Happy New Year!

Tonight we are going to a show called Chinese New Year Spectacular. The question my daughter has is how formal should she dress? We have seats in the balcony.

Coloring Contest Update

I added a graphic on the front page, but I still have not received any coloring pages yet in my mail...

Coloring Contest has details!

Wedding Cakes - Choosing one

Wedding cake business is a dream come true for two Duncanville bakers from the Dallas News.

What's interesting was I just added a section on Wedding Cakes to American Wedding Customs and Traditions

Dress Articles

I just re-arranged Articles and References for Girl's Dresses because it was becoming to cluttered. Here is the new layout, I moved some of the articles under sub-categories. This way it's easier to not get overwhelmed on the first screen. I also added the number of articles under each category, so people will know wow, I really should click there! The how to tie a bow I want to do a video showing how!

Ao Dai Cuoi History - Traditional Vietnamese Dress					Chinese QiPao Cheongsam Dress History
			From their development in the 1700 Chinese and French Influence Symbolic meaning of different colors					Dress History from the 1644 to today! Chinese Color Symbolism of the QIPao Modern QiPao's from materials to usage
Dress Color and Symbol Meanings					How to tie a dress bow
			20+ Article from symbolism to dress terms to more! American Color Symbolism including holidays and seasons Chinese Symbol and Color meanings Vietnamese color and symbolic meanings Communion Dress Traditions					Instructions for tieing dress ribbon bow
Girl's Pageant Articles and Information					Wedding Traditions and Customs
			Pageant Components Make up tips for pageants Recyling a Pageant Dress Pageant Tips					12+ Articles on American, Chinese, and Vietnamese Wedding Customs and traditions Includes tips, etiquette, and more! Great reference for any American, Chinese, and/or Vietnamese bride to be

American Wedding Customs and Traditions Updated

American Wedding Customs and Traditions got updated! I added some pictures, lots of content all about Wedding Customs and Traditions. It's twice as long as it used to be and I am exhausted!

Topics Covered

• Something Old, Something New
• White Wedding Dress
• Bridal Bouquet
• Veil and Bridesmaid
• Bridesmaids Dress Color
  
• Rings
• Flower Girl
• Ring Bearer
• Receiving Line
  
• Throwing of Rice
• Wedding Car
• Throwing the Bouquet
• Throwing the garter
• Wedding Reception
  
• Wedding Cake
• Wedding Locations
• Wedding Order of Events
• Wedding Rehearsal
• Wedding Rehearsal Dinner
• Gift Registration
• Wedding Shower
  

Chinese New Year Party Ideas

Of course invite everyone to wear a Girl's Chinese QiPao

Play some Chinese Children Games

Color some Chinese New Year Coloring Pages

And color these traditional Door and Wall Scrolls and put these on the wall.

Perhaps watch a Video about the Chinese New Year - New Year in Ping Wei - A Documentary of China - DVD

Or read some stories about Chinese New Year - Chinese New Year Books, Music, and DVD's

Or do some Chinese New Year Crafts & Projects

Or do some Chinese New Year Worksheets!

Christmas Day

It's nice to have today off, but tomorrow I need to get going on QiPao's for Chinese New Year. And getting my darling daughter to do another graphic before she goes off to school. Such is the life of a Mother and business owner.

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Why I need to learn Photoshop

Do you realize how hard it is to get a amazing, wonderful 14 year old girl to do a Christmas Graphic?  It's challenging.  At least the finished product, still incomplete, looks great!

Weddings don't have to mean debt

Weddings don't have to mean debt - nice article.

I especially like this sentence:There they spent the afternoon with their wedding guests, who toasted their marriage before enjoying ice-cream sundaes in the glow of a setting sun.

Total wedding cost of $8000, where the US average is $27,800.

The only thing the article did not mention was buying Discount Flower Girl Dresses.

Wedding Food Questions to ask

Palate-Pleasing Ways to Satisfy your Wedding Guests - Meadow Free Press, ID - Good advice on what to serve your guest on that special day. A new term, Open House.

Good questions to ask:

Do you want a traditional wedding breakfast for family and close friends following an early morning ceremony?

Do you want to celebrate with dinner at your favorite restaurant? A formal dinner?

Formal Wedding Reception?

Are there many children you want to include in your wedding that would make a backyard retreat more appropriate?

Do you want to do an open house, which is less intimate than a wedding reception? This is done by the groom's parents two weeks after the reception usually and usually a full meal is not provided (appetizers or desert).

Recession? Time to Slash the Flower Budget

Recession? Time to Slash the Flower Budget - NY Times. Slashing the budget from 35K to 20K is pretty big relatively speaking. My wedding cost, since I was still in college and my husband had just graduated was a lot less. At my wedding my Mother in law had taken a flower arranging class and bought the flowers at the Flower Market in downtown LA, saving a bit of money. Her Teacher helped out making the corsages.

Chinese Dress Coloring Contest

$100 Coloring Contest for Chinese and Vietnamese Dresses by EliteDresses.com! Contest ends Chinese New Years 2009!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prize - 1st Prize is $100 Cash for both the Vietnamese and Chinese Dresses Coloring Pages (ie there will be a first prize for the Chinese Dresses, and a first prize for the Vietnamese Dresses). 2nd and 3rd prizes are free dresses from EliteDresses (customers choice of a Chinese or Vietnamese Dress).

Coloring Pages - Any of the coloring pages located here Chinese and Vietnamese Girl's Dresses Coloring Pages are eligible.

Judging:
The coloring pages will be judged on cuteness (90%) and neatness (10%).

Deadlines:
All material submitted becomes the property of EliteDresses.com and must be received prior to January 26th. Mail the results of your little one to EliteDresses, PO Box 8266, Rowland Heights, CA 91748.

Details:
On the back please write the artist's name, age, parent's name and E-Mail address, and home city and state. The artist should be 10 years or younger. It should not be as some of the craft projects I have seen that definitely had a lot of help from Mom or Dad in my daughter's class (a working scale model saw mill in 5th grade was suspicious). Any material can be used for coloring (crayons, paint, ink, pencil, etc...).

Wedding Copyright Police

Copyright cop wedding crashers fined by Spanish court

Saks Says It Plans to Close All But Two Bridal Shops (Update1)

Saks Says It Plans to Close All But Two Bridal Shops (Update1)

Hmm, I wonder what this really means.

• Perhaps that online stores that sell dresses, like EliteDresses, are taking business away?
• Or Bridal chains such as David's Bridal, or just the demise further of Mall stores?
• Or have dresses just become more customized? Or did the sales per foot just not make sense?

Since Weddings are a one time occurance, they may want to focus on areas where they would sell more than one time to a customer and look at the lifetime opportunity. I am curious about what they are going to put in where they previously had wedding salons.

New Wedding Book

Wedding Planning for a Great Marriage and the Wedding that will last - Examiner

Some good advice in the book:

• The groom is not an accessory to the wedding.
• It's important for grown-ups to pay for their own weddings
• There's no reason to go into debt for your wedding and there are good reasons not to.
• Both the bride and the groom can be engaged and wear rings. (WP says: Did you know that in Scandinavia when you get engaged both get one gold band and then when you get married you each get another gold band?)
• The wedding can support — even be based on — the couple's relationship and the marriage they're committing to.
• Weddings are not about glamour; they're about marriage.

Wonderful Testimonial

Lillian,

Here’s a testimonial you can use.

We needed to purchase a Vietnamese dress for our daughter, adopted from Vietnam 8 years ago. She needed an authentic dress as part of her Halloween project at school. The students were asked to not just dress up for the holiday but to select a famous person they wanted to become for the day and to research this individual and report to their classmates about that individual. Our daughter selected Trung Trac, one of two warrior sisters who helped lead an insurrection against the Chinese in the 1^st century AD.

Lillian helped us enormously. She went far beyond my expectations to make sure we were able to acquire the proper size dress for our daughter, even shipping additional sizes to sample. Her customer service is exceptional. I highly recommend doing business with her and we will do so again in the future knowing we will be very well taken care of.

Bob C

Colorado

Bridal shower can be a show-and-tell

Bridal shower can be a show-and-tell - what a nice way to help the Wedding Tradition of having a Bridal Shower! A way to share wedding memories by having guests bring wedding keepsakes, such as an old Flower Girl Dress or wedding dress to share with other guests.
The article is full of great advice, like avoid foods that stain - like cranberries or red wine!

Ao Dai and QiPao Fasteners

Ao Dai Cuoi Vietnamese Girls Dresses and Chinese Cheongsam Qipao have three ways of fastening.

1. Zippers - Often used on the Chinese Girl's Dresses. I prefer these, easier to get on and off.
   
2. Frog Knots - Used on Kung Fu outfits, some Chinese Dresses, and some Vietnamese Dresses. A pain to put on. I am currently running a sale on my Girl's Chinese Cheongsam Qipao to get rid of these. And of course I just bought accidently some hot pink with this issue.
   
3. Metal Fasteners or snaps - sometimes used on Chinese Outfits or Vietnamese Outfits.
   

New Ao Dai Cuoi Vietnamese Girls Dresses

				Vietnamese Girl's Red Ao Dai Cuoi with White Pants
				List Price: $30.00 Our Price: $19.99 You Save $10.01!
				Red Brocade Dress top that goes down to just below the knee's, with a slit on the side that starts at the waist. The ao dais, which means long dress, design goes back to 1740, and has been influenced by the French.
				Girl's Vietnamese Red Traditional Ao Dai Cuoi Dress Long Sleeve
				List Price: $30.00 Our Price: $19.99 You Save $10.01!
				Girl's Pink Ao Dai. The traditional Vietnamese long sleeve dress (Ao Dai) dated back to 1744 of the Nguyen Dynasty. Ao Dai means Long Dress. This girl's beautiful Red traditional Vietnamese dress (Ao Dai) features traditional knots, Red satin collar, short sleeve satin cuff, and painted flower pattern. The dress splits into a front and back panel from the waist down. The loose silky trousers feature elastic waist for easy dressing.
				Girl's Vietnamese Red Traditional Ao Dai Cuoi Dress Sleeveless W/ Mandarin Collar
				List Price: $30.00 Our Price: $19.99 You Save $10.01!
				Girl's Pink Ao Dai. The traditional Vietnamese sleeveless dress (Ao Dai) dated back to 1744 of the Nguyen Dynasty. Ao Dai means Long Dress. This girl's beautiful Red traditional Vietnamese dress (Ao Dai) features traditional knots, Red satin collar, short sleeve satin cuff, and painted flower pattern. The dress splits into a front and back panel from the waist down. The loose silky trousers feature elastic waist for easy dressing.
				Girl's Vietnamese Purple Traditional Ao Dai Cuoi Dress Long Sleeve
				List Price: $30.00 Our Price: $19.99 You Save $10.01!
				Girl's Pink Ao Dai. The traditional Vietnamese sleeveless dress (Ao Dai) dated back to 1744 of the Nguyen Dynasty. Ao Dai means Long Dress. This girl's beautiful Purple traditional Vietnamese dress (Ao Dai) features traditional knots, Purple satin collar, short sleeve satin cuff, and painted flower pattern. The dress splits into a front and back panel from the waist down. The loose silky trousers feature elastic waist for easy dressing.
				Girl's Vietnamese Pink Traditional Ao Dai Cuoi Dress Long Sleeve
				List Price: $30.00 Our Price: $19.99 You Save $10.01!
				Girl's Pink Ao Dai. The traditional Vietnamese sleeveless dress (Ao Dai) dated back to 1744 of the Nguyen Dynasty. Ao Dai means Long Dress. This girl's beautiful Pink traditional Vietnamese dress (Ao Dai) features traditional knots, Red satin collar, short sleeve satin cuff, and painted flower pattern. The dress splits into a front and back panel from the waist down. The loose silky trousers feature elastic waist for easy dressing.
				Girl's Vietnamese Red Traditional Ao Dai Cuoi Dress Sleeveless
				List Price: $30.00 Our Price: $19.99 You Save $10.01!
				Girl's Pink Ao Dai. The traditional Vietnamese sleeveless dress (Ao Dai) dated back to 1744 of the Nguyen Dynasty. Ao Dai means Long Dress. This girl's beautiful Red traditional Vietnamese dress (Ao Dai) features traditional knots, Red satin collar, short sleeve satin cuff, and painted flower pattern. The dress splits into a front and back panel from the waist down. The loose silky trousers feature elastic waist for easy dressing.