You’ve been on Facebook since 2004, back when it was “just for college kids.” Your Twitter blows up daily thanks to the barrage RTs from your most scandalous tweets. You are the tech-savvy bride-to-be, which means it’s time to use your social media skills to make your dream day come true.

Whether you’re trying to build an off-beat bridal blog, check out the latest trends in nuptial negligees or seek the advice of mavens in the married world, here are 5 wedding worthy social media sites every bride shouldn’t live without.

1. Pinterest

What it is:

Pinterest is an online community for members who “pin” images and links of the things they love. To join in the fun, all you do is pin an image of something you love and others can view it, like it, add a comment or re-pin it to their own board. To make it even easier, everything integrates seamlessly with Facebook, Twitter and StumbleUpon.

Why it’s Wedding Worthy:

Use Pinterest to build and organize your digital inspiration board. Add to it, delete pins or borrow ideas from friends whenever you’d like. The best part is that you can invite your venders to collaborate on a Pinterest board with you. Just imagine how much time you’ll save bouncing ideas with your wedding planner on your “bouquet board” than scheduling multiple in-person meetings.

2. WeddingWire

What it is:

WeddingWire is so much more than a wedding website maker. With apps that range from budget calculators to RSVP tabulators, wedding forums and over 100,000 reviewed vendors (all of which integrate to their iPhone app), WeddingWire is the place to start for anyone who’s still admiring their new ring.

Why it’s Wedding Worthy:

It’s obvious that wedding is in the name, but the real question is what makes WeddingWire different? Apart from building a wedding site, the network of vendors and reviews is an unmatched advantage compared to other sites that offer the same services.

3. Honeyfund

What it is:

Honeyfund is a free online honeymoon registry site that allows your guests to pay for portions of your honeymoon travel airfare to daily activities. Gift givers donate money to you through a PayPal account, which you can use to pay for your activities throughout your vacation.

Why it’s Wedding Worthy:

One of the more unsettling aspects of the wedding registry for any bride is asking for a high-value item. For most of us, we don’t have an aunt or uncle that’s willing to drop a grand on a flight to Paris, but we all have family members that are willing to pay a portion of the way to the City of Lights. Honeyfund allows you to divide up economical portions of your vacation for others to chip-in.

4. The Dealmap

What it is:

The Dealmap is the largest aggregator of daily deal sites on the internet. From Groupon and Living Social to local deals around town, this is the place to find them all – and in map form.

Why it’s Wedding Worthy:

If you think you’re too good to use a daily deal coupon for your wedding, awesome – now don’t rub it in my face. However, if you’re one of the other 95% of brides who are on the lookout for the latest bargain, The Dealmap is a godsend. The truth is that weddings cost a f@#$ing fortune. Finding out there’s a special on designer umbrellas in Seattle or the best hotel deals in Los Angeles really helps when you need it most.

5. PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com

What it is:

PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com lives up to its name as one of the largest resellers of wedding dresses, but the site functions more like a social media site based on its ability to connect sellers and buyers in a wedding-themed open market of fashion.

Why it’s Wedding Worthy:

If you’re a forward thinking bride who’s more into the three R’s (reducing, reusing and recycling) compared to boxing away precious memories, you might not mind wearing someone else’s dress. It’s green. It’s cost effective. Plus, you might recoup some much needed cash once your magical day becomes once upon a memory.

If you have any other social media sites you think other brides would love, please submit your suggestions in the comments below and we’ll be sure to talk about them in a future post.

Your wedding photos will last a lifetime.  And now that these glamorous shots of the big day are circulating Facebook faster than ever, you have the opportunity of tweaking your marital memories in fun poppy ways for your social media friends. Of course there’s no need to give yourself a digital haircut or trim down your already skinny jeans-ready body, but a few eye-catching effects never hurt anyone.

A good rule of thumb: always start with the basics then move on to the filters.

Cover the Basics with a Free Online Photo Editing Tool

Aviary.com is a free, easy-to-use online tool that allows you to upload, edit and save your photos. You’re about 30 seconds away from a really unique wedding photo.

A few things you may want to try when editing:

• Whiten your teeth
• Remove redeye
• Make colors more vibrant
• Add text
• Adjust lighting
• Rotate
• Crop
• Flip

Use the Same Online Tool For Filtered Effects

To take your photos to the next level, try applying Aviary’s filters (on the bottom, right-hand corner) to ordinary photos into something pretty snazzy.

The “Instant” filter turns your photo into a vintage-y Polaroid.

“Toy camera” turns up the contrast and intensity.

“Old Photo” makes your photo look like it was thrown in a time machine.

“Retro” just makes you look cool.

Edit Photos with a Free App on Your Phone

Photoshop Express is a free app that will turn your phone pics of the wedding party into serious Facebook wall works of art.

“Vignette Blur” allows you to bump up the saturation of each color and blur the photo edges to bring focus to the center.

“Warm Vintage” adds a soft, warm glow to entire photo.

Click on the left circle icon to change your photo to black and white.

Get ready to take your wedding photos to a whole new artistic level.

Most true Bridezillas check their Facebook ten to twenty times a day, just to you know, count the engagement picture comments and check up on the bridesmaids to make sure none of them are gaining weight or (gasp) dying their hair outlandish colors.
After changing your status to “engaged”, this is where most of the planning on Facebook stops right? Wrong, with the help of Storkie.com, you can now Facebook your wedding to the world. There is an easy, step-by-step guide to creating a cool and useful Facebook Wedding Page. Wedding websites are so passe. A Facebook Page is much more convenient and who doesn’t love Facebook?
Like Storkie’s example Facebook page to see what your Wedding Facebook Page could look like.
One of our favorite boxes to have on your Facebook wedding page is the registry box where guests can see what items you registered for and buy them immediately. Cha-ching-ching! No more handmade quilts from Grandma, now she can buy the Pottery Barn duvet you’ve been coveting without getting up from her rocking chair.
You might have to show Grandma how to use Facebook, but still, having all your wedding info. on your profile page surely cuts down on duplicate gifts, bridesmaid squabbles, and guests showing up late because they didn’t get the memo.

Facebook Wedding Example

The inspiration section will give your guests a clue on what to wear and what to buy you for that special day. This box is a great way to put all your ideas together and show your wedding planner, guests, and tell the groom-to-be what he needs to do.

Bridezilla Inspiration

Ever feel like you are the only one who is organized in your group of friends, constantly nagging them about dates and times? Add all of your events into the Calendar and Events boxes. Friends can quickly see when/where the bachelorette party is or what time the rehearsal dinner starts. No more bridesmaids blowing up your phone with questions.

Being a bride-to-be, most of the time the spotlight is on you. So keep those bridezilla lips sealed on your public profiles. Tempting as it may be, don’t rant about your wedding party slackers and cheap guests. Facebook is forever.
A simple status update just won’t do. It’s time to Facebook your wedding and become the envy of all your friends. Check out Storkie’s Facebook Guide and see how.

I’m many things. A bridezilla. A lover of Mexican food. A frequenter of Banana Republic.
I’m also a super coffee snob.
When the very-nice people at Tassimo sent me their cool coffee brewer for review, I said I’d try it. The expectations soared. You mean me and my bridezilla underlings could drink lattes without having to run Carrie-style in stilettos to the local Starbucks? You mean I can have hot chocolate, tea, and cappuccinos out of the SAME machine? You mean I can train my boston terrier to be a Tassimo barista?

Tassimo Perks

Ok, you can’t teach a dog to use it, but it is simple. Slip in a T-Disc. Press big button. Wait and watch. The T-Discs are ultra convenient. No filters. No spilling grounds all over your floor. And they’re practically adorable.
The Tassimo scans a barcode on the T-Disc and makes the drink desired. It’s Einstein brilliant. Newton smart. Billy Gates innovative.
And there are t-discs in every hot drink imaginable: cappuccino, Tazo tea, espresso, etc.

Tassimo Taste Test

The Tassimo passed the ingenuity test and failed the taste test. The lattes were too watery. I can’t totally blame the Tassimo. I’ve developed a taste for the finer things in life by drinking artisan coffee ever since I was a wee bridezilla.
The Tassimo doesn’t make the type of latte that you’ll drive 20 minutes out of your way to get. In manual mode, it pours the type of latte a bridezilla would dump out after a few disgusted sips. After fiddling with customized mode, the cappuccino went from undrinkable to just ok.
It’s the kind of coffee you’d drink when you’re at the office and can’t get the lowly intern to make a coffee run. That said, the Tazo tea was reasonable. And I still have high hopes for the hot cocoa.
A Tassimo home brewing system costs $129 and the T-Discs run about $8.99 per 16 pack.
Would I register for it? Honestly – being the spoiled Seattle coffee drinker I am – probably not. Swoon list grade: a middle-of-the road C.

Love is all about compromise. Especially when it comes to the TV.
You want a sparkly new something: Kate Spade bag? Jimmy Choo shoes? A shiny new exercise bike to shed that cupcake weight? You’re all set to spend some of that nest egg. But groomzilla is begging for one of those pimped-out flat screen televisions so he could watch (groan) the NCAA tournament and see every drop of sweat drizzle down the player’s faces.
Ohhh, the joys of joint checking.
But your marriage does not have to be met with strife.

Presenting the World’s Most Expensive Television

Studded with 160 real diamonds worth 20 karats, he’ll drool over the high-tech LCD screen and you’ll gaze at the bedazzled frame, deep in your personal bridezilla paradise. At a paltry sum of $128,000, this Yalos diamond television set turns marital-couch bliss from myth to reality.
Or not.

Bridezilla has seen our share of bad wedding ideas: denim wedding dresses, Star Wars reception themes, mini-skirt wedding gowns… the list goes on. But this has to be the worst wedding invention we’ve ever seen!

Introducing, the Marriage-Hunting bra, recently unveiled in Tokyo. The wearer sets her marriage-deadline date and the clock counts it down. It also has a pen and seal holster for signing marriage contracts.
It’s just what every single woman needs — an oh-so flattering, boxy front from wearing a digital clock in their bra, coupled with the constant reminder that they’re still single. Do they reset the clock every time they break up with a beau? And aren’t bras supposed to uplift, not bring a girl down?
Japanese characters on the bra read, “now hunting for a husband.” With that sexy statement of desperation (snort), this beautiful model might as well be wearing a chastity belt. And get this: when an engagement ring is inserted between the cups, the melody “The Wedding March,” is played to celebrate the engagement. Experts predict proposals will take a weird new turn in 2010.

Finding Mr. Right thankfully didn’t involve an epic search for me. Meeting him was like walking into a shoe store and immediately finding the perfect glittery sandal, then finding out it was on sale. We share a love of Conan O’Brien, boston terriers, and fancy restaurants. Match made in heaven! And then I met his mother…

Sound like you? It’s every bridezilla! There’s something about wedding planning that brings out the monster in our mother-in-laws. She’s the sweetest lady, baking you cookies, inviting you on family vacations, and then dear son puts a ring on your finger. Suddenly, she transforms into the MIL from hell almost overnight.
Are the two of you destined to be peas in a pod or fire and ice? In honor of Mother’s Day, check out the Brides.com’s Mother in Law Matcher Tool.

Bridezilla (Capricorn) and MILzilla (Virgo).

Where we click:

“She’ll appreciate the fact that her son married someone so similar to her.” Uh oh. Did I marry a momma’s boy?
“Your down-to-earth values resonate with her at a core level.” Down to earth values? *Snort* I’m a bridezilla. She can keep her down-to-earth values.

Where we clash:

“There are too many cooks in the kitchen. Capricorn and Virgo like to be in charge and insist on having things done just so.” So true. When it comes to my wedding, I want things done my way. Why can’t mother-in-laws understand this?
“Capricorn springs for sophisticated styles from high-end design houses. You won’t appreciate her trying to put a doily over your “Design Within Reach” coffee table. She’ll think your spending habits are snobbish and exorbitant.” So accurate, it’s almost scary. If my mother-in-law dared to doily my coffeetable, she would never be invited back. Good thing she knows this.
What did the match tool reveal for you? Let us know if you and your MIL are a match made in heaven or hell!

Our friends at Bloomingdale’s and Brides.com just dished out the coolest table setting tool. If you ever went to a dinner party and drooled not over the food, but for the silverware, try out the Set the Table Tool. It’s incredible. These are not your mother’s china patterns. You can mix and match dinner plates, salad plates, cups, sauces, and more. A virtual feast for the eyes!
Create your own bridezilla table setting then register for it over at Bloomies. Finally, fantasy flatware that isn’t so matchy, matchy. Hint: The Set Your Table Tool is addictive, so don’t start mixing and matching unless you have at least eight hours to spare.
PS. Brides.com also recently launched other genius wedding tools. Check out their handy I-Do checklist, Interactive Seating Charts, and Budget Tracker. Totally worthy of bridezilla’s precious time. Now you can fire your lazy wedding planner!

Need a break from The Knot Mafia? So does Bridezilla! For all-encompassing wedding advice minus the industrial feel, we like the newly launched Bridal Guide. Bridezilla is a modern woman from fashion to gadgets, and the techzilla in us fully embraces the Technorati-style tagging system that makes up the main search method of Bridal Guide. We also enjoy the avante garde “advice from designers” section as well as the cute wedding countdown pictured here. A pleasant mix of something old and something new, Bridal Guide does a nice job of providing traditional essential information in a tech-savvy new way. Busy Bridezillas approve!
]]> http://www.bridezilla.com/bridezilla-site-of-the-day-bridal-guide/feed 0 http://www.bridezilla.com/bridezilla-presents-the-sexiest-technology-for-your-back-pocket http://www.bridezilla.com/bridezilla-presents-the-sexiest-technology-for-your-back-pocket#comments Thu, 13 Sep 2007 14:56:09 +0000 missz http://www.bridezilla.com/?p=192

We may be Bridezillas, but we’re obviously bloggers, too – and life on the internet means an awareness of the latest technology, if nothing else. In between obsessively refreshing Style.com for the latest Fashion Week developments, we occasionally try to get out of the Bridezilla compound to get some fresh air, but we’re never without a connection for blogging on the spot! All modern Bridezillas need to keep connected in one way or another, and this is how we do it.

Our pledged allegiances to the Prada phone have been recently surpassed by the shiny, shiny iPhone, but how long can that last? Apparently as long as it takes for Danger to release the Sidekick 4 (pictured above). The Sidekick’s had our hearts with its QWERTY keyboard (sorry, Prada phone) and instant messaging capabilities (sorry, iPhone), and now it’s available black, shiny, and with a wider screen? We know what will be peeking out from the pocket of our designer jeans this fall, or earlier if we can get someone to pick it up for us at the rumoured New York City early release next week. After all, how else are we meant to keep in contact with our wedding planners if not through constant calling, texting, emailing, and IMing?

Call us Apple cultists like the rest of the easily-seduced world, but if Steve Jobs is going to keep putting out products in sleek bridal white we’re just going to keep buying them to match our look! The latest touch-screen seductress to capture our attention is the iPod Touch, which does everything your old iPod does only in a sexier way. The big, gorgeous widescreen means that we can pass the time in the back of the cab watching the best wedding moments compiled in handy YouTube videos, and easily show our bridesmaids the pictures we’ve compiled with all the weddings we want to emulate. It’s everything that’s pretty about the iPhone without ringing to interrupt your going through every Shins album to find the perfect first dance song!

We’ve had a Gmail account since the early days, and now we can hardly remember a time without threaded emails and stored chats. How did we ever keep track of anything? And it just keeps getting better. Imagine interactive wedding planning without getting all your bridesmaids together and springing for mimosas for yet another planning brunch. If you’re using Google Documents, you can keep suggestions all in one place and let anyone in for editing. Google Calendar means you won’t miss an appointment, and neither will anyone else in the wedding party. Create a group for all involved parties and easily share wedding photos and more. Sure, you could use another email program…but why would you?