Ready-to-Wear Bridal

For most brides, finding the perfect wedding dress is a stressful occasion. Brides typically spend several hours in a by-appointment-only boutique (with an entourage of female relatives and BFFs of course) and then undergo hours of custom fittings topped off with a hefty price tag.

All that is set to change though. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that several major retailers were getting in on the bridal game with off-the-rack wedding dresses. J.Crew was the first to sell bridal gowns back in 2005, but Ann Taylor, White House Black Market, The Limited and Urban Outfitters are all set to follow suit. In addition to avoiding lengthy appointment-booking times, brides can find gowns that are, for the most part, considerably cheaper than the average boutique wedding dress.


J. Crew sells dresses for as low as $295, Ann Taylor retails for less than $500, and Urban Outfitters' line, which is set to launch in February 2011, will start at $750. The Limited will be offering two dresses in June for less than $300.

Reasonably-priced bridal behemoth David's Bridal has even stepped up their game by announcing an upcoming collaboration with high-end designer Vera Wang. Gowns will start from as low as $600, as compared to Wang's regular line which retails from $4,000 and can go to higher than $25,000. Of course diffusion lines are hot these days, with everyone from Zac Posen to Thakoon having lower priced lines (for Target) under their belt. Vera Wang is no stranger to the concept of mass fashion; she has designed a line for Kohl's, Simply Vera, since 2007. However her planned collaboration with David's Bridal is the first of its kind.

A lot of ready-to-wear bridal creations are less formal than their designer counterparts. The J. Crew dresses are more suited to a low-key event than to black-tie nuptials. But since the recession has resulted in a nationwide trend of more laid-back weddings, savvy brides everywhere should rejoice at high-quality, off-the-rack options.

Catering Ideas

I have been spending a lot of weekends at the Brooklyn Flea lately (I'm writing a piece about the food vendors there). After sampling too many of the treats and interviewing several vendors, it occurred to me that several of the dessert products would be wonderful edible wedding favors.

My favorite are Nunu Chocolates:

The husband-and-wife owners, Andy Laird and Justine Pringle make super delicious organic chocolates. Their best-selling salt caramel choc is pictured. In addition to vending at the weekend flea market, they recently opened their own store, a coffee shop-wine bar hybrid in Boerum Hill which is cozy and cute. You can order or find out more here.


I also think the mini cupcakes from Kumquat Cupcakery would be super delish favors. Owner Keavy Landreth comes up with all kinds of unique flavors like Peanut Butter Banana Honey, Coffee Caramel Bourbon (pictured above), and for the adventurous couple, Maple Bacon. Yes with real bacon, see photo below!

Kumquat's mini cupcakes are $15 for a dozen here.

Wouldn't these tasty gourmet treats be so much fun than a knickknack favor? Would you ever have edible favors at your reception?

Monday Pick-Me-Up: More ban.do

I know this is the second week in a row that I am a posting a ban.do lust item but I can't help it. I am seriously obsessed with their latest Black Label line. And I'm not the only one, several of the items are already sold out!

Lucky for us, this little gem is still available. I love the feather accent. Wouldn't you feel like a 1940s bride if you wore it on your wedding day? The faux jewels are sky blue, so they would double as your something blue accessory. Buy it here for $300.

Q & A with a Bride-to-be

Would you ever wear a non-white wedding dress? A pretty cream or champagne colored frock could be lovely. What about something bolder? Like deep red, say?

Last week I interviewed Kelly M.-K., 31, from Berkley, CA about her upcoming June 5th nuptials and she told me that she plans on wearing a bold, red gown when she walks down the aisle. Kelly’s future in-laws have no idea about her sartorial risk, so she asked that I keep her last name confidential on the blog.

Q: How did you decide on such an unconventional dress?
Kelly: I tried on a few more traditional dresses but they didn’t feel like me. I went shopping with my sister and she saw this fancy, red dress and said that I should try it on for fun. I did and I fell in love with it immediately. I knew straight away that I was going to get married in that dress, I just had to break the news to everyone else.

Q: How did your fiancé respond?
Kelly: He was incredibly supportive. He said ‘that’s cool, you should wear what makes you happy.’ He knows me though.

Q: What about your family? His family?
Kelly: Well in the store, my sister’s reaction was “whaaaaat?!!” My family wasn’t surprised at all. But his family doesn’t actually know yet. I decided not to tell them, so it’ll be a surprise on the wedding day. I’m a little worried that his mother is going to have a heart attack when she sees the dress, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to wear it.

Q: What does it look like?
Kelly: It’s formal: floor length and silk with a train.

Q: Do you think you’ll regret not wearing white?
Kelly: I hope not. I wasn’t ever the type of girl who pictured myself in a white dress so I don’t think so. I’m also not a fan of wedding conventions so I don’t feel the need to conform to them.

Q: Are there are any other offbeat aspects to your wedding?
Kelly: There are a lot actually. We’re not having a traditional cake, instead we’re going to have 10 mini cakes of all different flavors from a local bakery. We aren’t the same religion, so we’re having a Presbyterian minister and a Catholic priest conduct the ceremony together. That was pretty hard to pull off. Also we worked in a hand binding ceremony into the service.

Q: What’s that?
Kelly: Our attendants will literally tie lengths of fabric around our wrists. None of our grandparents are still alive, so we’re using fabric that used to belong to them, my grandfather’s tie for example, we thought it would be a way to honor them and to literally show our families being bound together.

Q: Interesting. Anything else?
Kelly: The reception is going to be in my parent’s backyard. My aunt and uncle who are musicians will be playing music. We’re also having a juggler, a belly dancer and a fire-eater. Oh and my five-year-old nephew is performing a dance.

Q: Are you joking?
Kelly: No! I’m completely serious.

Q: That’s amazing.
Kelly: I know! It sounds crazy, right? But I’m thinking it will be a really fun day if nothing else. I’m a little worried about my nephew’s performance, but I mean he’s 5, I couldn’t say no.

Q: A juggler and a fire-eater sound more like a circus than a reception!
Kelly: Yeah. It’s going to be the best party ever though. We both knew going into this that we were going to make unconventional choices, so we were open to anything.

Thanks Kelly!
Thoughts? Would you ever consider having a fire-eater at your wedding? They kind of freak me out, so I don’t think I would!

Monday Pick Me Up: ban.do edition 2.0

I have mixed feelings about veils. On one hand, I think they are classic and beautiful and could seriously add to making a bride feel special on her wedding day (when else would you EVER wear a veil?!). But on the other hand, they can be heavy, cumbersome and look a little dated. That's why I was so excited when I saw this sweet, stylish birdcage veil from ban.do, my favorite headband line.

Beautiful right?
I love that something which looks so vintage, manages to seem super modern as well. You also wouldn't have to worry about a veil messing up your wedding day hairstyle. This is part of ban.do's Black Label collection, which is their higher priced, "couture" line, so it's hand-stitched. It'll set you back $350: very reasonable for a dramatic hairpiece for your wedding. Get it here.

Green Wedding Tips

Last week I posted my five top money-saving tips for planning an affordable wedding. This week I am talking about my top three tips for reducing the carbon footprint of your wedding.



1. Go Paperless:
Use virtual invitations: it is cheaper, faster and more convenient. What's not to love? Wedding evites can be customized just like a paper invitation, without killing trees. If the idea of not holding beautiful, thick cardstock in your hands, gives you hives, then get invitations made from recycled paper.

2. Go Vegetarian:
Not only are meat catering options far more expensive than vegetarian choices, they are also worse for the environment. It takes 24 gallons of water to produce one pound of lettuce, as compared to more than 2,000 gallons of water needed to produce one pound of beef. A meat-free menu is just better for the planet. If your carnivorous guests would balk at pure rabbit food, have a chicken option instead of the ubiquitous and pricey skirt steak option.

3. Location, location, location:
This is the one piece of advice that all green wedding experts agree on. The best thing that you can do to reduce the carbon footprint of your Big Day, is to select a location that is the closest to the majority of your guests. Sorry, but that means 300 guests can't fly out to your destination wedding in the Bahamas. One green expert says that if you MUST have a destination wedding, then the eco-conscious bride should elope there.

What do you think of these suggestions? Too extreme or would you consider adopting one or all of them?

Monday Pick Me Up- Valentino edition

Love, love, love these champagne colored Valentino heels. Valentino is known for glamour and luxury and these shoes are the perfect representation of that. I absolutely love the peep-toe detail and the luxe bow. The neutral color means that they would be perfect with any lovely jeweled bridesmaid’s dress and of course they would be amazing with a wedding dress.



I would be thrilled to wear these gorgeous shoes on absolutely any day and I only wish I am so lucky as to wear them on my wedding day. Fab.u.lous.

Buy them here:

ps: I know it is not Monday. This has not been a good week. I need a pick-me-up for every day, I figured that would be too much for readers, so I compromised and made it a Hump Day Pick-Me-Up.

Bride on a Budget

Weddings are expensive. Very expensive. If you live a big, metropolitan city and you plan on having an "averaged-sized" wedding (150 guests by US standards) you could easily be spending upwards of $60,000 if you wedding is staffed by experienced professionals, is held in a fancy location and takes place during the popular summer months.


But there are options. It is completely possible to have a budget-friendly but sophisticated soiree. It's simply a matter of prioritizing. Here's my top 5 favorite money-saving ideas:

1) Consider getting married off-season
Everyone, myself included, wants a summer wedding. The weather is lovely and the summer always feels celebratory. But having a wedding outside of the peak season could seriously slash your location fees. Plus don't fall weddings with changing leaves or snowy January weddings seem appealing too?

2) Say no to Vera
Everyone wants to get married in a dress that makes them feel beautiful, but that doesn't mean that you have to drop serious dough on designer duds. Consider a pre-owned dress from eBay or OnceWed. Other possibilities include wearing a short dress (you're so much more likely to re-wear it) or if you don't think white is your best color (lots of brides don't) get a fancy cocktail dress in a different color - it'll be cheaper.

3) Have a DJ instead of a wedding band
This could just be a personal preference but wedding bands generally aren't very good and I would prefer to hear the real song than a washed-up wannabe Sting's version. You'll save big bucks on your music budget.

4) Nix favors
Chances are your adorable monogrammed knickknack is just going to be collecting dust in your parents' homes. Everyone else will probably toss it after 6 months- tops. I say skip it entirely.

5) Limit the open bar
I understand the hesitance to go the route of a cash bar: it looks stingy and guests hate it. That said, open bars are expensive and who wants to be presented with a (partially) surprise tab at the end of the night? A good compromise is serving only beer, wine, and champagne at the open bar. You'll save tons on pricey top-shelf liquor. Also forget that champagne flute at the table thing. Most guests simply toast with what they have or take one sip of champagne. Guests who love the bubbly can get it at the bar.

What do you think of these ideas? Would you use any?

Monday Pick-Me-Up: Christian Louboutin edition 2.0

Wow.

How beautiful are these Christian Louboutin Crepe-de-Chine slingbacks? The navy color is classic and I am obsessed with the origami-influenced folded detail on the tip. I also think peep-toes add a simple but great touch to any pair of pumps.

These shoes are unique and lovely. At almost $1000 they would set a bride back a bit but a girl can dream.

Get them here.

Wedding Trend: Trash the Dress

You spent hours searching for the perfect dress, hours more in detailed fitting sessions, not to mention the years that you spent dreaming about the dress as a child, only to – drag it through the mud after your wedding? Light it on fire? Swim in it?


It may sound ridiculous but growing numbers of women are doing just that. They are part of the trash the dress trend, where women hire a photographer to take beautiful, dramatic pictures of them essentially ruining their wedding dress shortly after the ceremony.


According to the New York Times, the trend started in 2005 when Las Vegas photographer John Michael Cooper began photographing his clients in extreme conditions. Apparently Cooper was inspired by fashion photography which long ago learned the merits of juxtaposing beautiful, couture garments with ugly, grungy or dirty settings. Cooper was bored by the same, cookie-cutter photos that every bride requests.

Why do the brides want it? Good question. Many superstitious people think that destroying your wedding dress is bad way to start a marriage. Maybe that’s why precisely why the modern bride chooses to trash the dress- it’s her little form of rebellion. Or maybe the bride really just wants gorgeous, dramatic photographs of herself which wouldn’t be out of place in the pages of W. Another option is that brides don’t like the idea of their dream dress sitting in their closet gathering dust.

What do you think? Would you ever trash the dress? Remember you would be paying your photographer extra for the photo shoot.

I am working on an in-depth reported piece on this trend, so any brides who are willing to be interviewed for the piece, please contact me at SJL446(at)nyu(dot)edu

Monday Pick-Me-Up: Bridal party and pearl edition

Pearls are my birthstone and I adore them. This week’s Monday PMU is going to be some affordable faux-pearl accessories that would be chic for your bridal party.

How sweet are these little Anthropologie hair pins? I think they would be lovely for a flower girl’s hair.

They’re such a steal for $10. Get them here:


This pearl and rhinestone brooch would be perfect for a mother of the bride.


Finally I like these Betsey Johnson earrings.

Betsey Johnson jewelry is always so fun and whimsical. A bridesmaid could wear these.

What do you think of these faux pearl trinkets?

Profile of Asema Ahmed, owner of Magnolias Linens

In 2003 Asema Ahmed planned a large-scale family event at the Plaza Hotel. She was dissatisfied by the limited selection of available fabrics, so, with the help of her mother, she decided to design all the linens herself and had them custom-made in India. Her gorgeous creations drew an immediate response and Ahmed quickly realized that she had stumbled upon an untapped market. So in late 2003, she partnered with her mother and her sister, Talaiya to launch their own textile business, Magnolias Linens.

On an overcast February morning, I met Ahmed in the Magnolias Linens’ showroom on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The vibrant fabrics filled every corner: saffron yellow, deep burgundy, warm chocolate, dark gold and iridescent pink. With their intricate beading, elaborate embroidery or hand-painted details, the samples bring to mind colorful saris. Ahmed designs the linens and then has them produced and imported from a factory in New Delhi, her parents’ hometown. Outsourcing the production to India and dealing directly with the factories – there is no middle man – keeps costs down. As a result, Ahmed’s company is able to provide high-end linens for upscale events at reasonable price points. Brides-to-be can rent a Swarovski crystal-encrusted table cloth for as little as $25.


Growing up in Scarsdale, NY, as the daughter of two physicians, Ahmed had ambitions of following in her parents’ medical footsteps. She graduated from NYU in 2000 with a religious studies major on the pre-med track. Instead of applying to medical school immediately, she enrolled in Georgetown University where she earned a Master’s degree in International Business Development and began considering an entrepreneurial field instead of medicine. It was her mother who saw the potential of Magnolias Linens. “My mom is the rainmaker,” Ahmed said. “She knew this was something I would grow and prosper in but I would never have gotten it off the ground alone.”
In 2007 she was married in New Delhi. The wedding was featured in InStyle Weddings, and Ahmed designed the tenting for the ceremony and the linens for the reception.
“It was perfect,” she said. “Exactly what I wanted.”



Magnolias Linens has expanded into other events, including bar mitzvahs, birthday parties and home decorating. Ahmed provides all the linens for every Plaza Hotel event, works with the Pierre Hotel and is preparing for her first event with the Four Seasons. Ahmed said that while business was affected by the economic downturn last year, their hotel accounts helped to keep them afloat. She explained that Magnolias was less affected than other wedding businesses because linens are a cost-effective way to decorate an entire venue.
“People are paying more attention to textiles because floral arrangements are so expensive,” Ahmed said. “When you walk into a room and see tables covered in floor-length blue linen that gives a more dramatic look.”
While it requires an incredible amount of motivation and self-discipline to run a company, Ahmed loves being her own boss. She enjoys meeting with new clients everyday and nurturing her creative side.
“I’m so lucky that I get to do this,” she said.

Monday Pick-Me-Up: Badgley Mischka 2.0

I am in love with these beautiful Badgley Mischka wine-colored pumps. The rich jewel tone is so lovely and I think the bow is sweet, understated, and classy.

These shoes would pop so much with a beautiful white wedding dress. I think wearing richly pigmented shoes with white wedding dresses are a must. The color pops so vividly against the neutral dress.

Get them here.

What do you think of these lovely pumps? When would you want to wear them?

Wedding Traditions from Across the Globe: Bangladesh

The second installment of wedding traditions from around the globe is the Bengali tradition of Gaye Holud.


Bengali weddings are typically multi-day events and the wedding festivities commence with the Gaye Holud. The bride and groom have separate Gaye Holuds but we're discussing the one for the bride (which the groom does not attend).

The term Gaye Holud means "body dye." During this event guests apply holud - a paste-like mixture of tumeric and milk - to the bride's face and arms as a blessing. The bride also gets mehndi done during this event, which is when henna is applied to her hands and feet in intricate and elaborate designs.


Additionally the Gaye Holud is when the bride receives her wedding outfit and jewelry and she get gifts from the guests. For Bengali couples who follow strict tradition, the bride's wedding sari is chosen and presented by her future mother-in-law. Lastly the bride sits on a dais and is feed sweets, before everyone enjoys a meal that her family has prepared.

Aren't the photos beautiful? The Gaye Holud sounds like the Bengali version of a bridal shower, during which the bride is "showered" with presents and goodies!

Wedding Guest Beauty

For the final installment of wedding beauty looks inspired by Fashion Week Fall 2010 RTW, I’m showing you two ideas for a wedding guest. They aren’t meant to be worn together however, they are just both pretty ideas to vamp up your makeup.

First is Chanel Iman’s red pout at Dsquared2 (which showed at Milan Fashion Week).

Now Chanel is rocking both intense smoky eyes and a fierce red lip in this photo, but for the purposes of this post, ignore the eyes and focus on the lips. What I like the most about this look, is the crispness of her lipstick lines: there is definitely lip liner at work here.

To get this look, outline lips in Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dragon Girl ($24, sephora.com), outlining your lips with pencil first, prevents the lipstick from smudging or running which is super important when your lip color is bold red. Then color in your entire lips using the pencil, which prevents you from having harsh colored lines on the edges of your lips, provides a good basis for the lipstick you will apply on top of it and if the lipstick wears off, you’ll still have color below.

When you are finished coloring your lips in with the pencil, apply red lipstick over it. Try Dolce and Gabbana Classic Cream Lipstick in Fire ($30, saksfifthavenue.com), I am obsessed with their lipsticks and I promise that you’ll love them.

The second look that I think would be cute for a wedding guest is the dramatic, gorgeous eyes at Lanvin.

I think the gold shadow is what really makes this look special. To get it smudge Laura Mercier Eye Shadow in Gold Dust ($22, sephora.com) into your upper lids and along the inner corners of your eyes. Then apply a fine line of black shadow below your eyes. Try Dior Ultra-Smoothing High Impact Eyeshadow in Flash Black ($28, sephora.com) which has great shimmer. To get the thick lashes you could try black mascara (my favorite is Dior) or you could really up the ante with falsies. Try Laura Mercier Faux Lashes ($18, sephora.com) which look very natural.

Ok, that’s all I got. What do you think of the suggestions?

all images from style.com

Bridesmaid Beauty

I recently posted a bridal beauty look featuring new trends from New York Fashion Week Fall 2010 RTW, I had a lot of fun putting together that post so I decided to do two more fashion week-inspired beauty looks. This one is a bridesmaid look and tomorrow I’ll post a wedding attendee look.

The first look is a very intense, messy eye on Siri Tollerod at Zac Posen.

This is obviously a very strong look for a wedding party member but I love dramatic eyes, so I think that a toned down version could actually be beautiful for a bridesmaid.

To get this look, use Stila Smudge Pot in Black Cat and Grey ($20 each, sephora.com). I like this product because it works as both a gel liner and an eye shadow. For a less rock n roll version I would apply the grey in the inner corners of your eye and the black just on the outer third of your eye. Lots of black mascara will finish this look, try Dior DiorShow Iconic Mascara in Noir ($27, sephora.com).

Since the eyes are such a bold look, the rest of the makeup should be kept light and natural. I liked the makeup at Thakoon because it just looked like a pretty flush.

To achieve a similar color, try Guerlain Terracotta Bronzing Powder in 3 ($46, sephora.com).

Finally for hair, I LOVE the look on Magdalena Frackowiak at Ralph Lauren.


Magdalena was the first model that I ever interviewed backstage at Fashion Week back in 2008. This is a super simple, relaxed look. To get it apply serum to damp hair, try John Frieda Frizz-Ease Extra- Strength Formula Hair Serum ($9, walmart.com). After blow-drying hair, add gentle waves using a wide-barrel curling iron, like the T3 Twirl ($119, sephora.com).

What do you think of the look? Any fall makeup trends that you are excited about?

all images from style.com

Monday Pick-Me-Up: Emilio Pucci edition

I love this gorgeous, graphic Pucci clutch.

The satin looks so luxurious, I literally want to run my hand along it! I think the black and white zig zag design is modern and edgy but the material makes it traditional at the same time. I adore classic looks with a modern spin and this clutch fits the bill perfectly.

It would add a finishing touch of chic-ness to any bridal look.

Monday Pick-Me-Up: Givenchy edition

I am not a flats girl. I am short so any added height is appreciated. That said, I understand the appeal of flats; they are comfy, they allow you to rush when you are late (this is a real concern for me), and they can be incredibly chic.

Case in point: these beautiful beige Givenchy studded flats.


For the most part I think a bride should rock ferosh heels on her wedding day, but there are some situations in which the bride might want to wear flats instead, for example if she gets married in a rustic setting, on the beach, on a farm (really anywhere where heels would sink) or if the bride is over 5’ 11’’. If this is the case, I think these beauties would be perf for a wedding day.

Wedding Traditions from Across the Globe: Kosovo

As a regular feature I am going to start posting about wedding traditions from different cultures.

In the first installment we have one from Kosovo:


Brides in the Kosovar village of Donje Ljubinje have their faces painted with heavy alabaster makeup in order to ward off bad luck during the wedding ceremony. The tradition dates beyond living memory and is only done for very traditional weddings. National Geographic reported that the villagers are very proud of this unique tradition.

I was struck by how detailed and intricate the bride's makeup is. Can you imagine how long it must take? The bride's family removes her makeup after the ceremony.

Isn’t it funny how wedding traditions, regardless of culture, almost exclusively center around preventing bad luck?

image from corbis images

Wacky Wedding News

There were some crazy wedding articles around the web over the past week. Here's a quick round-up.

On Sunday the Seattle Times reported that a wedding crasher, Pamela McBride (yes, that’s actually her name) was sentenced to 45 days in jail for stealing wedding gifts, including gift cards, and checks. Apparently McBride would crash weddings and then help herself to parcels on the gift table. The Spokane, Wash. resident ran into trouble last summer when she bumped into a former classmate at a wedding. He happened to be an off-duty police officer and he noticed that McBride was nervous and acting suspiciously. When the bride and groom noticed that they were missing presents, they contacted the police and the officer was able to put them on McBride’s trail. They tracked her down through the gift cards that she used, which were from Macy’s, Home Depot and Costco. Former victims of McBride’s sticky fingers were contacted and the police were able to reimburse some of them.


At least Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson didn’t steal from your wedding!

The NY Post reported that Brooklyn couple, Michael Dvorkin and Ambre Brandis, have filed suit over a broken air-conditioner at their 2008 Manhattan nuptials. The couple got married at 632 on Hudson and apparently the downtown-cool location was swelteringly hot, causing the couple and their guests to become drenched in sweat. The couple complained that they were unable to have a “public wedding album” because all their photos were of people with “red and puffy faces” and “wet and wrinkled” clothes. They are seeking $50,000 for emotional distress.
What a crazy story! I feel bad for the couple but I was surprised to learn that they had taken legal action, until I read that they are both lawyers :). Then it made more sense.

I’m willing to bet this isn’t the look you are going for at your wedding.

Yesterday British web site, wedding-news.co.uk reported that an elephant which was hired for an extravagant Indian wedding between the children of two New Delhi- politicians, escaped from the ceremony. The male elephant went on a six-hour rampage, chasing after a female elephant in-heat and causing $320,000 in damages. The elephant charged through wedding guests, crashed into a shopping center, overturned vehicles, and trampled on 20 limos, before being shot with a tranquilizer.



Elephants are not unusual at Hindu weddings as they are considered extremely lucky in Hindu culture. The poor couple! What an awful way to start your lives together.

Thoughts on these crazy stories?