Spring 2013 Bridal Week Rocks New York

bridal week spring 2013

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:

Monique Lhuillier takes a bow after Spring 2014 Bridal Collection fashion show

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.

Monique Lhuillier Spring 2014 collection

Check out Monique Lhuillier’s Spring 2014 Collection.

Sasha Vasilyuk with Vanessa Motley and Ilana Stern, founders of Weddington Way.(Sasha Vasilyuk, Vanessa Motley, Ilana Stern)        Theia runway at Bridal Week Spring 2013

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!

 

Sasha Vasilyuk and Randy Fenoli from Say Yes to the Dress

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

Sarah Oliver handbags

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.

chromatic shoe at NY Bridal Week Spring 2013

(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.

 

Kirribilla dress

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!

Nadia D, Weddington Way, Black Bride

(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!

Martha Stewart’s Wedding Party, New York

Being based in New York City means having access to incredible bridal shows like the recent Martha Stewart’s Wedding Party, hosted at Gotham Hall by Martha Stewart Weddings magazine and Wedding Library in late January.

Martha Stewart's Wedding Party, New YorkThe highlight for me was meeting Style Me Pretty founder Abby Larson, who has already been collaborating with our client Weddington Way, editorial director of Martha Stewart Weddings Darcy Miller, and blogger and wedding stylist Jackie Weppner, who runs Merci New York.

After an interesting discussion by these industry luminaries on wedding details and etiquette, I really enjoyed a bit of perspective on the big day from the queen of cakes Sylvia Weinstock who said, “The ultimate wedding tip I can give is that it’s not about the party, it’s about who you marry.” Ms. Weinstock just celebrated her 64th wedding anniversary. So I’d definitely trust her on that 🙂

Sylvia Weinstock cake designer

 

We also enjoyed meeting the crew behind Kleinfeld Paper, a recently launched line of wedding stationery:

Kleinfeld Paper wedding invitations

Fueling the party was an overwhelming amount of desserts (it is Martha Stewart, after all…). Taking the cake, if you will, were creative, tasty and gorgeous looking cookies by New York-based One Girl Cookies and Eleni’s:

One Girl CookiesEleni's Cookies

 

I also came across the wedding scrapbook of Darcy Miller, which had an adorable section about the state of the world on the day of her wedding. It included a newspaper clipping from that day as well as facts from who was the president to fashion fads of the time. What a cute idea to capture that slice of time, right?

Darcy Miller wedding scrapbookDarcy Miller wedding scrapbook

Lovesick Expo rocks New York wedding scene

Lovesick Expo vendorsThere is perhaps no better way to start off our company’s move to New York City than by attending a local wedding show. Especially if it’s The Lovesick Expo, a unique wedding showcase held in the heart of hipster-land Williamsburg.

Held for the 3rd year in a row, the Lovesick Expo bills itself as “an elite array of local talent, unique wedding ideas, hand-crafted, and eco-friendly goods, appealing to indie-minded couples.”

And I’d say it certainly lives up to its reputation. Compared to traditional wedding shows, Lovesick Expo was a well-curated intimate event for couples that have a unique sense of style and want to find wedding vendors to match their vision. We met a lot of unique vendors, some based right around the corner, others visiting all the way from Philadelphia.

I met our friends from Bonobos who launched a unique partnership with Weddington Way to help rescue the bridal party from the fashion gutter.

Bonobos partners with Weddington Way

There were many florists at the show, but we especially liked this display by Foxglove, Brooklyn-based floral design studio that specializes in locally sourced flowers (including those from New York state!)

Eco-friendly florist Lovesick

Another Brooklyn-based floral designer who stood out was Jen Hyde from Off Cut Brooklyn, a true craft artist who works not only with flowers but also makes ties!

Although, as in all wedding shows, there was a large percentage of New York photographers, the one that stood out from the crowd was Brae Howard Photography because of her unique DIY booth display. Brae explained that she printed out her work on sheets of cotton using SpoonFlower.com and pinned them onto a large burlap sheet. Unique wedding photographer booth

We also met the folks from the Green Bride Guide, whose business card was attached to a plantable wildflower heart that’s one of the wedding favors they carry, and tried delicious duck appetizer from Betty Brooklyn Catering Company.Betty Brooklyn Catering

But the biggest surprise was meeting Vinny DePonto, a Brooklyn-based magician! Heading his cleverly-named company Now You See Him, Vinny travels around the country entertaining wedding guests with fun, non-kitschy magic tricks. For the right wedding, I think it’s a really fun idea!

Wedding magician

All in all, Lovesick Expo’s quirky, stylish vendor showcase was a delightful way to celebrate I Do PR’s move to New York City’s. We’re very excited to attend more interesting shows and discover other talented New York wedding vendors.

The Lab Creates Unique Wedding Event in Sonoma

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…)

Runway at The Lab wedding event in Sonoma

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:

The Lab wedding inspiration board

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

The Lab wedding tablescape Burned Marshmallow

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??

Pink tablescape at The Lab wedding show

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!

Trail mix bar at The Lab wedding event

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)!