Wedding Dress Trends for 2012, part 2 – New York Bridal Show

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And to round out the blog posts about the New York Bridal Show, here is part 2 of the Kelinfeld Bridal Fashion Show! :)

Vintage Lace Wedding Dress

Yet another Pnina Tornai creation that doesn’t disappoint! This beautiful Chantilly lace gown features Pnina’s signature illusion bodice and a tiered skirt. Price: $11,500

Feather Detail Wedding Gown Kleinfeld

Another trend for 2012 is feathers. This Sophia Moncelli for Kleinfeld gown features ostrich feathers on a trumpeted skirt. Price: $5,300

Silk Charmuse Bridal Gown

Here’s another vintage bridal gown with a Valentino-like feel. This silk charmeuse tank dress with a low back is by Pnina Tornai and features rhinestone accents on the waist. Price: $10,000

Satin trumpet wedding dress

This champagne colored Judd Waddell gown features a trumpet skirt with a beautiful lace bodice and rhinestone belt. Price: $3,300

Adding Color to your Wedding Dress

A great way to incorporate your wedding colors into your attire is to add a colorful sash. This Edgaro Bonilla wedding dress features a crumb-catcher bodice and is accented with a dark teal ribbon. (I especially love the shape of this dress without the ribbon!) Price: $4,200

Raw Edge Skirt Wedding Gown

In 2012, look for volumized and structured skirts, like this Rivini dress’ raw edge skirt detail dress.

Rosette Wedding Gown

I absolutely love this wedding dress by Dennis Basso, featuring hand-embroidered florets. Price: $4,800

Carol Hannah Bridal Gown

This modern strapless sheath dress by Carol Hannah features raw edge seams. Price: $2,800

Alita Graham ballgown

When people think “wedding dress”, they typically envision a white ballgown. This fun, flirty organza ballgown by Alita Graham is the quintessential wedding dress. Price: $2,500

Bridal Suit Lesbian Wedding Outfit

I must say that I was so happy to see this come down the runway! This beautiful women’s tuxedo by Douglas Hannant features a plunging neckline and is fabulous for more mature brides, Lesbian brides, or brides who just aren’t fond of dresses!

Bling Wedding Gown

If you’re a girl who loves her bling, then you’ll love this dress! This Kleinfeld mermaid-style gown features an embroidered dropped waist and a star burst rhinestone pattern. Price: $4,200

Pink Blush Mermaid Wedding Dress

It’s a little hard to tell from the photo, but this gorgeous Dennis Basso mermaid gown is a blush pink color, which is a lovely alternative to white or ivory and still keeps that romantic feel. Price: $2,800

Kleinfeld Pnina Corset Gown

This gown is certainly for the more daring bride and probably wouldn’t be church-approved. ;) This Pnina Tornai gown features an ivory beaded illusion bodice. Price: $11,500

Kleinfeld Expensive Wedding Dress

Yet another Pnina Tornai gown. This was the show-stopper! The dress is called “Mother of Perla” and is a lace ballgown with a tiered skirt. Price: $32,500

 

So, let’s recap the dress trends for 2012:

  • Lace is making a HUGE comeback (thanks to Kate Middleton, I’m sure!)
  • Bling is here to stay!
  • Skirts with volume, texture and structure rule the runway.
  • Blush Pink is the new white.
  • Stapless has some stiff competition – look for more dresses with straps and sleeves.

Wedding Dress Trends for 2012, part 1 – New York Bridal Show

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Ok. Here it is. The post that I know you have ALL been waiting for…the Kleinfeld Fashion Show! :)

I noticed a lot of trends for 2012, but I’ll keep them short and sweet:

Lace                    Volume                       Bling                 &                     Blush

Lace Bridal Gown

This Judd Wadell gown is made of ivory lace and features a sweetheart neckline and an ivory satin belt. Price: $4,700

 

Kenneth Pool Bridal Gown

I love the ruched bodice on this classic ball gown by Kenneth Pool for Amsale. Price: $5,600

 

Peter Langer Mermaid Wedding Gown

I absolutely adore the illusion neckline and lace appliques of this Peter Langer dress. Price: $7,300

 

Kleinfeld Organza Ball Gown Wedding

Here is another classic ball gown, but in organza with some beautiful organza flowers to match. Price: $2,200

 

Strapless Wedding Gown

Check out the pick up skirt on this dress!! This is a taffeta strapless dropped waist a-line gown by Ian Stuart. Price: $6,200

 

Tornai Ruffle Ball Gown Wedding Dress

If you’re looking for a dress with volume, look no further! This Pnina Tornai silk ball gown features floral details on the back. Price: $15,000

 

Vintage Wedding Dress

Personally, I found this dress to be reminiscent of Kate Moss’ Galliano dress that she wore on her wedding. This dress is a chiffon sheath gown with beading and embroidery and is made by Matthew Williamson. Price: $4,000

 

Claire Pettibone Lace Bridal Gown

This Claire Pettibone dress features gold and silver vintage lace and an empire waist. Price: $3,500

 

Halter Top Wedding Dress

This whimsical Reem Acra dress features a tulle v-neck halter with embroidered flowers. Price: $5,900

 

Greek Inspired Wedding Dress

I love the “Grecian Goddess” look, so I was naturally drawn to this Matthew Williamson dress as well. This is a spaghetti strap empire waist sheath gown accented with a satin belt. Price: $5,500

 

Chiffon Cocktail Bridal Gown

How awesome would this dress be for a destination or casual wedding or as a reception dress? This Badgley Mischka strapless chiffon cocktail gown also features a shredded chiffon skirt. Price: $2,900

 

Kleinfeld Say Yes to the Dress

If you watch TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress”, then you’re probably already familiar with Kleinfeld designer Pnina Tornai and her signature illusion corsets. This ivory strapless gown features handkerchief cut lace and is certainly for the bride who wants to make a statement! Price: $12,600

 

Well, that’s all for Part 1! Part 2 of the Kleinfeld Fashion Show to come next week! ;)

 

Wedding Trends for 2012 – New York Bridal Show

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Welcome to Part 2 of our post from the New York Wedding Party bridal show.

This post is all about the upcoming trends that you can expect to see in Edmonton, oh, a couple of years from now! ;) (You know how slow on the pick-up Canadians are sometimes).

1) Unconventional Tables:

McQueen tablescape plaid table

{ Nancy Swiezy Events & Flowers }

When it comes to tables and reception decor, be on the look out for couture influences. This Alexander McQueen-esque table is a perfect example! Non-traditional elements and found objects, such as the skull candle, could replace the traditional floral centerpiece. Alternating your tables while still staying within your theme is not only cutting-edge, but a great conversation piece and a memorable design element to your wedding.

 2) Healthier Options

 veggie buffet vegetable bar

{ Marcia Selden Catering }

Candy Buffets and Dessert Tables (or Sweet Tables) are still really popular at weddings and events. But if you’re looking for a different take on a current trend (or you just don’t have a sweet tooth), check out this posh Veggie Buffet. That’s right! Those are fabulous containers filled with an assortment of veggies and dips. Don’t worry about filling all the containers with edible delights, use sugars, beans, whole and un-peeled vegetables and legumes as filler in the bottom of deeper containers and add your sliced veggies on top.

 3) Fashionable Functionality

twist bridesmaid dress

{ Twobirds Bridesmaids }

If you ever tried to squeeze all your girlfriends into the same style of dress, then you understand that it doesn’t always work. Women come in all different sizes and shapes and the bridesmaid dress that you choose may not work on everyone. Introducing the convertible bridesmaid dress! This dress can be worn 15 different ways AND they’re available in Canada as well!

3) The Return of the Cake

 couture designer vogue cake

{ Fashion Design cake by Heather Barranco Dreamcakes }

Cupcakes (as much as it pains me to admit it), have had a good run. The Wedding Cake is back on top, but it’s anything but traditional! The new trend in cakes is two-fold: fashionable couture or themed. Look for cakes with design elements similar to a dress from your favourite designer: rosettes, rouching, texture, bling, etc. kimono wedding cake

{ Mikado inspired cake by Heather Barranco Dreamcakes }

Also look for artistic elements such as “watercoloring” or ombre color techniques.

modern orange yellow wedding cake

 { Mosaic cake by Ron Ben-Israel }

As for themed cakes, these aren’t just for groom’s cakes anymore. Check out these Alice in Wonderland and Lovebird themed wedding cakes:

wonderland wedding cake

{ Alice in Wonderland cake by Heather Barranco Dreamcakes }

lovebird wedding cake

{ Love Birds in Birdcage cake by Heather Barranco Dreamcakes }

By far, the most eye-catching cakes that I have ever seen belonged to Creme Delicious. These Henna-inspired cakes and mini cakes are just so colorful and vibrant that I was instantly drawn to them!

colorful indian wedding cake edmonton wedding planner

I was also fortunate enough to win one of these beauties!

indian wedding cake sari henna

Be sure to stay tuned for Part 3 of our New York Bridal Show series…the dresses!

 

The Wedding Party – New York Bridal Show

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New York Bridal Wedding Show

Last week I flew to New York City for The Wedding Party Bridal Show, put on by The Wedding Library along with Martha Stewart Weddings. I met up with a few of my colleagues from the Wedding Planners Institute of Canada and we hit up the bridal show V.I.P. style!

Wedding Show VIP Passes{our gold VIP wristbands!}

The event was held at the gorgeous New York Palace hotel in Manhattan. The atmosphere and grandeur of the foyer totally put you in the wedding spirit!

Elegant Hotel Lobby Palace

While waiting in line to register (with almost 600 other attendees!), we were treated to some classical music from a string trio…and of course I had to grab a photo of myself with my registration bag!

Wedding Sting Trio

Edmonton Wedding Planner Sweet Bliss Weddings

When the time arrived for the Bridal Show to start, the doors opened to the grand ballroom where we were to take our seats for a presentation by Darcy Miller, editorial director of Martha Stewart Weddings and a Q & A by the celebrity panel. Once inside the ballroom, we were treated to another musical performance.  This time it was an amazing “revivalist jazz” band called Carte Blanche, complete in period costume. (Personally, I LOVED them! I felt like I was an a 1920s Paris speak-easy!)

vintage jazz french band

amsale mindy weiss sylvia weinstock amsale aberra peter callahan matthew robbins

The celebrity panel consisted of: (from left to right) Darcy Miller (editorial director for Martha Stewart Weddings), Amsale Aberra (Bridal Fashion Designer),  Mindy Weiss (Celebrity Wedding and Event Planner), Matthew Robbins (Event Designer), Peter Callahan (Celebrity Event Caterer), and Sylvia Weinstock (Celebrity Cake Designer).

After the Q & A, we were able to roam around the exhibitor halls. While wandering around, I was able to snap some photos of some of the celebrity vendors, close-up:

Martha Stewart Weddings Editor{Editorial Director of Martha Stewart Weddings, Darcy Miller}

celebrity cake designer{Celebrity Cake Designer, Ron Ben-Israel}

Celebrity Cake Designer{Celebrity Cake Designer & Wedding Cake Guru, Sylvia Weinstock}

Stay tuned for next week’s post: Up and coming wedding trends from New York!bridal show attendees


Bridal Show Tips + Tricks

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Edmonton has 3 main bridal shows every year: The Edmonton Bridal Fair, Bridal Fantasy and Bridal Expo. Seeing as there are 2 bridal shows this month, I have been getting a lot of questions about what to expect at a bridal show and (more importantly), how the experts handle them.

Bridal Fair Wedding Show Booths

{ epicevents.ca }

So, I decided to do a little blog post to help you out!

  • Bring Comfortable Shoes

I can’t help but snicker at the girls I see at the bridal shows in their 4 inch, thigh-high boots, walking around with this look of sheer pain on their faces. (Sorry!) A bridal show is not a runway – unless you’re one of the models actually hired for the fashion show. There is a lot of walking and an awful lot of standing! Your best bet is to wear comfortable shoes with little to no heel – something that you know you could stand in for 2 hours and not be too bothered by.

  • Leave Your Entourage At Home

Bridal shows can be crazy and very crowded. There is no need to bring your entire wedding party or all of your bridesmaids with you. The main purpose of a bridal show is to acquaint yourself with vendors and their services, and to get design ideas for your wedding. If you have 6 people in your entourage, that’s a LOT of opinions! Plus it is very easy to lose track of people. I would recommend bringing no more than 2 people along with you.  If your fiancé is not that interested in the planning process, then leave them at home. (Most bridal shows do have a sort of “Man Den”, but really, I equate it to the ball room at Ikea –you know what I’m talking about. Believe me, your man would much rather be at home than waiting 2 hours for you in a fenced off area with other men!)

  • Bring Water and Snacks

As I mentioned before, bridal shows can be very crowded places with thousands of people in the hall at any given time. This means that line ups for the concession stands are long and prices for food and beverage items are high. There is also not a lot of variety. Where possible, bring a bottle of water for each person and bring some granola bars or other snack items to last you through the day.

  • Come Prepared to do Business

Vendors pay to exhibit at bridal shows in order to get new business. And fortunately for you, you are there to HIRE vendors! :) Make sure to bring a notebook and pen with you as well as your calendar so that you can make appointments with vendors that you are interested in. If you are unable to speak to the vendor directly, grab their business card and contact them at a later date.  Try to only take business cards from vendors that you are interested in. (i.e.: If you are looking for a florist, don’t grab the card of every florist at the show). By the time you get home, you will have forgotten which vendor made that bouquet you loved and you will have more business cards to try to rifle through to find the florist you wanted. Also, bring along a bag to keep all your pamphlets and freebies in!

  • Brace Yourself for Contact

Lots of exhibitors will have contests and prizes that you may want to enter. In order to save yourself time and some serious hand-cramping, make some printed labels and bring them along with you. Information you should include on these labels are: your name, phone number, email address, full mailing address and wedding date. You may also want to sign up for a free email account just for this reason and forward emails from this new account to a current email account. The reason for this is that the bridal show will release a list of attendees to each vendor (remember that info you filled out when you bought your ticket…yup! That’s what it’s for!), and these vendors will send you emails from now until a year and a half AFTER your wedding (in some cases). Having a separate email address just helps you control the barrage of emails a bit better.

  • Take Pictures

If you see something that you like, take a photo of it in order to help you remember…but ask the vendor for their permission first! If they allow you to take a photo, try to include the vendors name somewhere in the photo as well, or position their business card in the shot. That way, you will remember which vendor created what and who to book later!  If the vendor doesn’t allow you to take photos, check out their Facebook page (if they have one). They most likely will have photos of their booth uploaded there for you to look at.

  • Expect to be Bothered

As you walk through the event centre, you will be hollered at, called out, etc. by people trying to hand you pamphlets or get you to view their booth. This is especially true of the bride (believe me, vendors LOOK for that ring on your finger!) Just be prepared for this and don’t take it personally – this is the way it’s done. If you have already booked a vendor for that service, politely say, “I already have my DJ. Thank you”. And leave it at that.

  • The Fashion Show

Either you will be interested in the fashion show, or you won’t be. If you are interested, snag a seat approx. 15 minutes before the show starts. If you aren’t interested, take advantage of this precious time to speak to vendors that you weren’t able to speak to before. The fashion show draws a lot of attention and the exhibitor booths are pretty near empty at this time, which is perfect for the bride who wants to have more one-on-one time with the exhibitors!

Are you a Bride (or Groom!) -zilla?

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If you have ever watched any of those reality wedding shows, chances are you can easily spot a “Bridezilla” when you see one. You know the type – the girl who is ordering her friends around, lipping off sales people in the bridal store, breaking down and crying at the littlest thing…the list goes on.  You sit there, glued to the television and unable to look away, your mouth agape saying, “Omg! That girl is crazy!” And you swear that when the time comes, you would never be like that.

Artistic drawing of bride
{ therottenlittlegirls.com }

And now you are a bride-to-be (or groom-to-be… it works both ways!), and it’s your turn to have the spotlight on you.  But are you starting to think that your friends and family are maybe not being as involved or supportive as you thought they would be? Are your bridesmaids ignoring your phone calls and coming up with excuses for why they can’t go with you to look at invitations? Well, you may want to check yourself…because you could be a Bridezilla!

Here are a few ways to tell if your have been stricken with this terrible wedding-affliction:

1. It’s all got to be perfect…ALL OF IT!

It’s only natural to want everything to be perfect, and no one can blame you for that. However, it is important to understand that life itself, by its very nature, is not perfect. Trust that everyone around you will do their very best to make sure that your day goes according to plan. But while there is nothing wrong with striving for perfection, understand that you also need to be realistic with your expectations of your big day.

2. You are in wedding mode – 24/7

One of the first things people do when they get engaged, is to start trolling the internet for all-things-wedding. While this is a very important step in the planning process, you shouldn’t be eating…talking…sleeping…dreaming about weddings all the time! It is important to take little breaks along the way while you are planning your wedding and that you and your fiance take some time for just the two of you. Having a professional wedding planner can also help you accomplish this! :)

3. You seem to be having more arguments with people than usual

Okay, while this sounds like it may be an obvious warning sign, it usually isn’t as obvious to the bride/groom. To the bride/groom, it may seem as though friends and family are fighting you at every turn and on every decision, or that they appear distant and unavailable when you need them. Try to think back on the previous discussions you have had with your wedding party and family – does it seem like they have been more “difficult” to deal with as the planning has gone on? If the answer is “yes”, then point that finger back at yourself because YOU may be the issue!

4. You forget your manners

Okay, pop quiz – What’s the “Golden Rule”? Answer: “Treat others the way you would like to be treated”. You’ve grown up hearing this rule and others, like always say “please” and “thank you”, from your parents, teachers, etc. A Bridezilla/Groomzilla will often forget about this and will take help for granted. It is very important to thank people along the way, and not just in the speech at the wedding (although that is important too!). Your friends, family, vendors and your fiance, have all devoted much of their time and energy into helping you put together an amazing wedding. No one could have done all of that themselves, so give thanks and show appreciation!

5. You are controlling and unrealistic

If you say “jump”, everyone around you should say, “how high?”, right? WRONG! Everyone has their own lives and commitments that they need to fulfill on a daily basis and it is unrealistic to expect them to be able to drop everything immediately, if you ask them to. This also is the same with vendors. It is important to remember that you are not their only client and that they have set working hours and schedules that they need to adhere to as well. Expecting a vendor to cancel other appointments to come to your aid NOW is unrealistic and it could put a real strain on your relationship with that vendor.

Groomzilla Upset Groom Annoyed Groom

{ namechangeexpress.com }

Whether you are a bride, or a groom, or the Maid of Honour (it happens to YOU too!), it is important to remember that there is no such thing as “perfect”. Being a Bridezilla / Groomzilla ultimately hurts you in the long run because people who you turn to for help, may not be there after your disrespectful treatment of them. This behavior may also hurt your relationships with vendors and they may not want to go over and beyond for you.

You need to trust that your family, friends and even your vendors want you to have an amazing wedding. The sooner you can realize this, the quicker that weight will be lifted off your shoulders and you can enjoy your engagement and your wedding.