Thursday, January 8: “Slip In and Slip Out With a Steal” Sale
For the month of January, Hitched (1523 Wisconsin Ave., NW; 202-333-6162) is hosting its annual sample sale of bridal gowns, veils, jewelry, and shoes, slashing prices 30 to 50 percent to make way for the 2009 collections. The sale kicks off tonight with the “Slip In and Slip Out With a Steal' soirée, where brides and their girlfriends can have the first pick of the litter—note that sample-sale items are available only on a first-come, first-served basis. So hurry! Free; 5 to 8 PM.

Friday, January 9, through Sunday, January 11: Jenny Yoo Trunk Show
Still in search of a great bridesmaid dress? Hannelore’s of Olde Town (106 N. Lee St., Alexandria; 703-549-0387) is hosting a trunk show this weekend featuring the spring and summer 2009 bridesmaid collections by American designer Jenny Yoo. Available in fabrics from chiffon to taffeta and in an array of feminine colors, these gowns are sleek and modern. Bridesmaids who purchase during the show get 15 percent off. Note: Hannelore’s is also is in the midst of it annual end-of-year sample sale on select bridal gowns, priced at 50 percent off. Designers include Anne Barge, Monique Lhuillier, and Christos.

Bride Wars and Tiffany's bling.

Bridesmaids forking over for makeup—fair or faux paus? [via DC Nearlyweds]

The rise of PG-rated bachelor parties.

Chocolate chips make everything better. [via It's a Jamie Thing...]

To submit a bridal event, email lshallcross@washingtonian.com.

Eleni with Ron on Christmas, before he headed out to work.

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! The new year is upon us, and that means I’m getting married . . . soon. When you start to plan your wedding 11 months in advance, it seems far away. The time creeps up on you, though (doesn’t it always?), and now the wedding festivities are only a few months away.

The 2008 holiday season provided a great opportunity to eat, bake cookies (yes, that’s right, I baked), read magazines, visit with the family, and of course, obsess about the wedding.

Among other things, including wedding invitations, entrée decisions, the buzz around the Obama family staying at the Hay-Adams, and the death of my diet due to cookie baking, I thought a lot about videography. It’s been in the back of my head since we booked our band through Washington Talent, because the company also books photography and video services. I haven’t done much research on videographers in Washington, save for the Bridal Chat: Ask a Videographer with Martin Andrews of Blue Sky Films to get an idea of pricing and film quality.

Third time's the charm for Craig Ferguson.

Wedding bells for Alyssa Milano.

Note from Carmen Electra: Skip the Vegas wedding.

Finding love on Dancing with the Stars.

To submit a bridal event, email lshallcross@washingtonian.com.

Photo courtesy of Ken Pak, VisualSketch Studio.

For their two-year anniversary in March, Missy Eng and Brian Hyatt, both 26, decided to celebrate with a dinner at the Inn at Little Washington, where they had gone on their first anniversary. Brian made the dinner reservation, booked a room at the Foster Harris House down the street from the inn, and mapped out a scenic route to get there.

Missy, a health-information-technology consultant at CGI, and Brian, a technology consultant at Versivo, met in 2005 when both were working at CGI. They knew each other for more than a year before they started dating, and by the time they reached their two-year anniversary, he was ready to propose.

On their way out to Washington, Virginia, they had lunch and stopped at a few wineries before taking Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah National Forest. “I had a list of places where I wanted to propose on Skyline Drive, but there were other people around at the first few,” Brian says. But finally, he found a stop where they were the only two people there.

Fourth time's the charm?

One week to Fergie's wedding. We're assuming our invite is in the mail...

Coordinating a court house wedding. [via Always a Blogsmaid]

You can find another dress.

To submit a bridal event, email lshallcross@washingtonian.com.

When Jamie Sears was a little girl and her parents threw parties, she made sure to be a part of every stage of the planning from picking out the invitations to deciding the menu. But it wasn’t until after she graduated from college with a degree in event management that she realized she could turn her passion into a career.

Helping to plan her best friend’s wedding and then planning her own wedding inspired Sears to pursue her dream, which she did by forming Simply Chic Events in 2006. Since then, she’s planned more than 40 weddings in Washington and beyond—everywhere from the Hay-Adams and Meridian House to Bermuda and Napa Valley. “Being a wedding planner is about much more than timelines and spreadsheets—it’s about being a friend,” says Sears, whose firm offers services from “month of” to full wedding planning. “I love getting to know each couple and helping them create a day that’s truly unique and reflective of them as a couple. My goal is simple: to allow my clients to enjoy being engaged and ultimately be guests at their own wedding.”