For us, Bridal Week is one of the most exciting times of the year as we get to attend top bridal designers’ fashion shows, meet new vendors and old luminaries at bridal trade shows and hang out with our favorite bridal magazine editors.

Here is an inside look at the highlights of our experience at the Spring Bridal Week 2013 in New York:

Attending Monique Lhuillier’s fashion show was so exciting! As I sat among the editors of Inside Weddings and The Knot, I watched the models flow down the runway in the most beautiful gowns from her Spring 2014 collection. The photo above features Monique taking a well-deserved bow, for her dresses were so elegant, chic and romantic that it’s no wonder they’re a coveted item on every bride’s list.

Check out Monique Lhuillier’s Spring 2014 Collection.

(Sasha Vasilyuk, Vanessa Motley, Ilana Stern)        

Attending Theia’s fashion show to preview Theia’s White Collection for Spring 2014 was another highlight of Bridal Week. This was a much more intimate experience as only about 30 guests – most of them editors we work with on a daily basis – are allowed for previews. I attended the show with Ilana and Vanessa from Weddington Way and was one of the few lucky guests who didn’t have to snap pictures while taking notes while tweeting. Phew, I don’t know how they do it!

Another highlight was meeting Randy Fenoli of Say Yes to the Dress at the New York International Bridal Week trade show. I knew I had perfected my Bridal Week look when I noticed we were matching in the same shade of purple!

After meeting Randy, a couple of brands caught my eye at the trade show:

The photo above features Sarah Oliver, the woman behind these beautiful handbags. This was Sarah’s first bridal market as she just launched her bridal collection, featuring hand-knit purses made with sparkling yarn and beautiful designs perfect for brides and bridesmaids. And they have a unique story behind their creation as they’re made by seniors from one of elderly homes in the San Francisco Bay Area.

(Source: Glamour)

I couldn’t help but notice the vibrant colors and cool designs of the Chromatic gallerie shoes featured at the trade show. These shoes comes in all kinds of colors and styles, so I think they will do very well with bridesmaids.

Although Bridal Week is an endless sea of white, we cannot forget about our best friend: the little black dress. In the photo above, I am wearing Blythe dress in black from Kirribilla’s Fall 2013 collection. This dress got so many compliments during bridal market week that I was considering keeping it in New York 🙂 If you’re looking for the perfect LBD, check out the adorable dresses from Kirribilla!

(Vanessa Motley, Charanna Alexander, Nadia D, Sasha Vasilyuk, Ilana Stern)

The bridal market week is so hectic that it was nice to let loose with my favorite ladies: (left to right) Vanessa Motley, who heads marketing for Weddington Way; Charanna Alexander, editor of Black Bride; Nadia of Nadia D Photography; me; and Ilana Stern, the founder of Weddington Way.

Bridal Week Spring 2013 was one of the most intense and fun weeks in my career. While my schedule was filled to capacity with meetings, events and shows, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Looking forward to Bridal Week Round 2 in October!

Earlier this year the I Do PR team along with some of our clients attended The Lab, a unique wedding show at Cline Cellars in Sonoma, CA created by the talented ladies from Engaged & Inspired , Bustle, and Floral Theory.

Instead of traditional wedding show vendor booths with pushy salespeople, The Lab offered a sophisticated party atmosphere filled with inspiration boards that were brought to life by select Northern California wedding professionals, a vendor resource library, a runway show and of course snacks, wine and desserts (I’m still not over those Batter Bakery lavender cookies…)

I loved how The Lab involved its audience way before the actual event, held in January, by asking people to vote for the best inspiration boards that they would want to be brought to life. As inspiration boards were the heart and soul of the event, here are three of our favorites:

I just loved the bold colors of this tented tablescape – made me feel like I’m inside a romantic Prince of Arabia storybook!

This “Burned Marshmallow” tablescape was brought to life by our good friend Emily Dreblow from Soulflower. The muted color palette looked amazing with the Cline Cellars backdrop. And how fun is that branch lantern??

This pink, girly, raspberry tablescape makes me want to get married again and again! It speaks of a peak of summer and would look incredible in a garden or winery somewhere in, say, South of France. Ok, now I’m drooling…

My one criticism of the event would be that it was hard to see who were the vendors responsible for creating the tablescapes. There was a small sheet posted next to each table, but it was small and hard to see in the moody lighting. But despite that, we hear wedding vendors received a lot of bookings from the event, which is great to hear!

Very Merry Events ladies check out the Trail Mix Bar at The Lab

I had a great time driving up to Sonoma for The Lab and can’t wait for next year’s event – I know it will be even more fabulous (if that’s at all possible)!