Day One at Harrogate: Friends Moving Up

Today was about connecting with old friends.

Friend of the Dish, Leanne Stoiche has taken the leap of launching her own line, Tsarina Couture.Quiet sophistication says it all in a phrase. I know she is launching for Spring/Summer in the UK market but I don’t have any word on when she will hit the US. If you are interested drop me a line and I will let her know.

Another dear friend, Rani Totman and St Pucchi are showing for the first time at Harrogate. Lucky me! I got a sneak peek of the line almost two months before it launches in the US. All I can say is WOW! Of course if you have been reading the dish for a while you know that this is one line I just can’t be objective about, I love Rani’s work. End of story. I will have a full picture editorial after couture week in New York.

I also saw several new designers that I will get you more details and images for tomorrow. I also say the new range from Sophia Tolli, again, full details tomorrow.


Greetings from Harrogate.

Here I am taking the Dish on the road again. This time to the British Bridal Exhibition/Harrogate.
I’ll get you some images of all the yummy new things I see. As always can’t wait to see what pretty baubles Halo has come out with for next season. I’ll also check out the new collections from Ian Stuart and the fab Jenny Packham.

If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss anything from this upcoming round of markets.

Escort Cards

Maybe one of the hardest tasks you can take on in getting ready for your wedding is planning the seating arrangement. You know what I mean, where are you going to put weird old Uncle Lou that he won’t offend your guests and where are you going to seat the boy’s frat brother that has dated and jilted almost every woman at the wedding? The last thing you want is bloodshed after all.

Since you have gone to all that work don’t you think that the escort card table deserves to be just a little special? I love it when the escort card table is the talk of the cocktail hour, it becomes the centerpiece of the room and gives your guests an excuse to meet and mingle while they seek out their card. So…let’s give them something to talk about.

Here are some galleries that have some interesting ideas.

The Knot

Flickr

Martha Stewart Weddings

Think outside the box. So often I see beautifully lettered very formal escort cards just set up on a table. Yawn. How about tying a very simple card to a small favor box, or pinning them to a board or a “bouquet’ of branches, if its Christmas hang escort card ornaments on a tree. Use your imagination and have fun.

Wedding Photography Contest

Score! If you like looking at beautiful wedding photography then I have found the mother load

I stumbled across the Wedding Photography Directory site through an announcement of their WPD 2007 Summer Creative Wedding Photography Contest. Out of over 1500 entries they have narrowed it down to the top 100 images and are asking you to vote on the winner. How better to decide than to get the opinion of the ultimate consumer instead of just a bunch of other photographers.

In addition to the contest, WPD has some well written articles on everything you want to know as you do you homework on the how, when, whats and whys of wedding photography. Unlike some of the large portal sites with four or five generic articles on the topic this site is jam packed with valuable, up to date information.

If like me you like to graze through the beautiful shots you can find a listing of their member’s blogs. Be warned, you could get lost on this site for hours and hours.

Disclaimer: I don’t know any of the photographers that they list in their directory you still have to do your own fact checking; but its still a fun graze.

Image by Alison Williams, Alison Rose Photography

Getting the Gown

I had to post a bit about the bride’s look from last weekend. Andrea wore a strapless Romona Keveza gown with a sweetheart neckline and a ruched bodice. Karen Kaforey over at b.Hughes Bridal and Formal tells me that Andrea chose her gown at a past trunk show which had Keveza herself in attendance. Apparently the designer was so taken with our bride that she personally recommended some changes to the gown to enhance the bride’s already lovely figure. Now how cool is that! I told you trunk shows were a must do on your list.

On another note, I love the bouquet Vicki designed.

Images courtesy of David Wright Photography; you can view more from Andrea’s portrait session on his blog.

A Most Elegant Reception

I love this head table; if you are going to have one you might as well do it all the way. All told, this table seated 30 and visually dominated the room with the other tables dancing around it. Centrally located in the enormous ballroom of theLoew’s Vanderbilt Plaza it edged up to the dance floor.

Since I was there for the floral, I have added some pictures of a few of the different centerpieces we used. I think that large glass cylinder is absolutely gorgeous.It is filled with dendrobium orchids and ivory rose petals

Reception décor by Alice Hendry, wedding coordinator, Branching Out event floral and design and T & M Event Rental
All images David Wright Photography

Rehearsal Dinner Details


This weekend’s wedding was all about the details; the small touches that add up to big impact. Notice the orchid on the place setting at the rehearsal dinner.
The plate of desserts was served with coffee after the plated dessert for the guests to nibble on during the toasts and photo montage. Tomorrow I will post some images from the reception.

Photos courtesy of David Wright

Do Not Mess With This Bride

This gives a whole new meaning to bridezilla; such a lovely young lady, such a large weapon.

It was all in fun at a recent “trash the Dress” photo shoot done by blog buddy Lara over at her blog for A Softer Image. You can see more of the images here and here. If you are planning your wedding Lara has some great tips on all kinds of wedding lore and traditions. Especially interesting are her posts on wedding photography written for brides.

The bride, Meghann, will be donating her dress to the

Mary Madeline Project, a group in New England that takes old wedding dresses apart and makes burial gowns for infants that pass away. Then they donate them to families who are too poor to buy a gown, or too distressed to shop for one.

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