Who better to give wedding advice than a bride who works in the wedding industry? Well, that’s exactly what Brides thought when the online arm of the venerable CondeNast title introduced CEO of Weddington Way Ilana Stern as its featured guest blogger.
Over the past two months, Ilana has shared the ins and outs of planning her Southern California wedding while giving advice to other brides planning their nuptials.
Ilana starts off the blog series by sharing her engagement story and how she and her fiance started their planning process.
She also shared her experience of picking out her wedding planner, Allyson Levine of Bob Gail Special Events, and advice on selecting a venue.
For another Brides.com blog post, Ilana wrote about proposing to her bridesmaids, where she made custom champagne labels that said “Will you be my bridesmaid?” and had them delivered them to her bridesmaids across the world, as far as Dubai and Peru!
This is one of Ilana and Jeff’s many adorable engagement shoot photos by the hugely talented Erich McVey (who is literally everywhere these days)! They had so much fun and Ilana tells Brides readers why an e-shoot is a good idea.
After her dress shopping experience, Ilana provides brides with four important tips for searching for their perfect gown: be honest, bring trusted advisors, drink champagne and look at the dress in natural light.
As the founder of Weddington Way, it’s only natural that Ilana let her bridesmaids get involved with picking out their dresses or, in her case, helping design their own personalized Watters gowns!
Ilana and Jeff let their fun-loving personalities show through with their custom save the dates. They even had a separate version for their friends.
Mini Spanish grilled cheese sandwiches, pesto and tomato crostini, brick oven pizza, blood orange margaritas and ice cream sandwiches! Ilana dishes to Brides.com readers on the yummiest part of wedding planning and how to personalize their menu.
After months and months of wedding planning, everyone deserves a relaxing and fun bachelorette party! The company, details, dream location, agenda, the unexpected, and the fun all play into the fun and relaxing feel.
The week before the wedding could be stressful, but Ilana made it the most amazing wedding week with four helpful tips!
Ilana finishes off her guest blog series for Brides.com with her unconventional rehearsal dinner turned cocktail party! Now we can’t wait to see her big day featured in the February issue of Brides magazine!
