my learnings from ACC255.

Here is a list post about thing main things that I have learned in ACC255 at Illinois State University.

1) I learned how to create a blog by using blogger.com. 

2) By making my blog, I learned how to post blogs so that everyone can see them when they come to my blog page.

3) I learned how to make a up and working website by using webs.com.

4) I composed articles and posted them onto webs.com and those articles were called "pillar articles".

5) The pillar articles that I completed, I learned that that have to be at least 1000 word, they share expertise in your area, and that they are "timeless".

6) I learned how to make a "how-to" article and also a "solve a problem" article.

7) I learned how to create CafePress products. 

8) After I created the CafePress products, I learned how to promote them onto my blog and also my website.

9) I learned how to make page counters which I placed on my webpage and also at the bottom of each of the articles. 

10) I learned how to adjust my blog and place AdSense ads onto the blog. 

11) I learned how to sumbit my blog and webiste into 3 different search engine directories. 

12) I learned how to sing in with Amazon and was able to promote their products. 

13) After I was able to promote their products, I learned how place their products onto my website. 

14) I learned how to make different pages on my website and was able to change the name of them. 

15) I learned how to sign up  onto an ezine database so that the public would be able to look at my work. 

16) I learned how to post articles onto a ezine database and went through the process of them accepting or declining them. 

17) After I completed all of my blogs and articles, I learned how to create an e-book.

goodbye to dresses.

I decided that my last post for this project will be a summary of all of the blogs that I have done! I truly loved to research on wedding dresses and personally cannot wait until I get to find my perfect wedding dress! I loved to look up pictures of dresses, research for new ideas to blog about, and find our about new and not as popular designers. I think that by doing all of this research about wedding dress, I hope that for me, it won’t be too hard to find my perfect one someday. For the brides out there that are looking for your perfect wedding dress, all you have to do is start searching, and you will be spending hours upon hours just looking at all of these dresses that are out there. Trust me, there is every kind, style, and type of dress! Don’t stress about not finding the perfect one!

To find out more about wedding dresses, my website that I made for this class is http://dressperfectwedding.webs.com/. I have eight articles, a page with all sorts of wedding dress links, and a page about different products that I have posted. Some of my favorite blogs have been “dress your shape”, “look at those skirts”, “dress by season”, “matching your wedding cake”, and my absolute favorite, “shoes, shoes, shoes, what kind of shoes to wear”. I hope that everyone has enjoyed looking and getting ideas off of my blog and has provided some sort of insight to your search for your perfect wedding dress!

shoes, shoes, shoes. what kind of shoes to wear?

Have you decide on what kind of shoes you will wear on your wedding day? Every bride has a different personality which all lead to different kind of shoes! Laid back, fancy, comfortable, modern, elegant, conservative, risqué, alternative, traditional, and many more…. These are all different ways to describe how a bride could wear her shoes on her big day. What kind of shoe to wear for your wedding is completely up to the bride. To me, the first thing that I would consider is to make sure they are comfortable. But to other brides, they want the more fashionable shoe. I just pray that I will be able to find a comfortable and fashionable one!

You don’t always have to have the traditional white heel and stay in it the whole entire night. A trend that is becoming more and more common is to have shoes that are the color or your wedding. A pink, red, purple, or whatever your color of wedding you have, looks super cute under that white perfect wedding dress. When you walk, you will be able to just get a glimpse of the color. I have posted a picture of what I mean by this below with purple shoes! Also, I have seen some brides that change into a more of a comfortable show for their reception; this is just something to think about. Plus, with this you will be able to dance much better!!

Something different that I am doing for this blog is that these pictures are from some of my personal friend’s weddings. I have asked all of these brides to use a picture from their wedding to show of their shoes!!!

Thank you brides for letting me use your shoes in this project!

Bride: Jill McDonald

Bride: Alissa Ekhardt

Bride: Kody Verardo

Seth Morris Photography

Bride: Lisa Sandrock

Bride: Sam Greving

Ashton Moirssey Photography 

Bride: Stefanie Pitzer

Photo 98

history of the wedding dress.

The history of the wedding dress is actually pretty interesting. I found and reviewed an article at http://ezinearticles.com/?Wedding-Dresses&id=355248 that explains it very well. To recap the article it starts out that  the wedding dress has changed over many centuries, and actually back then, the colors that were normal were red, purple, and black. The color of wedding dresses changed to white and variations of white because it was the most practical shade for most purposes. The style of the wedding dress has changed in many ways over the years. Things that have changes have been hems, length of dress, sleeve lengths, and accessories. You can see these changes in pictures from the past compared to pictures that you see in magazines and weddings today. These changes aren’t bad, and actually some of the traditions are coming back into today’s traditions that have been traditions of the past. It then explains that when choosing a wedding dress, you need to consider the size of the bride and also the financial standing of the cost of the perfect wedding dress. This article is a very simple article about the wedding dress. To find more articles like this one on this topic, you can simply go to http://ezinearticles.com/ and type in wedding dresses. Then a whole variety of articles will show up and you can learn so much more about the topic of wedding dresses. I personally have three articles that are posted at this website so when you are searching for wedding dresses, one of those may be one of my articles!

ruffles!

One last topic that explains new trends that are taking over the runways is ruffles. I noticed these dresses with many ruffles on them when I was researching on the different kind of bows that brides are wearing now days. The dresses with ruffles on them have ruffles places on the shirt, the waist, and even can be found on the strap. I think that ruffles have been something of the past when you look at famous, and traditional dresses, but to me, they are bringing this style back into the picture with wedding dresses. The way that designers can sculpt the dresses to look so dream like and perfect, to me, is amazing. And when ruffles come into place, is where designers can make a dress look the way that they want it to look. Isn’t it amazing how these designers can make a dress look so out of this world!

One thing that I love about the dresses with ruffles on them is that if the ruffles are placed at the right place, and if the fabric is laid in right way, it can change the appearance of your body. The way ruffles are laid, it can make your waist look slimmer. The ruffles are twisted and tied in a way that sculpts your body and makes it look wonderful. BUT consequently, some of the ruffles on certain people could make your waist and stomach look larger then you want. This is something that you have to make sure you keep in mind when you are looking for your perfect wedding dress. 

The dresses that I have posted below are from http://www.jlmcouture.com/Lazaro. 

eco-friendly wedding dresses.

You would be surprised on what you kind of dresses that you can find these days! Some brides only think that you can go to a bridal store and try on dresses all day and hope to walk out with the purchase of your perfect wedding dress. For brides that want to #1 save money, and #2 are good for economy, this is for you! There are some women out there that love natural products, and want to make sure that they are wanting to go all green. A way to do this, is to make your own dress or have someone else make it that know how to work with organic fabrics. Some of the fabrics that you cause are hemp, organic cotton, bamboo, other silk blends, or vintage fabrics. Some of these fabrics come in different colors, and then you could dye that fabric to make it look the color that you want. Some of the designers that offer these kind of dress are Natural Bridals, Nicole Lenzen, Olivia Luca, Puridee, Tara Lynn, Wai-Ching Bridal, Annatarian, Leanne Marshall and many others that can be found at http://inhabitat.com/.

Something that you could do to keep your trend going with going all green, is that you can find accessories that are eco-friendly also. Look for shoes, hairpins, and other accessories that you could make or find to buy. The website that I posted above, you can also find articles and stories about brides that have eco-friendly wedding dresses. They tell their story how and why they chose these dresses that they got married in.

look at these skirts!

Have you noticed all of the different kinds and styles of skirts that you see now days? They are absolutely breathtaking. With the twirls, flowers, textures, shapes, everything! There are so many different things that these wedding dress designers can do that make a dress look breathtaking! There are some skirts that are full and flattering, then you see dresses now with pockets. Also, flowers on the skirt, a twirl affect of fabric looks really cool. To me, I think that the skirts of a dress can make or break the whole look of a dress. You can see in these dresses that these skirts don’t overpower the dresses they compliment them.

I have posted a couple of pictures below of dresses that I think are so intriguing. These designers have sculpted these skirts of these dresses to make them look like they are something different then wedding dresses. The designer that I found that I liked the best with her skirts is Paloma Blanca. You can see all of their dresses at http://www.palomablanca.com/.

Also, one thing that you need to keep in mind when you are looking for which type of wedding dress fits best for you is what kind of style fits your body shape the best. I have a blog about the different kinds of body types vs. what dress works best for you and the link for this blog is http://dressperfectwedding.blogspot.com. Here you can see pictures of each body type and it shows you a couple of dresses that fit each different figure. I hope this helps when you are trying to find your perfect wedding dress! 

style me pretty!

I have recently found a blog that I have absolutely fell in love with. The blog is called “Style Me Pretty”. Something that is different about this blog then mine is that theirs is in about weddings in general and mine is about only wedding dresses. Their blog does talk and show the wedding dresses that the brides wear for weddings though. They go into certain weddings, take pictures and then blog about the experience, the flower, the attire, the decorations, EVERYTHING! Each blog is like a little storybook about different weddings. I love to look at these different blogs because you get so many different ideas about decorations, attire and the other aspects of weddings.

Something else that they have on their website is that they have a tab on the top that leads you to vendors for weddings. After you click on that tab, you then pick your location, and then your topic that you need to find information on for your wedding. Some of the topics that they have are beauty, cakes, bridesmaids, boudoir, catering, fashion, florals, favors, and MANY MANY more! The things that I focus on in my blog are designers that go along with different styles and trends of wedding dresses.

Another tab on their website are DIY projects which I LOVE! I love to see projects that are simple and cute AND they could also save your money when planning your wedding. The last tab on their website is called Wedding Inspiration. This is where when you are planning a wedding you can sort out the things you find and want to have in your wedding and plan them to fit together.

This is a great website for all of the brides out there that are planning their wedding. You can and will find so many different ideas that you could very simply incorporate into your very own wedding! The link to that website is www.stylemepretty.com.

dress with a vintage touch.

Have you notices that many of the old styles from your generations past have been showing back up today with the new traditions. How about ruffles? I am sure you have seen more lace in bridal salons. Long trains? All of these things have been huge traditions of the past and they are slowly, but shortly making their way back to style. You may see a dress with a lace bodice, and not all over lace, but more and more lace is coming into the picture lately. Actually, it was about 4 years ago, my cousin got married and she wore a mermaid style dress, and it had a lace overlay. I saw this and absolutely fell in love with lace. Lace in this ear has become very elegant, free flowing, and fancy. It makes the bride look elegant and proper, and I love that! Ruffles… Haven’t you seen the big pick up skirts that have cathedral length trains? Back then, they had the big skirts that had a definite waistline at the hips and then came out, straight from the hips… Now the dress all flows into one piece and looks like it all flows together. The bottom of these skirts look like a cupcake bottom! Keep you eye out for these new styles of dresses that are making a come back into this era. And even if you absolutely cannot stand lace or ruffles, TRY IT ON! You never know until you try them on! OR ask for pictures from your mother or grandmother to see what their style was. It may be pretty close to what I am talking about!

something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.

All you have probably heard of the saying and tradition that you have to wear something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. This actually came from an English poem and it refers to a good luck token for the bride who would do these customs. These four things are custom that most likely your grandmother and mother did. Some brides choose not to follow this tradition, and some do. This blog is for those brides today that would like to follow this tradition and give them a little more expertise in finding these things.  For something old, use something that is from the bride’s family and the past like a piece of fabric sewn onto your dress or wrap around the bridal bouquet. Something new should be easy; you can use your new shoes, jewelry, your new wedding dress, or a piece of lingerie or garter. When looking for something borrowed, think about your family and if you could wear a piece of jewelry, their veil, a headpiece, or purse that would go along with what your dress looks like. Lastly, something blue is where you can bring some fun into this… think outside the box here. Cute blue shoes, a garter, hair pins, an old handkerchief that might have blue embroidery on it, ribbon on your bouquet…. and the list goes on. For today’s brides that want to have a more modern flair, use these items to spice up your perfect wedding! There are many options that could fulfill these items. Talk to your family and friends to help you out also!

bows.

Have you seen all of the new trends that today’s designers are creating? Here is another article that explains a new trend that you are seeing more and more on the runways. This new trend is that BOWS are on many wedding dresses, so look out when you are looking for your wedding dress. There are some absolutely gorgeous wedding dresses out there that have a bow on them. You will find bows on the waist, on the hip, on the skirt of the dress, or it will be tied on the back, or where ever you can really put one. Personally, I would have thought that this would seem a little childish to put on your wedding dress, but I take that back… these dresses that have an accent of a bow on them are breathtaking. It is an extra touch that is placed on the dress for a reason, and that reason is to add some va-va-voom! So, when you are looking for something different on your wedding dress, try on a dress with a big bow on it. You may LOVE it!

I have placed some pictures below to show you how over the top some of these dresses can be, and also, how simple and elegant a bow can make a dress. These dresses are from the designer Vera Wang. These dresses are amazing. All of them show the elegance of the bride, and they all have a very edgy, modern feel. Such a wonderful designer!! To see more of her dresses, the link is http://www.verawang.com/. 

dress designers.

There are hundreds and hundreds of wedding dress designers and you may know some of the more popular ones that you hear about all of the time, but what about those designers that are kinda hard to find and hear about. I found a list of many wedding dress designers that is from The Knot. You can start out here and search some of the desigers that you don’t know much about. If you are starting out with your wedding dress search, this would be a really good way to start learning about all of the different wedding dresses out there. The link for the list of wedding dress designers is http://wedding.theknot.com/.

I found another great website! It is a blog that has many different topics about wedding dresses. They also have many blogs that they have posted that are about different designers. They have the different designers spotlighted and they will tell a little bit about them and then post a few pictures that are some of their most recent releases. This is perfect because you can right away see the different types and styles that each designer offers! They are amazing designers that you may or may not hear about them much. This blog definitely lets you find out more about them that you didn’t know before! The URL for that blog is

http://www.weddinggowntown.com/.

Both of these websites are a great way for you to start your search when you are finding your perfect wedding dress. Or if you are just wanting to find out about designers that you have never heard about!

bride gifts.

Are there any brides out there that need a shirt that you can wear for your bachelorette party or for the day of your wedding? Or just to show off that you are the bride? I have just the site for you. There are 5 different designs and they are custom made by me. The colors that I have picked to do these shirts in are white because I have used green, pink, and yellow designs that say BRIDE. You can also buy gifts that have BRIDE written on them. They offer mugs, bags, totes, hats, tank tops, hoodies, and more….

There is also one shirt on this website that says “BRIDESMAID”. This would be for the bridesmaids on your bachelorette party night or for the day of the wedding. If you want everyone to match in some way, this is the way you should do it!

These shirts are for the brides and bridesmaids, but that doesn’t mean that they are the only ones that should buy them. Mother of the bride and mother of the groom’s out there…. This would be a great gift for all of the women in the wedding party, no matter what kind of event you want to showcase these off. And remember, you don’t always have to buy the shirts. How cute would it be if the bride and her bridesmaids have had a tote to use for the day of the wedding? Everyone knows that girls need some kind of bag/tote to haul all of their stuff around for the day of the wedding. The link for the wesbite to buy these gifts is http://www.cafepress.com/dressperfect. Check it out!!