February, 2007 | Manolo for the Brides

Archive for February, 2007

Pretty, pretty princess

Wednesday, February 28th, 2007

A most...interesting gown option

The difference between being ‘princess for a day’ and actually being a princess is blurred in the minds of some brides, as we well know. I can only imagine that these are the women who will flock in droves to those shops that will sell a new line of $1,100 to $2,900 gowns based on those worn by the pretty, pretty princesses in Disney cartoons. Well, them and all the Disney enthusiasts out there.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the megagiant company “is using its stable of imaginary princesses as inspiration for a new line of wedding gowns.”

Disney and bridal designer Kirstie Kelly have developed a line of ethereal gowns that pay homage to Cinderella, Jasmine, Snow White, Ariel and Sleeping Beauty.

“They will be high-fashion and very modern,” said Paulette Cleghorn, president of Designer Loft Productions, a New York public-relations firm representing Kelly. “We are modernizing the princess concept. There is a difference between a girl who is inspired by Snow White and one who wants to dress like Snow White.”

Cleghorn said women who buy from Disney’s Fairy Tale Wedding collection are definitely in the inspired category. The gowns, she said, will only vaguely resemble the costumes made famous in Walt Disney movies and storybooks.

Only vaguely resemble them? There go my chances of wearing Belle’s gown, which I have been drooling after since I was in high school. Please don’t mistake me for some sort of Disney-lover, however. I won’t be putting one of these on my cake…

Posted in Dresses, Unusual Weddings, Wedding Dresses | 13 Comments »

Another day, another dress

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007

::Sigh::

I am slowly rebuilding my list of bridal resources but it’s a slow process. I had hundreds of fabulous sites bookmarked and it turns out data retrieval is too expensive a process to make paying someone to get my bookmarks back worthwhile. Luckily, I have procured an external hard drive that I will be using as backup from now on. Religiously, I swear.

In the meantime, to whet your appetites for what is to come, here is a stunning, simple gown from Cara Mia:

This wonderfully elegant strapless, satin gown with satin banding at the bust-line and hemline comes in ivory, white, scarlet, and platinum-sage.

Posted in Dresses, Wedding Dresses | 3 Comments »

A buffet-style post

Monday, February 26th, 2007

Ack! Jury selection strikes and I have still not gotten my bookmarks back, which means that I have to try to cobble a post together on a Sunday night. Cross your fingers and pray that I am not selected for some sort of awful grand jury type case. I don’t mind doing my civic duty, but being a freelance means that if I don’t work, I don’t get paid!

A few of you sent me links to the first legal Hello Kitty Dream Wedding in MTR Station in Hong Kong.

$The Hello Kitty Dream Wedding...and it\'s legal!$

MTR passengers can indulge in a special romantic moment at the �MTR Hello Kitty Love Garden�, launched from today to 14 March 2007. The Love Garden is a prelude to the first-ever legalised MTR Hello Kitty Dream Wedding in Hong Kong. Specially designed by Sanrio, Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel will appear in the �MTR Hello Kitty Love Garden� in wedding dress to celebrate the joy of love with MTR passengers.

Nadine wrote to ask me to recap the ins and outs of guestwear. Specifically, she wanted to know what would be most appropriate for an April wedding with a ceremony starting at 2 p.m. and a reception starting at 5 p.m. I suggested a simple cocktail length frock with a fabulous scarf or chunky jewelry…something like this, perhaps:

And finally, the wonderful Kelly used Photoshop to make a mock-up of my ring based on my description and did a fabulous job! Take a look:

$I couldn\'t have done it better!$

Posted in Dresses, Engagement Rings, Guests, Rings, Unusual Weddings, Weddings | 4 Comments »

Human ivory?

Friday, February 23rd, 2007

The always superduper Sterlingspider sent me a link to some truly fascinating rings last night. And by fascinating, I mean kind of icky but also sort of sweet in a weird way. A while back, five couples in the UK said “I do” and exchanged rings not of gold, but of bone.

Personally, I think it would be cool to get rings made of fossilized dino bones. But these lovebirds were swapping their own DNA in a very real way, because the aforementioned rings were grown using bits of bone tissue harvested from project participants’ jaws. The resultant symbols of their love were an idea hatched by BioJewellery, a group that “aims to create public dialogue with emphasis on communication and the accessibility of the scientific processes involved.”

The couples who took part in the bone-ring project helped design their own bands, though the one shown above is a mock up made using cow bone and sterling silver. Romantic? Maybe. But the technique used to grow the bones isn’t just useful for making jewelry…it apparently holds great promise as a way to grow new bone material for patients who need replacements. That, I can certainly get behind.

Posted in Jewelry, Rings, Wedding Rings | 10 Comments »

Scale it down

Thursday, February 22nd, 2007

Not every bride- and groom-to-be is keen on full size cakes, like this one from Fancy Cakes By Leslie:

Luckily for these unique individuals, Leslie and many of her fellow cake artisans are happy to scale down their work.

But don’t think that scaling down means sacrificing flavor. Leslie’s cakes — whatever the size — come in white, lemon, spice, banana walnut, chocolate fudge, almond, and tiramisu, and she’s even willing to consider using a favorite family recipe. Yum!

In case you can’t tell, I’m still waiting for The Beard to set up my computer. Working on his is such a pain!

Posted in Cakes, Weddings | 4 Comments »

My rings! My rings!

Wednesday, February 21st, 2007

Last night, my engagement rings came in the mail. Have you ever tried to take a picture of something as small as a ring with a older model digital camera and no photographic skills? You end up with a flash of light with a hint of gold in it as opposed to anything that might resemble jewelry. Or, at least, that’s what I ended up with.

So instead of showing you a photo of my actual topaz ring, I will now show you a ring that sort of resembles it…if you picture it in your mind and make some slight modifications.

Start withswiss blue topaz and yellow gold ring. Then take away all of the smaller gems. Finally, turn the large topaz 90 degrees. There, that’s my ring!

Now I’m thinking of buying some simple earrings to match…how about these?

Posted in Engagement Rings, Rings | 7 Comments »

Ready for spring yet?

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007

$Primed and ready for spring, I\'d say$

Ignore, for a moment, the fact that the runway model showing off this pretty, feminine gown is about to keel over dead from kidney failure. Uh, also ignore that she looks like she’s sporting a ‘stache (It’s called bleach, honey, look it up).

Finally, ignore the fact that I don’t speak Italian and thus cannot tell you much more than that this lovely gown from Sicilian designer Luisa Beccaria is made of purple and ivory draped chiffon. Just kidding — Beccaria’s site does feature an English option.

In my humble opinion, the gown you see before you could melt the hardpacked Boston snow that’s currently encrusting my automobile. I just think it’s too, too dreamy, and it’s making me long so terribly for springtime.

Posted in Bridesmaids, Bridesmaids Dresses, Dresses | 2 Comments »

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