Wedding Gown Wednesday

Oh man.

I love this dress!

It blew my mind.

TAAAAADAAAAAAA!!!

This is a Reem Acra Spring 2012 gown.

I love when a casual cut is paired with a stunning design.

The sleeves and neckline look like a sweet little baby-T, but is incrusted with rhinestones and pearls.  You know that I’m a sucker for a natural waistline that goes into an organza ball gown, but when it is sheer and has beaded mermaid silhouette underneath?

Oh my lucky stars!

OK.

I’m done drooling all over my keyboard.  It has been wiped up and I have pulled myself together.

I hope you love this as much as I do.

If you want to see more stunning gowns by Reem Acra just click here.

You won’t regret it.

Oh.

Before I forget.

Could you just die?

I’m going on vacation for the rest of the week so I will see you next week.

Hope you have as much fun as I will!

To Catch a Predator: Wedding Dress Edition

Dear sweet brides.

Sometimes we can be like those 13 year old girls on the internet.  You know the ones, they meet a “16 year old guy”  who thinks she’s pretty and she gets butterflies.  It’s all she can think about!  After a week of chatting this “boy” wants to meet her in the mall parking lot.  Alone.  She can hardly stand the excitement!

What do you tell her if you are her mom?

Do you let her go?  By herself?  To meet this guy?

OF COURSE NOT!

I want you to think of me as your mom or even better?  I’m Chris Hansen, busting in on those disgusting predators and telling them what’s up.

So, here’s what’s up:

DON’T BUY YOUR WEDDING DRESS ONLINE!!!!

I know you have tried on your dream dress and it’s a little too expensive.  You go online and look up the designer and style number.  You come across a few sites that have the dress and not only that, it is only $199!  You look at the picture to make sure it’s the right one and it is.  The same model is wearing it and everything.

You are the luckiest son of a gun on the earth.  Or are you?

Look, if it’s too good to be true, it is.

Let me tell you what is going to happen.

You order the dress and they give you a time frame of when it will ship.  You give them your credit card number and pat yourself on the back.

You wait

and wait

and wait…

It never shows or if it does, it is nothing like the dress in the photo.

The gown on the left is the original Allure gown. The one on the right was advertised as the “exact same dress” color and everything. Riiiight…

You try to get a hold of the online “company” that sold it to you and their number doesn’t work.  You email them and never hear back.

I know some of you are thinking “it’s only $199 and that’s nothing compared to what you are spending on the rest of the wedding.  Just cut your losses and buy the one at the store”.

So, you call the original store that you tried the dress on at.  You don’t have the time to order the dress you want.  You’ve waited too long.

I have helped more brides like this than I can even count.

So I’m going to leave you with a few words of wisdom:

If it sounds too good to be true, it is and your wedding dress is the most important dress you will ever buy.  Why would you ever chance it by buying it online?

And to all of you brides reading this thinking “I’m going to leave her a comment about how I ordered my gown online and it turned out perfect”.

Here is what I say to you, congrats!  Way to dodge a bullet, my friend because you are one in a million.

Don’t chance it.

And if you just can’t resist, email me the website and I will be happy to tell you if it’s legit or not.  I’m serious.  I really will!

Silence

I’m going to spend my free time today loving on my family and I hope you do too.

After hearing about what happened in Aurora Colorado, it just seems right.

My prayers are with everyone involved.

I’ll be back on Monday.

 

Wedding Gown Wednesday

My favorite day of the week! (in the blogosphere)

I bet you can’t guess what todays dress has.

Well, I bet you can.

That’s right Ladies and Gentlemen, a peplum!

This gown is designed by Haley Paige, a line by Jim Hjelm.

It is a satin fit-to-flare with a satin bow at the natural waistline and a removable laser-cut lace peplum.

If you don’t know what laser-cut is, it is exactly what is sounds like.  A laser is used to cut the fabric instead of scissors and whats so cool about it is that the laser finishes the edges while it cuts so it makes a super thin and wispy lace.

I LOOOOVE anything laser-cut.

Do you know what I also love?

Trader Joe’s Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Pretzels.

but that’s beside the point.

I also love wedding gowns that are little chameleons.  That are are twofers, for lack of a better term.  I like it when the gown has something that you can add or take away like a belt or a removable train.  I like it because you can change up your dress for different photos, the reception or the actual ceremony itself.

A few seasons ago, one of my very favorite gowns in one of my shops (gowns are like children.  I can’t have one favorite.) was the Fairy by Enzoani (stupid name, great gown).

Would you know that this gown has four distinct pieces that can be removed and added to create like, 15 different looks?

It’s true you can remove the caplet, the detachable train, the belt and the tulle/petal overlay to reveal a simple trumpet cut, lace wedding gown.

oh, the possibilities!

Anyway, if you want to look at the Hayley Paige gown and more from her collection click here.

To look at the Fairy from Enzoani go to here.

And most important of all, if you would like to check out those ridiculous pretzels click here.

They are ruining my life.  Or are they making it better?

The “Inside” Scoop

First off, this is not a photography blog.

I don’t take photos on my fancy camera (which I do own, but is currently collecting cobwebs.  Sad, I know) I take photos on my fancy iPhone.

If you just started reading my blog, Hi!

You probably are not aware that Inside Edition came to my Flagship store for a story about the ordering your wedding gown online because you “found it for like, $200!  I know, crazy huh?  It’s the exact same dress and it’s $2,000 cheaper”.

Does this statement sound fishy to anyone else?

This is a huge issue and I have worked with countless Brides who have tried to get their dream dress this way and it has been a huge nightmare!

I will delve into this issue on Friday, so stay tuned.  Until then, here are some photos from the night they came by to film.

Oh, hey camera man.

Darling Bride getting interviewed

Getting ready for the interview

And if you are thinking about buying your wedding dress online this week?  PLEASE refrain from doing it until you read my post on Friday.

You will be happy you did.

“I’m so happy that I listened to The Brides’ Maid! Without her, I wouldn’t be smiling like this on my wedding day!

Promise.

Something Blue

I promise I will talk about Inside Edition and show pictures next week, so hold on to your big girl pants.  They’re coming.

But, speaking of big girl pants…

Actually, no.

I would not classify these as anything but beautiful AND practical lingerie (this combination is hard to find).

I was invited to a launching of this next seasons intimates and body shapers by Wacoal.

They also had their other line b.tempt’d, which is honestly to die for!

Why do I bring this up, you ask?

I am asked by about 98% of my Brides what they should do for their “Something Blue”.  I used to say blue shoes, but I’ve been feeling like colored shoes are a little played out.

So, here is my answer and I don’t think it will ever change.

Blue in your lingerie.

There is nothing more elegant than a Bride in white or ivory lingerie and when you add a touch of blue, it is just perfect.

These are just a couple of new styles that I was able to see and they were PERFECT!  The small blue organza bow is super feminine and I love the fact that you are the only one that knows where the blue is… until later that night.

You can see these styles on their website by clicking here.  The styles that I showed you are called Ciao Bella and they come in more colors if you just want to pick these little treasures up for another special occasion.

Oh, and make sure to check out their b.tempt’d collection.

It was my fav!

And stay tuned for more awesome stuff by Wacoal.  They have a little something that I’m psyched about and excited to introduce to you!

Have a fun weekend!

Wedding Gown Wednesday

Hey you!

I’m back and I hope you had a great Fourth of July with Friends, Family and Fiancé’s.

Let’s just jump into this Wedding Dress Wednesday thing, shall we?

This is Chantelle by Watters.

She is feminine, soft, elegant and understated.

It is made out of a silk organza with a soft satin ribbon around the waist and a sweetheart neckline.

This style will look beautiful on almost every bride with the focus being on the smallest part of the waist where the ribbon is.

If you want to check out this gown or others by Watters click here.

I Wish I Was One of Those Cool Bloggers

who, while on vacation, still writes posts.

But, I’m not and never will be.

A vacation is a vacation people!

So, I’m going to relax and enjoy my Fourth of July and will be back next week.

Ummm… Hey, I don’t like cats either, but this is a little extreme. When did this become a Fourth of July tradition?

I hope you all have a great week!

… and please don’t shoot any cats.