Real Weddings: Lindsey & Bryan

Today's real wedding photos are set high up in the Rocky Mountains! It immediately made me think of the enchanted forest from all the recent Snow White movie trailers. Park City, Utah is primarily known as a ski town, but wow, is it gorgeous in the summer!

Their wedding took place at the Red Pine Lodge at Canyons Ski Resort. They were at 8,500 foot elevation at the lodge which is accessed by gondola. The ceremony was on the bridge with a creek running below.

Lindsey's bridesmaids wore After Six Style 6609 in Turquoise. The sweetheart shirred bodice continues to be a popular choice and adds to the romantic outdoor setting. The bold colorful bouquets really pop against the soft dress color.

In Lindsey's words: "Thank you so much, my bridesmaids loved the dresses, they were all very happy with how comfortable they were. One of them was even several months pregnant during the wedding and even she was comfortable! The ease of ordering online through your shop was right up our alley, not to mention you offered the best prices I could find! Also, each of my bridesmaids lived in a different state from each other and even myself, so you were the best to deal with and that made the whole process so much easier!"

Lindsey chose to do a lot of DIY details, with the help of family of course! Instead of traditional escort cards, she made several window frames to look like old distressed window panes and interspersed with photos of the bride and groom and the table guest name list. It hung in the cocktail hour tent. 

For wedding favors, she packed up S'mores ingredients for the fire pits for guests to roast marshmallows under the stars! Love this idea!

Showing their love for the outdoors, Lindsey's dad cut logs to display table names and for the ring bearer to walk down the aisle with the bride and groom names. Lindsey hand painted each one, including a Mr. and Mrs. display for their own table!

As far as funny memories, Bryan and Lindsey had no idea at the time, but they were tickled later to see their youngest flower girl picking up flower petals that she had thrown down the isle and putting them back into her basket during the ceremony. 

Photographer: Mitch Burt & Heidi Ann, www.ZumaPhoto.com

Congrats Lindsey and Bryan. May the love and joy in your marriage continue to grow as vast as the great outdoors!

Real Weddings Round Up: Blue and Yellow

As promised, today's post is devoted to blue and yellow themed weddings. Combined or on their own, both colors are bold and cheerful!

 First off, Nicole & Dustin's Colorado wedding at Promenade Terrace Waterfalls. Nicole was proud that her wedding on a budget turned out so well and they got many compliments on their blue and yellow color scheme. And most importantly for us, "The dresses really looked beautiful on all my bridesmaids!" "The dresses really looked beautiful on all my bridesmaids!" The girls wore Alfred Sung Style D498 and D499 in Electric Blue.

How cute are these yellow ribbon tie shoes and daisy bouquets? 

 Photographer: Yellow Paddle Photography Mark Culbertson

Next up, Kathryn's bridal party also wearing Alfred Sung Style D498, but in another shade of blue, Caspian!

Love this picturesque shot in a fairytale garden setting. 

And back to more yellow! Haley's bridal party is outfitted in a perennial favorite, sunny yellow dresses with gray suits. The girls are wearing Dessy Collection Style 2808 in Sunflower.

The vintage car with the gritty cityscape was a nice contrast to the grassy fields. 

Photographer: Sara Tafoya

Thanks to all of our lovely brides for graciously sharing your photos and letting us have a glimpse of your special day. Best wishes for a bright and joyful marriage!

Introducing Watters, Wtoo and Joanna August!

Taking great care to expand our dress collection with styles we feel that the modern and stylish woman is looking for, we have just launched three new designer lines to our site: Watters, Wtoo and Joanna August! We are very excited for these partnerships which bring the latest trends as well as timeless classics.

The Watters line has many upscale cocktail and formal styles that push the envelope on bridesmaid fashion and create unique and memorable looks for your bridal party. 

Watters has two beautiful silk fabrics: light and airy silk cotton voile that comes in solids and prints, and refined dupioni silk. The dupioni silk dresses are made right here in the U.S. and can ship in as little as 5-6 weeks with their super rush production!



Wtoo, Watters' budget-friendly sister line, is filled with flirty frocks and voluminous ballgowns using luminescent taffeta, crinkle chiffon, and satin-faced ribbon.

Last but certainly not least, Joanna August's new Ceremony line takes re-wearability in bridesmaid dresses to a whole new level. In fact, we don't think there is any difference between these lovelies and the styles you see in high-end fashion boutiques! 

Your bridesmaids will be delighted by the soft chiffon fabric and the many options, including true wrap dresses and flutter sleeves.

Select styles also come in ivory and black lace, the perfect apparel for a vintage-themed wedding. 

Swatches are now available to order in all of these fabrics. If you are looking for a particular dress from Watters or Wtoo that we don't have featured, just contact us with the style number and we can give you more information. So don't waste another minute. Get to shopping!

Trend Spotting: Bridal Fashion Week

This week was New York's Bridal Fashion Week, the time to ooh and ahh over gorgeous dresses by all the top bridal designers. Although a lot of styles built on previous trends such as visually 3D popping textured skirts and sparkly belts, we noticed a few shifts in style. Time will tell if the brides like these new trends too!



1. Sheer Lace

Lace stays popular for all the right reasons. It's vintage inspired, feminine, and classic. But a rampant trend was sheer lace covering the shoulders, as shown by Lela Rose and Amsale. With more girls preferring to opt away from strapless, this is a great middle ground to feel covered but still show some skin.



The look is being incorporated into our Bridesmaid lines as well. Here's a sneak peek of one of our Dessy Fall 2012 dresses!



2. One-Shoulder Bridal Gowns

We've seen one-shoulder bridesmaid dresses as a popular choice for quite some time, and now bridal gowns are catching up to the trend! I love the fresh and modern feel from these Watters and Amsale gowns.



3. Bold Accessories

Stopping by Ansonia's display, my eye was immediately drawn to this gorgeous necklace. It's definitely not typical bridal jewelry, but if you're a bride looking to make a statement, this would be perfect!

These headbands carry the bold look through both vintage and contemporary styles.



So which trend do you think will catch on? Comment below or vote on our Facebook poll! Two lucky winners by random drawing will score a Bridal Market giveaway of cosmetics and the latest issues of Brides and Martha Stewart Weddings!

Real Weddings: Lauren & Brian

We've been hit with beautiful warm weather here in the Northeast, so we're in the mood to share a destination summer wedding! Today's real wedding photos are from Lauren and Brian who were married last July on Camano Island in Washington State. A private residence was booked for the reception. Lauren says:

"It was a true DIY wedding and I had so much help from my friends and family. We would get together and have craft parties to make the invitations, decorations, marshmallows for the smore bar, place settings, labels, flower balls, bouquets, etc...it was so fun!"

The bridesmaids wore Oyster chiffon in Dessy Style 2802. The color gray is still a wardrobe staple that apparently is not going out of style anytime soon!

Lauren's brothers were intimately involved with the wedding. One was the officiant and the other played the acoustic guitar and ukulele during the ceremony. They also gave the bride and groom a special wedding gift.

The ukulele that Ryan had played was actually handmade for us by a builder in Los Angeles. He even had the inside inscribed to Brian and I. It was such a touching and thoughtful gift and something we will cherish forever.

A common thread between brides seems to be the time they get to spend with their grooms.

"The whole day was amazing and there were so many moments that I could categorize as my favorite; however, the best was back in the hotel room that night. It was almost 2:30 in the morning and B and I ordered room service (seeing as we had ate barely anything during the wedding)...we sat and talked about all of our favorite moments of the day. To be able to
re-live each of our favorite moments over grilled cheese was priceless!"

Congrats Lauren and Brian! May you have many touching moments in your future!

Photographer: Clane Gessel of Clane Gessel Photography

Real Weddings: Joan & Jared

Emerald green and bright orange hues pop in today's real wedding photos from Joan & Jared, married last August in Illinois at the Unitarian Church of Evanston. When we asked Joan about her favorite part of wedding planning, she recalled the family contributions that made her day special.

"Our favorite part was finding ways for family and friends to add their personal touches to the wedding, like my dad growing dahlias to add to the bouquets and centerpieces and Jared's mom hand drawing and painting table letter illustrations for the dinner tables. We wanted the whole day to feel very personal and meaningful and it did".

The bridesmaids wore Alfred Sung styles D440, D441 and D462 in Pine Green dupioni fabric. Jewel tones are flattering on every skin tone!

All weddings have some small hiccups that make the day more memorable.

"Just as my parents and I were about to enter the church sanctuary and walk down the aisle, my dad's cell phone went off, and he answered it! Apparently an uncle of mine had gotten lost going to the church. I almost couldn't stop laughing. It was the perfect bit of levity at the exact right moment. (And my uncle did eventually find his way to the church.)"

Joan's favorite moment was right after the ceremony when she and Jared exited and had a brief moment alone.

We held each other for a minute or two just feeling a sense of relief, accomplishment, and ease. We had put a lot of work into planning our wedding, and it felt so great to be married!"

Congrats Joan and Jared! We hope that you are kicking back and enjoying a blissful marriage together.

Photographer: Anna Bonick, Hullabaloo Photo