18 Wedding Tips on Groom’s Fashion Guide

By Julie Ndagire

Going shopping cab be overwhelming at the best of times but when its for such a big day, you’ll most probably need some help. Don’t feel bad about it, it’ll be far more fun and will prevent stress induced bad buys. This is your big moment too and you want to get it right.

Don’t rush into anything. Take time to read lots of magazines for inspiration. If you’re still not getting anywhere, consult a professional designer of men’s clothes.

With the information from your research set a realist budget for your wedding outfit taking, everything into account and stick to it, rigidly.

Start your shopping well in advance of the wedding (preferably five months), particularly if you’re having something such as waistcoat, frockcoat or star Trek suit made, as your tailor will require lots of warning. The same applies if you are hiring an outfit –you might need to make alternations which take time.

Get yourself accurately measured for everything from waistcoats to suits.

Don’t buy anything tight fitting. It may give you bulges in all the right places but it is guaranteed to become devilishly uncomfortable after all that nuptial nosh and those bottles of bubby.

Buy your wedding shows at least a month before your wedding and wear them in as you don’t want to be begging for sandals at the reception. Not very manly

Coordinate your outfit with your bride’s and maids, by asking your bride for some details about her own dress. Whatever you do, don’t force information out of her or make her spill the beans if she really doesn’t want to. No does mean no, after all.

An ivory shirt looks better than white one which can often look like something you would wear to the office.

Make sure you wash and iron your shirt the day before so that you don’t end up with unsightly, unironable fold marks.

Morning suit wearers (grooms, best men and fathers of the bride, traditionally)
 should remember that cravats are worn by the groom and bestman only. It is ties for everyone else.

Dinner suits and black tie suits are generally reserved for formal evening dos.

Always leave the bottom button of your waistcoat undone – don’t ask why.

Never have a waistcoat matching your tie and handkerchief. Instead, choose a colour from the waistcoat and select your tie accordingly.

If you’re wearing a cravat, ensure you wear a high-necked waistcoat so that the cravat can be tucked in neatly in neatly with minimal fear of escape.

Ensure you trousers are the right length, neither too long or too short and that the sleeves of your jacket allow for an inch of the shirt cuff to be seen.

Your buttonhole should be made of the same flowers as your bride’s bouquet.

On the morning of the ceremony, don’t go the pub as way of solving wedding jitters. Go have a professional shave and manicure instead. The way you’ll be just as relaxed as if you’d downed a couple of pints. Your hands will look simply lovely when you exchange rings.

Morning wear is not in only suit. Take on board every style of jacket available – from a lounge suit  to a frockcoat or Nehru-style jacket but, above all, wear something you will feel comfortable in.

How to Achieve that Unique Wedding Look

By Betty Among

Hairstyles the world over has without a doubt undergone a dramatic evolution over years. In fact, some of the look like they might belong in the faraway future. Interestingly (and and perhaps rather thankfully), the really weird one in terms of extravagance, flamboyance and colour, have not yet quite made it onto the bridal scene.

Plaited styles are another unconventional way to do bridals hair. The favoured style is the minute braids, only plaited a little way off the scalp, leaving the ends straight, giving the stylist more options to work with on the day.
Braids can be left long to style into a chignon or to achieve a more flowing cascading hairstyle. They can also be cut short into any length of bob.
The easiest braids to style are the ones plaited with human hair,  but there are also synthetic styles out there that will hold a number of styles pretty well.
Braided styles, like dreadlocks, will make the transition from wedding day hair to honeymoon hair smoothly, without any unsightly messes that tend to resemble a bird’s nest. This is common with hair which has been weaved and bonded with extensions.

Short natural hair
I once tended to be a bride-to-be who wore her hair short. The very first time we met, what struck me about her was her considerable height (which helped her carry her distinctly pear shaped body beautifully), and her incredibly stunning face. I also remember thinking that no hairstyle would suit her better than the one she wore. Fast forward to the actual wedding day many months later; and there I was standing in front of a bride almost in tears. I had gone by to deliver some last minute items and was shocked to find the natural hair ‘gone’, and in its place a jet black, dead –straight human hair piece that had been fashioned into a short fringe with a lot of detail going on at the back. The

Look was not her at all and took away from her great beauty. I knew it, she knew it, but alas! It was too late to do anything about it because it had been bonded and heat-sealed onto her own hair! It turned out well-meaning older relative had convinced this bride that no bride kept natural hair on her wedding day. Needles to say, the bride’s day was off to a bad start…

When choosing your hairstyle for your wedding day, the trick that will ensure you look radiant and beautiful is to stay as close to your ‘regular’ style as possible. Only consider adding a bit of ‘glam’. For instance you could texturize your short natural hair, just to give it abit of polished sophistication. Add a trendy fascinator for that extra pizzazz.

When you are completely comfortable with your hair, make-up and everything that completes your entire look, it will show in the way you carry yourself and without knowing it, you will exude a radiance that no bride should be without on her special day.

Dreadlocks
That is not to say that wedding day hair has not also had a few non-traditional changes of its own. After what seemed like ages of seeing straight wedding hair styled into one up-do or another, I was pleasantly surprised to see a lovely bride with beautifully styled dreadlocks featured on the cover of every magazine.

Many times, dreadlocks have been frowned upon in our conservative cultural society, and even now, they enjoy a love-hate relationship with most people.

But the number of young ‘corporate’ women wearing their hair in dreadlocks (whether genuinely-grown or cleverly crafted), is on the rise; so much so that whereas before, a brie either chose to conceal with a wig or more drastically, cut off her dreadlocks, for fear of ‘offending’ the in-laws and other elders; today’s bride will wear her dreadlocked hair with pride on her special day.

A bridal Kit- What it must contain.

By Julie Ndagire

What happens if the zipper of the bride’s gown snaps open? If her gown gets a tear? If her make up is washed off by a drizzle or if her hair is blown by the wind? Would she face her guests with a shabby look? Here are items to include in the bridal kit that can be carried by the matron to fix mishaps.

Bridal Kit

Needles and Threads
These help to fix a tear neatly. Ensure the threads are in colours of the gown, changing dress and theme colours of the maids’ dresses. You do not need whole rolls of thread just a metre rolled on a piece of paper is adequate.

Spare buttons.
In case the bride’s gown has buttons, they are needed to replace buttons that fall off.

The handkerchief
The matron can use it to dab sweat off the bride’s face and prevent the foundation from running.

Facial Bloating Tissue
Used to remove excess oil as the day progresses leaving the bride’s make-up fresh. Tissue can be used by pressing your lips together in between. This helps to keep the lipstick on longer, then apply lip gloss.

Feminine wipes for freshness in the nether regions.
Body wipes to clean the bride’s hands
Perfume. A vail of scent is light to carry and allows the bride to freshen up in the course of the day.

Safety pins. These come in handy when buttons and zips come undone.

Brooch. There is a stylist who swears by this accessory. She plays around with it on the lapel of a jacket, on dresses below the shoulder blade and as a fastener on a belt made from fabric. You can use the brooch to disguise a coverup a tear near the shoulder.

Hairpins. These help to keep hair in place and neat.

Sanitary pads. These are needed for emergency, you never know when the bride’s periods might start. Even for brides with a regular cycle there have been surprises the excitement a wedding brings may cause the bride’s hormones to act up.

Pant liners. These are useful if the bride just ended her period or if she gets a light flow.

Fabric Glue. Can be used to stick detail on shoes finished with fabric incase the bow falls off

Makeup kit. As long as the matron can expertly apply make-up then this is a necessary tool. Include lip gloss, eye liner and eye shadow. Make up enhances bride’s features.

Compact powder. This is preferred to foundation because when you keep applying
The latter often, the face will look caked. However, the compact powder should be recommended by your beautician.

How to tame your bride and be gentle and loving about it.

By Julie Ndagire

The bride is one of the most reverend persons in human socio-cultural settings. It is the objective, or so it would seem, for every girl to one day be a bride.

This peculiar idea seems to pervade all cultures across the globe, with a consistency that is rather impressive; “One day, little girl, all lights will be on you; the world, for a little while, will be your oyster. In fact, for at least 24 hours, as for you are concerned, anything goes and at the end of the night, you will be married to your prince and leave for a beautiful gold-tinted future…”

So we go and create a little pocket of expectations in these sweet, often innocent young little thing, and they grow up into reasonable adults with one worrying schizophrenic flaw typified by a thought running thought out their minds; “I will rule with an iron-hand on my wedding day.”

Between the time she says, “Yes” to your marriage proposal and the time you sweep her away into the honeymoon suite with the Do Not Disturb sign attached to the door knob, you need to understand that you are holding a ticking bomb in your hands.

So how do you, the slightly bewildered groom, deal with this one rational young lady that seemed like the ultimate soul mate before the count-down to wedding date actually started, now seems to be about as insane as a nuclear explosion in Siberia? (It might sound extreme but there is a reason why wedding planners often refer to brides a ‘bridezella’)

After chatting with a few grooms that have walked down the aisle over the last 10 years or so, and me being involved in a number of weddings, I have decided this tentative blue-print, seeing as the subject matter (the bride) is an often volatile and highly unpredictable phenomenon.

Five ways to Tame your bride
It is advisable to say yes to atleast 90% of the suggestions that wife to be comes up with. This is an unfortunate but basic truism of the bridal process. She has already said yes to you went down on bended knee (or in case you did it by text message). Because she said yes, she figures you owe her an alarming number of yeses in return, and these will include but not be limited to:
a) The guestlist, which will triple in number, atleast;
b) Cake, which will be large enough to feed a small police force (if you are lucky)
c) The colour theme, which will include colours that you will probably be hearing about for the first time: azure, hot pink and lavender (and yes, lavender is apparently a colour!);
d) A bill from the salon that rivals the bill from the caterers (be particularly careful about this bill, and say yes with a firm casual nod of your head ; it’s a minefold)

Keep away from her
Women don’t just get cold feet; they take it to extremes, and sometimes get feet so cold, you would think they were Eskimos on leave. Stay as far from your bride as possible, and try to keep yourself busy with something. Different time zones would be ideal but if you cannot manage that, at least let her stay at her mom’s or something; she is so volatile, trying to figure out whether she has made the right decision or not that one single fight, one tiny disagreement over whether the centre-piece should have carnations or roses and the wedding is off.

Do not let her handle the budget
Women are wonderful with money; they save it well, use it well, and are generally favoured by banks…except when it’s their wedding question. If she helps you put together the budget, it will end up looking like the expense spreadsheet for a small (but rather wealthy) country. Leave other important details to her (she can take months agonizing over the décor and the dress, not much damage possible there), but letting her decide where the engagement ring is coming from or choosing the honeymoon destination is sheer madness.

Befriend her friends
Remember all those friends of hers you couldn’t stand? Now’s the time to find as many allies as you can; take them shopping, have tea with them or something equally appalling but make them your friends, fast! They will hold her hand, wipe her mascara when it runs and help keep her from running off into the night like Julia Roberts Wannabe (remember Run away bride) in case the whim overtakes the poor stressed-out dear thing.

Surprise Her
Keep somethings about the wedding away from her. Maybe it’s a guest artist singing a ballad she loves; maybe its an old childhood friend whose ticket you paid for so she could fly in to attend the darned thing; Keep something pleasant away from her, so when she is getting cranky and a little fidgety at the reception (those bridal gowns are not as comfortable as they look), you can get her smiling again.

It pays to have a smiling bride, my friend…and then maybe, just maybe, you will head for that gold-tinted happily ever-after without further incident.

Latest Wedding Bridal Gloves

By Julie Ndagire

Lately, gloves have given way to bracelets and bare arms/ wrists. Wedding bridal gloves, however, are one of the fashion accessories that still make a statement on may a bridal ensemble. Long (above the elbow) gloves bring classic royalty to mind, while short (wrist-length) gloves invoke a chic trendy feel.

Unlike ball gowns, bejeweled combs, lace and shoes which you are likely to wear on other special occasion, gloves are not something you will wear to a cocktail party or friend’s wedding.

Make your wedding day special and wear this fashion item which make stand out and almost have a special ‘untouchable’ quality.

From the romance of lace and tulle, to classic satin and luxurious embellished sheer styles, you will be spoilt for choice.

Elegant sheer full length gloves with intricate embroidery

Understated plain satin gloves to complement an embellished gown.

Luxurious sparkly tulle with pearl and sequin embellishment

Romantic tulle wrist-length wedding gloves with floral motif

A classic timeless satin wedding gloves with floral motif

Embellished wedding bracelet

Hair Care Tips for a bride-to-be

By Betty Among
When you see a bride with lustrous hair, do not think it has just happened miraculously. It takes a lot of effort to achieve that look.

According to Mugisha and Benja Waiswa of O’leaf Salon, opposite Pioneer Mall, there are a lot of things a bride-to-be needs to do to have beautiful hair on her day. The stylists share their tips:

Find out your hair type. Is it oily, dry or in between? Knowing your hair type will help you use the products that are appropriate for your hair.

Wash your hair regularly with Shampoo- at least once a week. This makes the scales of the hair open up and helps remove the excess dirt. It is always good to use shampoo that is made of a mild cleansing base and gentle in action. Apply regularly, use anti-dandruff and lice treatments.

Give proper conditioning to the hair. Use a good hair conditioner which helps smoothen the hair and leaves it shiny, smooth to comb and clean.

Days before the wedding, avoid using blow dryers, brushes or straightening irons on your hair as these may weaken and break it. Use wide-toothed combs regularly to remove tangles from the hair.

Avoid combing hair when it is dripping wet. This may lead excessive breakage as wet hair is quite fragile.

If you can, go for some special treatment like oil massage, overnight oil application and hot oil treatments. These help maintain a healthy scalp.

Use aromatic head massages to release stress and sleep at least seven hours daily.

It is important to have a balanced diet, drink 8-10 glasses of water daily and have lots of calcium in your daily food as to avoid high blood pressure and tensed up muscles owing to the stress of the wedding. Food rich in Calcium are yoghurt, soybeans, milk, cheese, spinach, cereals, soymilk and grains.

If you can, drink coconut water at least twice a week. It gives a magical effect to your hair, hydrates the body and removes toxins from your systems.

Avoid going for a drastic hair change a few days before the wedding.

Do not comb your hair roughly because it will break. Cyrus Gachoki, the executive director of ImagineWise consultancy and a hair specialist advises ladies to first comb their hair at the tips then move on to the middle hair and then comb hair at the root last.

Finally, the final hair-dressing product too is important. Use a good hair gel that will give a mild hold for your hair so it does not look unkempt on the wedding day.

Latest Hair Care Tips for a Bride

By Julie Ndagire

When organizing a wedding, most times the bride is very busy running up and down attending to everything from the gown, shoes to accessories. Not much attention is put on the hair yet this is an important area that calls for attention if she is to look glamorous on her the big day.

Hair care calls for more than just styling the hair on the wedding day according to Jeph Mugisha, a professional hairstylist  and director of Jephi’s salon on Jinja Road. Many wait for the day before the wedding to go for retouch or treatment.

Dealing with your Stylist
Mugisha advises a bride to choose their stylist as early as possible (six months). “This will help them know your hair well. The stylist is then able to monitor the progress of your hair and recommend what is best for you,” he advises.

He says that much as every bride-to-be has a right to choose her hairstyle for their wedding day, it is important to involve their hairstylist in making this decision.

Choosing a Hairstyle.
The simple and easier way for a bride is to hold her hair backwards as it helps to bring out her face clearly.
Promise Alati, a hairstylist of Clever Salon on Mabirizi complex, advises brides not to go for extravagant and complicated hairstyles. “Sometimes a bride may look as if she is carrying something on her head. Most brides do not look good with over-the-top hairstyles because the decoration is too much. Something nice and simple is always the best.” She advises.
A bride should consider the shape of her head when choosing a hairstyle, according to Mugisha.

“One may have seen a bride look good with  particular hairstyle and want it as well but they have to understand that they have different head shapes and what looks good on one might not look good on the other. It is always important to try out different styles before the wedding to know which one looks best on you,” he advises