recommend using it.  Stay tuned for part II on how to set up an RSVP system in Google Spreadsheets...

Disclaimer: I previously worked at Google though not on Google Spreadsheets.

By Rachelle

Our friend Rachelle recently purchased fabulous earrings, so we asked her to be our first guest blogger on Shiny Orb: 

I had a particular idea in mind for my wedding day earrings: simple, elegant teardrop pearls. It was a simple wish, and one I thought would be easily fulfilled. Unfortunately, even after searching high and low through department stores and boutique shops alike, I couldn’t find the right pair. Other brides recommended Etsy.com, so I decided to turn to the Internet and give the site a go. Etsy connects buyers from all over the world with craftsmen selling their handmade wares, from jewelry and clothing to digital stationery files you can print from home.  

There were thousands of pages to search through, but once I got the hang of narrowing down my search to the right criteria, the fun began. I eventually found my perfect pair of bridal earrings from Etsy seller tztudio. I was very pleased with both the transaction and the final product that arrived on my doorstep a few days later. 

Handcrafted jewelry seems more personal and unique than mass-produced jewelry, and it’s nice to be able to interact directly with the people who create the products you buy. You can send sellers messages to request a change to a product like the color or the materials used. You can even post a bid on Etsy’s Alchemy page for a fully customized product. 

I’ve been shopping regularly on Etsy since the purchase of my earrings. It’s a good place to shop for the discerning bride who knows what she wants and can’t find it elsewhere.