I love the color gold. I have noticed that over the years I have acquired a disproportionate number of gold colored items in my closet; jackets, tops, and mainly shoes. I have a sneaking suspicion that this will find it’s way into my wedding colors:)

So how excited was I when I saw Martha Stewarthad these AMAZING gold gowns on their site today? My heart melted with these two particular dresses. Two totally different styles, but both so glamorous!

Fabulous gowns from Anne Bowen and Jenny Packham

Now, I know that not everyone wants to rock a gold dress. However, that shouldn’t mean that you can’t find a way to fit it into your look. I  love this clutch was on Net A Porter (by Anya Hindmarch).
A bag not enough of a statement piece for you? I am OBSESSED with these rough and stunning “Smoke and Mirror” crystal and gold earrings are from Shop Bop (Erickson Beamon).
Hope these make their way into your wedding:)

When I got married, the truth is, I had doubts about everything… except for how I wanted to look at the wedding and that I wanted to wear red soles down the aisle.  Before I even knew what dress I was going to wear, I was sitting at Christian Laboutin trying on a nude patent peep toe, which I was convinced was the appropriate shoe to wear with any gown that would find me.  They were indeed divine on the wedding day…until about an hour into photographs when I would rather have been hobbled than to have worn those shoes for another 5 minutes.  It wasn’t a matter of heel height, as I am a master of the 5″ heel AND these were a mere 2.5, they were simply the prettiest, well intentioned, but poor performance shoe that I’d ever owned.  The memories of their discomfort prevented me from ever trying to wear them again….

So, for years since, I’ve advised our clients two pieces of advice I’d wished I’d had:  Have a fabulous wedding to celebrate an amazing marriage AND only buy comfortable shoes.  Because of my own personal experience with painful wedding footwear, I always keep my ears to the ground of which shoe-makers stay on our brides feet and which end up in photos and then kicked to the side immediately afterward.  Hands down, time and again, I’ve been told Aruna Seth is the mistress of bridal footwear.

Committed not only to beauty, but to hand-crafted comfort, Aruna Seth’s clients (both bridal and celebrity) claim that her shoes can be worn for hours… and they of course look gorgeous doing so.  London based Aruna Seth is the daughter of a shoe designer, and was immediately committed to having her footwear hand crafted in Northern Italy with what she calls “cashmere interiors”…. The website talks of bringing women “the luxury of comfort”, which, ironically, in the luxury shoe market is sadly a rarity. From satin to this rather fabulous nude patent with butterfuly detail to these ABSOLUTELY covetable grey suede heels, her designs are simply delicious…. Be it for the bride, the MOB or… possibly the wedding planner?? :-)

One could say that I have a passion for shoes… my man-friend teases me that I have shoes hidden in every crevice of the apartment… but my true passion is a sexy heel that can be worn for hours… From the sounds of it, Aruna Seth is my holy grail of shoes.  Now, I just have to put a pair to the test!  If any of you brides out there have worn Aruna Seth, I’d LOVE to hear your experiences. For those of you looking to test drive a pair, they are retailed online and here in NY at Gabriella and Kleinfeld.

Whew! What a week last week was around here. In between preparations for our New Year’s Eve wedding and our other clients, we had our fabulous celebration with Newlywish for the launch of our collection of WWRD tabletop AND we were busy, busy busy planning an engagement party for Mayra…equipped with friends coming from near and far to join in the celebration.

Whenever it gets hectic around here, it’s always great to have a moment where you stop and remember that the the core of the business is really celebrating love: be in through a party OR at City Hall. I ran into our old friend Jeremiah on the train last week and in the usual chit chat of “how are things” he mentioned he and his honey had gotten married the week before in a semi-spontaneous celebration at City Hall. He showed me the photos and I just melted. Aside from being a stylish, beautiful couple (they are both in entertainment), these photos by Matthew Furman were so warm and gorgeous, they really captured the excitement of the act of getting married. They took my breath away and, with Jeremiah and MaameYaa’s permission, decided to share them with you.

You’ve read about the trends of Bridal Market EVERYWHERE by now… So I could have told you the same story as you might see elsewhere (Lace! Black at Vera Wang! Sleeves! Sashes!), but, who has the time when other people did such a good job?  Besides, nothing gives me more satisfaction than finding someone awesome before they (and their price tags) blow up! So, in that spirit, Mayra and I pounded the pavement during market (and drank, like, a million and one mimosas) to find you some of the vendors whose things you DID NOT see.  Not trends so much as just pretty cool stuff that we think you should see too.

First up, a new, small line called Fancy New York.  They have several lines under the Fancy label, each inspired by a different time period.  One of the things I loved about them were their crochet lace gowns which have a 30′s feel… but almost a 1970′s silhouette.  I love this off the shoulder number…. and it looked fantastic on their model.  Terrific for a small or casual wedding.  For those looking for more glamour, their retro designs nodding to the
“New Look” of the 40′s and 50′s are fantastic.. because they aren’t simply “cute”, they are elegant (and a little bit modest)

Aria bridal was a little bit hit or miss with their line, but when they HIT, they REALLY hit! How much do I just love this soft, sweet, but sophisticated sleeved number?  There were SO many sleeves on the runways this season, but they tended to be lace OR simply too heavy.  This had modestly without bringing age to the table… I just loved it.

For all you Matthew Williamson fans, you’ll be pleased that his bridal collection is coming to the United States. One trend that I saw and loved (besides modest sleeves) were adorable shorties. If I ever took the plunge again, I’d consider heading to the preacher man in this sequined shortie with sleeves, or maybe this shortie with feathers for something more glamorous?


And, naturally, every bride needs accessories… I think that the Royal Wedding may have FINALLY prepared us for Fascinators on this side of the pond. If that’s true then Vivien Sheriff will be the GO TO designer for all things Fascinating…She also absolutely NAILED the Boardwalk Empire-era Veil!

What an awesome time to be a bride! The fashion world is your oyster right now ladies! Enjoy!

My man-friend (he’s too old to be a boyfriend.. Carrie Bradshaw had a point) has the very adorable habit of pointing out blog-worthy topics to me whenever he spots them. This week he drew my attention to the trials of Ricki Lake who is meant to be planning her wedding but has been unable to shop for a wedding dress because she is losing weight so rapidly on DWTS that she’s afraid to go in and buy something now.

Lucky for Ricki she is a recognizable C to D list celebrity who stole our hearts in Hairspray and scandalized us on her 90′s talk show…(go Ricki! Go Ricki!… I actually cut school to go to a studio audience taping.)  Anyway, with her fame,  she can AFFORD to wait for her weight as I’m sure nearly any salon or designer in LA will do what’s needed to be done to “Make Her Wedding Dress Happen” in whatever time frame is needed.

But what about the regular bride who KNOWS in her soul that she is going to be losing a lot of weight before her wedding?  Everyone knows the ideal time to shop for a gown is 6 months in advance, but that could mean as much as 30-40 lbs of weight loss between time of selection and ordering and the actual wedding day. Here are a few tips:

1.  Try and wait until you’ve started your progress to start shopping.  The thing is, at most dress salons they will try and YES you to death (say, “Of course, most brides lose weight.” ) But then order your dress in whatever size you are in at the time… and it’s not to be difficult, it’s just that MANY, many brides say that they are going to lose a lot of weight and then they don’t and sometimes dresses ordered smaller actually don’t fit.  SO, if you can walk in and say “I’ve lost 10 lbs in the last two months and expect to go down a bit more.”, well, you are probably more likely to be taken seriously by your consultant.

2. Shop for your SHAPE not your size.  One of the most infuriating things to witness when shopping with clients (and I can tell you I’ve seen this happen at even the most “high end” salons) is when a consultant sees a client who may be more CURVY and try and shove them into a ballgown or a modified A-line… and that is NOT what the bride wants.  If you are a curvy girl and want to show curves, DO NOT let them tell you that a certain cut is more flattering to your size… because it simply may not be.  An hourglass is an hourglass, no matter if you wear a sample size or a plus size, so shop for a silhouette that suits your figure, not what they tell you your “size” should be wearing. Your shape will be your shape if you lose 0lbs or 15 or 20 lbs…

3.  Avoid gowns with intricate patterns and beading that would be difficult to tailor.   Even if your weight loss goals for the wedding are ambitious, chances are your gown will at most be ordered only one or two sizes down from where you initially were when you were fitted for the dress… considering that they take months to arrive.  SO, if you have been very successful at losing weight and STILL need to take the dress in, let’s say an entire size, well, this may be really hard to do with gowns with an intricate pattern that matches at the seams, or a gown cut on the bias in a particular way… So, when shopping ask your consultant… “If I lost more weight than we expected, how hard would it be to take this gown in… say a full size?”  they will likely give you an honest answer.

4.  Consider Custom. If your budget allows, or you know a fabulous dressmaker, consider custom.  The process of the Muslin fittings will buy you a lot of time and allow for major alterations to have on the muslin (which later becomes the pattern for your exact dress).  We have a client who has lost MAJOR weight since we started the process of working on her gown, and when her muslin came in they were able to totally alter the size without too much muss or fuss.  It’s not a process for everyone, but it can in some cases, make things easier.

Best wishes to Ricki and happy shopping to all of you other brides out there!