Entries Tagged 'Wedding Dresses' ↓

Say what?  That’s right…after wearing those fancy heels during your wedding ceremony, the formal pictures, etc.  it’s time to relax and have fun.  So here’s a tip.  Have a pair of fashionable ballet bridal shoes that kind of match your wedding dress so you can dance and mingle without worrying about blisters, falling, or generally being uncomfortable.  So after you make your entrance at the reception, kick off those uncomfortable but beautiful shoes and throw on some very comfortable and beautiful bridal ballet shoes!

These ballet bridal shoes are from Bellissima Bridal Shoes.  Just click on the picture to find out more about them.

Hi everyone! Sorry for not posting much this week but we’ve been out horse shopping! I finally found my new horse. We go to pick it up next week! So, since I haven’t been posting too much, I’m not going to do a Top-5 this week but pass on some good bridal gown info.

Are you familiar with Jenny Lee bridal gowns? Jenny Lee’s gowns are definitely top of the line, made with imported fabrics from Italy and France. Her wedding dresses are simple and elegant.

Jenny Lee recently announced that they will be introducing her new Fall 2008 collection called JL Couture on April 12th.
Here’s what Jenny had to say about JL Couture:

“I am proud to introduce my new line, JL Couture, it offers fashion forward women the ability to create their own look while not feeling like a traditional bride.” says Jenny. “Each gown enhances a woman’s body and unique beauty. This bride is confident and has her own point of view about how she wants to look on her wedding day.”

They actually sound intriguing. JL Couture gowns are supposed to provide a formal look for the ceremony and a “red carpet” look for the reception by offering mix and match pieces, eliminating the need to buy two dresses. Plus they claim you’ll be able to utilize the pieces again after the wedding!

I tried to get some pictures but wasn’t able to. I guess we’ll have to wait until April 12th.

Jenny Lee dresses range between $3,500 - $8,000.

The dresses shown above are from the Jenny Lee Spring 2008 Collection.

Here’s something different and something you may not have seen…maternity wedding dresses! There are a few maternity clothes designers that include wedding dresses in their lines, here’s a few.  I came across an interesting press release about maternity wedding dresses the other day.  Here’s a sampling of some of these maternity wedding dresses, checkout Destination Maternity for more.

Well almost.  Before you head out to the store to sort through hundreds of dresses it’s probably a good idea to start sifting through some styles to eliminate the ones you just don’t like and start ranking the styles that you do.  Obviously the most common way of doing this is sorting through a bunch of wedding magazines or if you want to use the internet you can check out my post “Just Wedding Gowns” to get links to all the top designers. 

Now that you narrowed down your selection it’s time to have a little fun.  Not sure how useful this is, I’d like to get your feedback.  Checkout the iVillage Build your Dream Dress website.  You enter your body type, then design your dress to your liking and theoretically you can get an idea of how you would look in your dress.  It might help you trim your list down a little more before you go shopping.    Give it a shot and let us know if you found it useful, at the minimum it might keep you occupied at work for about 20 minutes. 

Here’s an interesting trend in wedding dresses.  Evidently it’s the reinvention of a trend from the 1950’s!  I found an interesting post over at Gownella, they have more pictures over there.

They look pretty cute, but definitely not traditional.  You probably need to have some nice legs and a nice figure to go with them.  This cute dress is from Carmela Sutera.

What do you think of the short wedding dress?  Is it for you?

Your bridesmaids should be one of your best assets during your wedding planning. They are some of the most important ladies in your life and hopefully are there to help reduce your stress load during the planning process.

So how can you show your appreciation? By ensuring that the bridesmaid dresses they are required to buy are classy and can be worn again and again. Another thing I keep harping on is allowing your bridesmaids to choose their own dress style to fit their body type and tastes within the overall boundaries that you set.

I’ve provided options in past posts, you can find them in the wedding dress category link on the right side of this page. Now here’s another beautiful yet, not very expensive option.

I’m a big Ann Taylor fan, when I go by an Ann Taylor store in the mall it’s like a black hole sucking me in! I especially like the fact that they also have a great petites section! Anyway, it goes without saying that I love Ann Taylor’s Celebration bridesmaid dress line! Ann Taylor Celebration dresses seem to be becoming very popular these days. I’ve seen them on several blogs and they seemed to be a popular choice on some Weddingbee posts.

Today, while looking at the Ann Taylor website I found that there’s quite the sale going on selected styles! Some styles of dresses are over 50% off! They are also running The Ultimate Honeymoon Giveaway too.

You will be able to find dresses in matching colors in different styles if you want to let your bridesmaids choose their style. If you look around the site a little more you’ll even find matching bowties for the groomsmen.

Anyone using Ann Taylor Celebrations in their wedding? What brand of bridesmaid dresses are you using?

Conde Nast came out with some interesting statistics last week about the big part bridesmaids play in the wedding industry.  Bridesmaids are obviously an essential part of your wedding, assuming they play their part.  There are a lot of things the bride has to worry about during the months of planning and especially on the wedding day itself!  Hopefully your bridesmaids will be helping you get through the process without losing your mind!  That being said remember you are also asking a lot of your bridesmaids in terms of money to buy a new dress that they may never wear again or even like.  So how can you make sure you keep your bridesmaids happy?
 
- Let them pick their own dress style.  If you planned on doing this you are in the minority (see below).  Don’t worry you can keep control of your look and theme by specifying the color.  But, your bridesmaids will be at least able to pick a style that goes with their body type and maybe get one they will wear again!   Check out these beautiful examples above from Jenny Yoo.

- Make sure you get them a nice, personal gift as a token of your appreciation.  Notice I said personal.  I’m a big fan of getting both the groomsman and the bridesmaids a gift that is unique to their likes and personality.  It really shows that your care.

- Any other ideas out there?

Here are the interesting statistics from the Conde Nast’s press release:

 

• Brides have an average of 5 bridesmaids in their wedding.

• Based on 2.2 million weddings per year, there are approximately 11 million bridesmaids each year.

• There are 44,230 weddings every weekend, 23 million bridesmaids and groomsmen, and almost 380 million wedding guests.

• 64% of brides have their bridesmaids dress identically.

• Bridesmaid’s dresses cost an average of $691 total, figuring to be $138 each with the average of 5 attendants.

The editor in chief, Theresa DiMasi, of Brides.com has come out with her top 5 trends in bridal fashion last week. Not only that, Brides.com has made available 20 videos of the latest bridal runway looks from the top bridal gown designers. These videos came from NYC’s Bridal Market, Fall 2008!
Here are the Brides.com Top 5 Trends in Bridal Fashion!

1. A Lighter Touch — lots of free-flowing, ethereal fabrics including
  chiffon and organza with less embellishment, beading or other
  adornments as in season’s past.

2. Color, Color, Color! — beyond the traditional white dress, color is
  not just seen in bursts but in wonderful patterns, rich jewel tones
  or new shades of pastels.

3. Jackets/Sleeves — brides who want options beyond the traditional
strapless gown are thinking more fashion-forward with gowns that
offer more coverage.

4. Emphasis of the Waist — honoring the female form, there were lots of  large flower corsages positioned right at the hip to draw attention
 to an hourglass figure.

5. New Lengths in Gowns — tea length to above-the-knee, there was a
larger variety in gown lengths than ever before.

And here’s one of the videos available from Brides.com.

Checkout http://www.brides.com/video for more!

Rhonda

Can’t afford a Monique Lhuillier or a Vera Wang dress but still want to look good?  Checkout these beautiful wedding gowns and check out the great prices!

Here’s a couple from Target designed by Isaac Mizrahi.  The one on the left is the Retro currently at $129.99 and the strapless is currently $89.99.

Here’s a couple from JCPenney.  I saw the strapless one is currently on sale for $69! Marked down from $200.  The other one is a 2-piece wedding dress and it comes with a shawl.  Priced at $119.99 marked down from $150.

Even J.Crew has wedding dresses,  the Sophia (left) is currently priced at $225 on sale, regular price $295.  The strapless Sabine is currently priced at $695.

And a little more expensive is the Elizabeth from Ann Taylor, currently priced at $600.