Bridesmaids outshining the bride 2

I spoke lately about the bridesmaids and bridemaids dresses. I recently saw a multiway dress in The Gloss magazine 03/06/10. Gorgeous dress and about 15 different ways to style the top of the dress-great way to get the different looks for the girls. One down fall-it cost £399. Now don’t despair-it is only a matter of time before a company copies this and some bridesmaids manufacturers do this-but the high street will be on top of this in no time-so keep your eyes peeled-if you find any let me know!

Try to keep your bridesmaids dresses different to your own-a close copy in a different colour neutralises your distinct look-for example-if you ahve a one shoulder dress-give the girls different strap variations not a matching one shoulder-, also if there is a flower or detailing on your dress in a particular spot-don’t match this-again it makes your dress and style less special.

We recently advised a bride to mix the stlyes for her different shaped bridesmaids in chiffon dresses-drapy, comfortable and fabulous. Each dress has a slight embellishment and is individual to each girl-highlighting their best assets while complimenting the brides taste, theme and style

Grecian goddess style bridesmaid dress with floaty chiffon drape

Mystic chiffon bridesmaids dress

Stunning bridesmaid style with corset back

So when picking think of this little tip-if anyone  in particular (or all) is calling all the shots- think to yourself-would she let me wear this dress/dictate to her, annoy everyone-for her own wedding?I DON’T THINK SO!

Bridesmaids outshining the bride??

Recently we have read a few articles on bridesmaids styles and tips for your wedding day. The main thing here is that bridesmaids, who should look stunning on the day do not out shine you the bride on your specail wedding day. The key here is to lay down certain rules when you are picking out the dresses. The main things to decide early on are length, colour and style. Once this is firmly in place the girls can go into fashion show mode and try on as much as they can to suit their figures and your theme. Straps can be varied on the dresses for differnet bust sizes and sashes can be worn in different places to bring out the best features on the girls. For example a sash just under the bust will give more length like an empire line dress, a low sash placed on the low hip is great to lengthen the body and a sash on the waist just below the ribs with accentuate a neat waist and draw the eye here.

More on this later!

Current budget of brides spending on their wedding dress

The average price of a dress has well and truly reduced in the last year. And we have certainly kept up with this trend offering wedding dresses from €350. But in case you don’t know any of this and are unsure what lies ahead when you start you wedding dress shopping

1. The average cost of a wedding dress to order in to your size and colour is €1000-€1500

2. For high end designer dresses expect to pay in exccess of €2500

3. Most off the rack dresses (bought off the rail in whatever size and colour is available ) average in price at €700

4. 1 tier wedding veils with Swarovski crystals average at €275 and 2 tier €375 when bought from a bridal store.

Good luck in the hunt for your Dream Wedding Dress!

NO to RSVP cards!

Is it worth it?

Again we try to work with you and your budget so here’s some interesting facts to bear in mind when ordering your wedding stationery!

1. Don’t send invitations to family and friends that know they are coming

2. 20% of your guest list will refuse to come

3. Less than 20% of rsvp’s sent out come back to you!! Even with stamps.

4. Out of 100 people invited and confirmed to go to your day only 80% will go to the church. Don’t forget when organising mass booklets!

RSVP’s are fast becoming the biggest waste of money for couples-would you agree?

New trend emerging from Brides ordering flowers

We have noticed that brides are looking to keep costs down with regards to things that they may well not be too fussed about-an example of this is wedding flowers. Most brides want a beautiful bouquet but after that church decoration is not high on the priority list. As you know we cater to every budget so what is happening with a lot of brides is 1 of 3 things.

They are ordering fresh wedding party flowers-bride bridesmiads groom groomsmen, and getting a spray for the altar.

They are ordering the above and hiring our 2 large candleabras for the altar in place of the traditional pedestal arrangements.

They are ordering fresh bridal party flowers and silk flowers for the church.

Now obviously NOT ALL brides are doing this but its an idea!

Wedding Trends to Keep with the Budget!

Recently we have noticed that a lot of couples are trying to watch their spend and get the most for the budget they have. I have listed below some of the newest ways we are helping brides reduce their costs without cutting down on everything.

1. Wedding Invitations 1-very few people are going with seperate RSVP cards anymore, we have worked on adding all the detail to your invitation-without looking squashed, to include details on how to rsvp the bride and groom. This includes mobile numbers so people can text and addresses for those who prefer traditionally sending back cards.

2. Wedding Invitations 2. We have a specific line of evening invitation cards that we customise for couples and they retail at €25-€35 for 20 of them. We have now started to use these cards as the main invitations and have found brides love them-a great way to reduce the cost of the invitations. They can come printed for you too, and with a customised ribbon colour of choice along with Swarovski crystal details!

3. Wedding Favors-brides are still going with these but reducing the number of favours given out. Personalised candles are still being used but only 1 per couple. A major change has started on the chocolate boxes. We have advised brides to scatter heart shaped chocolates (in the colour of choice) along with rose petals on the table. The 2 intermingled look great on the table and dedcorate it and get people talking as they are reaching over each other to go for the chocolates!

4. Veils! These are expensive and can cost anything from €200 to €600. A lot of brides are borrowing friends veils as using that as their something old and something borrowed on the day! Don’t forget something new and blue!

5. Cakes. If you have a wedding of about 100 guests a 2 tier cake will be adequate for that amount of guests. The most popular flavours are chocolate fudge, Lemon Madeira and the oh so yummy chocolate biscuit. Our cake maker adds crunchies and maltesers to her recipe so the cake is soft and delicious and definatley not dry!

6. Wedding Flowers. Not that many brides really mind what flowers go into the church. We are doing a lot of silk flower hire for the church and fresh flowers for the bouquets as these are the main flowers in the photographs. This is a really easy way to reduce cost. If you have a church that does good flowers, consider talking to the priest and making a donation towards the flowers for your wedding day and just use what is in the church. The donation will possibly sway the colour choice of whoever is arranging those flowers on that given month to what you want (matching bridesmaids colours)-worth a shot if you are not that into flowers.

If you have found any great money saving tips post them here for all to see and I will continue to update on any major trend changes in the coming months!

Wedding flower bouquets

Continuing on the wedding flower theme, here is a quick guide to wedding bridal bouquets and the styles and shapes they suit.

Overarm Bouquets: Best for brides with slim figures, wedding dresses with lots of detailing and long slinky lighweight dresses. Usual flowers in these are calla lilies.

Trailing Bouquets: Best for brides that are tall as this bouquet helps draw the eye downward. The best wedding dress styles for this bouquet include A-Line, ballerina and princess skirts with a flowing train. Usual flowers in these can vary from roses to orchids.

Tear Drop bouquets: Best for a bride with a fuller figure, with a traditional wedding dress shape-bodice and full A-Line skirt. Any style that flares from the waist. Lots of varying styles some with roses others with mixed flowers including bouvardia, calla lilies, and greenery

Hand-Tied Bouquets: Best for medium height brides with the same build. Bias cut dresses that have an understated modern look. This bouquet is very popular though as most brides love roses. Most flowers can be made into a hand tie of some form so the choice is yours!

Don’t forget this is a guide not a rule book, and if like a particular stlye bouquet and it looks perfect wih your dress and your style go with it!

Planning your wedding flowers

When we meet a bride to talk about her wedding flowers most brides have an idea of some flowers but not unless she is a gardening enthusiast will she know what the flower names are. We usually show photos of available flowers in varying colurs and ask a bride which are standing out to her, and in our store we have arrangements doen in varying styles and the bride gets ideas of shapes and styles she likes. However it is not as easy as this everywhere-so here are a few tips.

1. Ask to see photos of the pflowers you are interested in or the florist is recommending.

2. Ensure you have a colour theme in mind and BE specific. If you hate a particular flower inform your florist to make sure they are not used on your wedding day.

3. Don’t be afraid to talk money. If you have a budget tell your florist from the start and then no-one is in the dark.

4. Ask about ways the florist can create the wow-factor without the expense. We generally work on unusual designs and different types of material-not always just flowers to create stunning and memorable looks.

5. Have a list with you of everyting you will need. Number of bouquets, buttonholes, pew ends, church arrangements, and if you want the florist to meet you in the church to go through everyting you have in mind don’t be afraid to ask!

Below is a list of flowers that are popular and flowers for the seasons. Also if you are unsure of the flowers this website will help you on your way! http://www.flowerguide.com/

Year Round-Calla Lily, Gerbera, Stargazer Lily, Rosa, Lisianthus, Freesia, Anthurium, Bouvardia, Carnation,

Spring-Muscari, Tulips, Lilacs, Hyacinths, Lily of the valley

Summer-Delphinium, Agapanthus, Sweet Pea, Hydrangea, Peony Rose

Autumn-Sedum, Nerine, Gladioli, Zinnia, Hypericum

Winter-Eucharis, Amaryllis, Hellebore, Ranunculus, Anemone

How to choose the perfect wedding dress

Starting is always the hardest thing to do and trying on your first wedding dress is one of the most nerve wracking experiences for most brides to be. When we have a bride instore for the first time we generally start talking about likes, dislikes, colours, shapes and her style ideas. Most brides have a picture in their head of what they think they want. Sometimes this really CAN be thedress of her dreams but a lot more times it is the opposite of what the bride ends up getting. You will hear from your friends of what they thought they really wanted and when they went ot put it on, they did’nt like the style at all! So don’t be surprised if you thought you would never wear a ‘boob tube’ and that is exactly what you buy in the end. It does happen but if it looks stunning and feels right-go with it and enjoy yourself.

My top 10 tips for finding your Dream dress are as follows:

1. Think of your personal style before going to look at dresses-do you love to dress up and bling it up every saturday night? Do you keep to a more streamlined approach when dressing for an occasion, do you prefer to dress more organically and eco freindly? Keep this is mind when starting to get a picture in your head of what you want to look like on your wedding day

2. Start to view some dresses online-sites like ours have a ‘Find my dreamdress section worth checking out http://www.theweddingcollection.ie/dresses/find/ be warned though..this is addictive and you can look for days and days and start getting very confused, so look at a few websites, start looking at the styles the boutique is carrying and go from there. A useful resource when looking for designers is www.dressfinder.com and this will help you start in the right direction.

3. When looking online at particular designers find out where they are stocked-no point in falling in love with a dress only to find out it is not available anywhere near you..are you really prepared to travel to Australia-so keep it realistic!

4. Budget Budget Budget. Pick an amount and stick to it. In times of recession this amount may not be as much as you had hoped, but I would say 1 thing. There are 1000′s of fabulous dresses out there to suit all budgets, and if the dress looks amazing it does not matter how much you paid for it-no one will ever know!

5. If you are on a tight budget look into getting sample dresses.A sample sale is one where a boutique is clearing out stock for the arrival of new stock. These styles are sold as you see them in the shop and are not new-however they can look as good as with a clean and fit to your size. The cost of these samples is greatly reduced to entice you to go for them-remember this is the dress you will be getting married in so scrutinize it for permanent marks, or missing beading etc.

6. Try on as many styles in the 1st wedding shop as possible. Mermaid styles, a line gowns, princess gowns, ballgowns, empire gowns. Some will look great some will look terrible and no matter what a salesperson says-they will not all look ‘LOVELY’. If that was the case the 1st one would do! So be harsh here as you are weeding out what does’nt suit and working towards what will. Try on all the colours available, straps, boob tubes, long trains, no trains, everthing you think might work. At the end of this you will notice what suits your shape and what does’nt. If you don’t know what your body shape is this is a great website to help you decide http://www.shapeyourstyle.com/whatsyourshape.php

7. Don’t bring your mum, your 3 sisters, your 4 best friends, and your fiance along. I would advise a max of 2 trusted people to accompany you on your search. Vary the people if you like but don’t overload-it leads to confusion and can be quite a distressing time with all the opinions- good and bad -flying around. And it is also distracting for you-it’s your choice don’t forget, not the dress your mother always wished she had gone for!

8. You may find up to 3 dresses you really like in 2-3 stores. If this happens it is time to stop and focus on these 6-9 dresses. Revisit them with your trusted friends/mother and see if you still like them as much the 2nd time around. This starts the process of elimination and starts you thinking of possibly going for 1 of them. If none of this has happened yet and you have’nt found 1 that you like try to find out why you don’t like any of them-is it you are waiting to keel over when you find ‘the one’?, are your trusted friends being very negative, are you looking in the right places, is nothing in your budget, or you just don’t like any of them? If this is happening to you go back to step 1 and rethink what you are looking for-realistically now as you should have tried on lots of styles. If you can come up with a definitive style-for example a lace fitted gown with a small train, and some sparkle but not too much..then start talking to stores before you visit them-ring up ask if they have that style-send you a photo and then you can decide if you want to visit the store or not. This should help you save time and stop stressing about the gown as you now have a plan of action!

9. You usually need to make an appointment before visiting a store. You may be allowed to browse but not try on if they are busy, so if you have been on their site and like the look of a lot of dresses book you appointment in advance. Also the time it takes to order a wedding dress can be 6 months or longer so be aware of this before you start. Some stores can do rush jobs so don’t worry-it may cost a bit more to bump you up the queue but if you have found THE dress??

10. Enjoy yourself!