Thursday, April 29, 2010

Edible Cake Decorations from Oriental Trading... A Budget Brides Dream

Happy Thursday Budget Brides!!

So last Friday the girl and I had a GNO (Girls Night Out) where we were totally engrossed in one of the ladies upcoming nuptials. Of course she had plenty of magazines and samples. So while I sat around and ate Papa John's (oh how I love it) I flipped through the current Oriental Trading catalog. And what do I find? Edible Cake Decorations!

I thought this was an amazing idea since November Bride's sister is making her wedding cake. Since that weekend will be absolutely crazy, this will be one more thing that November Sister does not have to create because it is already done.

The ides is also great for Budget Brides. If you watch Amazing Cakes or Cake Boss, they make fabulous cakes at fabulous prices. So maybe you budget is not over the top edible cake decorations could be a great option for you. The going rate for a custom made wedding cake starts at about $800 and skyrockets. So Oriental Trading as done all Budget Brides in America a great service.


Images via Oriental Trading
What do you think about DIY wedding cakes? Would you use edible cake decorations?


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Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Fabulous Dessert Bar Under $40 from Bride Scouts

Happy Tuesday Budget Brides!!!


click image for larger view


Here is a great DIY project courtesy of Bride Scouts. Bride Scouts is the brainchild of two Canadians, one the owner of The Principal Planner and the other the owner of Monique Simone Photography. The ladies give all budget brides the opportunity to fill there desire to have an amazing dessert bar within a small budget. Below is a shopping list of everything you will need to recreate this dessert bar. Don't forget to check out your local Salvation Army, Goodwill, TJ Maxx, Home Goods and Marshall's for low cost jars and cake plates. You can get many of the containers well below $20. Thanks goes out to the ladies of Bride Scouts for this great idea.



Shopping List

  • 1 Bag of Large Marshmallows
  • 2 Bags of Heart Shaped Chocolates
  • 2 Boxes of Sugar Donuts
  • 2 Box of Oreo Cakesters
  • Popsicle Sticks
  • Mini Yogurt Pretzels
  • Mini Marshmallows
  • 6 Dollar Store Jars
  • Pink Mints
  • Mini Cupcake Mix with Frosting & Cherries
  • Mini Merengues
  • Heart-Shaped Cookies
  • Sparkling Water

Check out the ladies over at Bride Scouts for a full recap.

Images via Bride Scouts

As Seen on It's a Jamie Thing




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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

New York Bridal Market Trend: Wrap Up

Happy Tuesday Budget Brides!!

I know I didn't post yesterday but Sunday and Monday were extremely busy for me. So today without further ado I present to you The Budget Brides Handbook wrap up to the Spring/Fall 2011 New York Bridal Market Week. I hope that you have enjoyed this little segment. Hopefully next year, I will be invited to some of these shows and then you can have first hand reporting. Crossed Fingers and Sending Prayers***



1. Black wedding dresses are something a little different wonder if it will be a keeper.



2. Tiered Skirts are so romantic and frilly bringing an added flair.




3. Hats are a great accessory to glamourize any bridal gown.


4. A splash of color allows you to incorporate your wedding day colors into your wedding gown.


5. Lingerie-Inspired bridal gowns add a classy sexy to a very special experience. Your groom will love it.


6. Short & Sassy helps a youthful bride add a touch of sassiness.


7. Rosettes are so romantic.


8. Shorttails are for the bride who wants to stay semi-traditional with an element of surprise.


9. Floral Centerpieces takes the bouquet out of your hands and acts as a statement piece on your crown.


10. Shoulder coverings are great for really strict ceremony sites such as churches.


11. Detailed Necklines "give great details for close - up photographs and provide support."*


12. Feathers are just right for the bride who is looking for platinum status style.


13. Mix & Match Fabrics "gives silhouettes unique textures and three-dimensional appearance."*

14. Dramatic Backs add the WOW factor.
* Wording has been taken from an Aisle Dash desciption
Click here for The Budget Brides Handbook review of the Spring/Fall 2011 New York Bridal Market.

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Sunday, April 25, 2010

New York Bridal Week Trend Alert: Lingerie

Have you ever thought of wearing your lingerie to your wedding? Hmmm a thought right. Designers like Monique Lhuillier and Jenny Packham have decided to take a discrete undergarment item and add a little no scratch that alot of sexy to the bridal gown. The lingerie-inspired trend is definitely for the bold and daring. I know I wouldn't wear this dress without losing 60 pounds.


Dress 1 & 3 by Monique Lhuillier
Dress 2 by Jenny Packham


Would you wear this sexy trend? Is it a little to daring for you or right up your alley?


Trend Seen Here



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New York Bridal Week Trend Alert: Sexy Little Dress

Happy Sunday Budget Brides!!!


So we are going to forego one week of Sunday Brunch to finish up my trend picks from New York Bridal Week. This next trend is for the hot and sexy Victoria Secret types. I like to call it the SIL (Sexy Little Dress). This trend works best for the bride who is having an evening wedding with a cocktail reception. Fun and flirty this trend is for the bold bride who is going to party all night long.



Dress by Anne Bowen



Image via Aisle Dash

Do you like this trend? If so, would you wear it for your ceremony and reception or just the reception?


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Saturday, April 24, 2010

Sorry I Am Out of the Office..... Well Sort Of

Hey Budget Brides!!

I know the title looks crazy right. Well technically I am out of the office but you can find me over at Bride On A Budget. Ashley is on her honeymoon right now and I am guest blogging for her so take a click over to her blog and read my post titled "Budget Friendly Centerpiece that Doubles as Favors Under $25".

Click the image for post.


Image via Be Imbued



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New Segment Announcement: Love Shots

Happy Saturday Budget Brides!!!

I have decided to start a new segment called Love Shots. Love Shots is an outlet for me to show all of you photography that I have seen during the week that I really love.

There are two other reasons that I have created this segment. The first one is to add a post segment on Saturday so that I will have a post on this blog everyday of the week. The second is to give others the opportunity to have their work displayed or to have my readers submit photography that they really love.


Image via Kat Flower


Would you like to like to see your photography? Send an email to loveshots@thebudgetbrideshandbook.com with a jpeg of your photogrpahy and a brief summary about it.


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Friday, April 23, 2010

New York Bridal Market Trend Alert: Shorttails

Happy Friday Afternoon Budget Brides!!!

Yes, we maybe setting a record of three posts in one day. Whoo Hoo!!! (In my Vicki from RHWOOC)

Here is yet another amazing trend from the New York Bridal Market. I have dubbed this trend Shorttails. I absolutely love this trend. It was my prom dress circa 1999. Did I just date myself?
This trend is definietly for the funky, edgy and daring bride who would not mind the side eye from the guests at her wedding. But nonetheless you will be the talk of the wedding circles and your mother's noisy friends. LOLOL


What do you ladies think of this trend? Would you wear it for your big day? Why or Why not?
Images 1 & 3 are Ines Di Santo
Image 2 is Reem Acra
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Guess Who Has Gone Bridal Couture? Prismera Designs

Happy Friday Budget Brides!!

I must admit that I am a lover of the necklace bib. I really didn't like the trend at first but once I started going on interviews for companies like Teen Vogue and Bobbi Brown Cosmetics. It became a accessory must have to add a little wow to my standard BID (Black Interview Dress). Now Prismera Designs has taken the necklace bib to a whole new level by creating PD Couture. PD Couture is a collection of fabric necklaces made from a variety of influences like vintage, art deco and ruffles. These would be great with a simple white dress for that special day.


Image via Prismera Events
See the full collection here.
What do you guys think about the necklace bib trend? Which style works for you fabric style necklaces or a necklace bib?




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New York Bridal Market Trend Alert: Hats

Happy Friday Budget Brides!!

A pretty funky trend has hit the runways during this seasons Bridal Market Week. Hats hit the runways of both Carolina Herrera and Melissa Sweet for Priscilla of Boston. This trend brings and edgy style to bridal attire. Now I can't say that I absolutely love this trend but there is definitely something about it that intrigues me.


Melissa Sweet for Priscilla of Boston


Carolina Herrera
Now be completely honest, do you like the hat trend? Is it to funky for your tastes? Tell me why or why not.


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Thursday, April 22, 2010

New York Bridal Market Alert: Black is the New White

So we're back again Budget Brides. I have a few more trends that I need to get out to you by Sunday so there maybe some back to back posts. The next trend I want to feature is the use of Black. Usually black is a color left for funerals and not weddings. However, I think the use of the color black in the images below add an element of surprise.



Wedding Fact: In the Chinese culture brides often wear red instead of white since white is seen as a sign of mourning.
What do you guys think about this trend? Is it a little to out of the box for you or right up your alley?
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New York Bridal Market Trend Alert: Rosettes

Happy Thursday Budget Brides!!

Sorry for the late post today. I slept until about 12:00pm today when I was rudely awaken by an unknown bandit. Joking... You know who you are.

I will probably finish up my recaps of the New York Bridal Market this week. Don't worry on Sunday I will give you an entire list of source sites and trends that I did not cover.

Today's trend alert feature is Rosettes. Rosettes are a lovely way to add a floral touch to your wedding attire. They are so romantic and full of character that gives any bridal gown that extra wow factor.

Do you like the rosette trend? If so, would you wear it as a wedding gown like the images above? If not, why do you not like this trend?


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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Guess What Two Bridal Icons are teaming up: Vera Wang & David's Bridal

Happy Wednesday Budget Brides!!!


I wanted to take a break from the recaps of New York Bridal Week to share some awesome news that was release from WWD (Women's Wear Daily). Two wedding industry giants are collaborating to make luxury bridal attire more affordable. I am so drooling to see the details of the designs. I know all of you budget bride fashionistas are doing the same. The article below is really long; however, I know that many of you are not subscribed to WWD. So I think it would be a disservice to you not include the whole article and give you my personal summary. However, I will point out some highlights that many of you are just itching to know.


  • Features 20 Bridal Gowns
  • Line will debut Spring 2011 in approximately in 150 stores
  • Includes Bridal Gowns and Bridesmaid Dresses
  • Price point will run from $299 to $1400
  • Sizes run from 0 to 30

Now that Vera Wang will have an affordable line being sold in David's Bridal will you shop there for your wedding dress? If you could choose another bridal designer to have an affordable line feature in David's Bridal, who would it be?



See Below for the full article.







Vera Wang and David's Bridal Form Bridal's Biggest Union
by Bridget Foley



"Vera, do you take brides on a budget to swath in chic folds?"


"I do!"


It may be the ultimate in aspirational design and marketing. Vera Wang, high priestess of high-profile, ultratony wedding glamour, has signed a long-term agreement with David's Bridal, mainstream mecca for the proletarian bride. The pact promises to bring the designer's renowned bridal aestheic - and the magical aura that comes with the best kind of celebrity endorsement, the genuine kind - to a mass audience. The name of the collection remains under wraps until its trademark is secured.


Wang, who has dressed countless movie-, music- and social-star brides - Jennifer Lopez, Uma Thurman, Kate Hudson, Ivanka Trump, to name a few - maintains that, while the high end of bridal is lovely, there's much to be said for an ecumenical scope. "It's ginormous," the designer offered of signing with David's. She and company president Mario Grauso sat for an interview at their headquarters on Thursday afternoon. " There's a big market out there that we could never take advantage of [before]."


While clearly focused on the bottom line, Wang acknowledged the emotional significance of this deal for consumers. She paraphrased a line from her tome, "Vera Wang on Weddings" (Harper Collins, 2001). "I said, 'Most of you can never wear a Vera Wang dress.' My book is me talking through all my years of experience of going to weddings, helping girls with [their own] weddings, being in weddings, all of it. Now I can do the dress for these girls - something we could never do on our own."



For his part, David's Bridal president and chief executive officer Robert huth noted that signing Wang amounts to a major coup. He spoke by phone from company headquarters in Conshohocken, Pa. "Vera is the name in bridal,' he said. David's had long been interested "in adding a recognizable brand [to] provide a halo effect to the company, one that would not only drive incremental traffic, but would offerour customers a value they're looking to get from an aspirational brand. When you start looking around at who would fulfill that, there's no question."



Spread across all 50 states, David's 308 mostly mall-based stores currently feature the collections of Oleg Cassini and Galina as well as its own extensive private label. Gowns range from$299 to $1400. Wang's offerings will run in sizes zero to 30. (David's is owned by Leonard Green & Partners, also the owner of Priscilla of Boston, which is sold in its own brand stores across the country.)



The Wang-David's union was not entered into in haste. "They'd spoken to us over the years, as they have with our competitors,' Wang said. Things turned serious after Grauso returned in September to the company at which he had worked years ago. "I focused on closing the deal," he said. "Vera came to me when I started and said, 'This is something that we've been considering. What are your thoughts?" As it turns out, he had plenty, some rooted in his concern over bridal's overall " diminishing distribution channel in the U.S.."



Wang then interrupted that thought to chime in: "We lost 16 doors between Neiman's and Saks in one week. I believe it was a Monday, Saks closed eight doors and on Friday, Neiman's."



The issue, though now acute, has festered for years, according to Grauso. "Vera & I learned together when this company was young that distribution is one of the most difficult things with bridal,' he said. " There's not that many stores to sell to, and it's been slowly, slowly eroding. [In the current market] we're seeing only a nominal number of stores. So I said to Vera, not only am I interested in offering your dresses at a lower price point, but how nice to have distribution."



By Huth's accounting, David's owns of the U.S. Bridal Market. In addition to bridal attire including bridesmaids and accessories, it offers prom and special occasions fare, as well as gifts and stationary. The firm's Web site boasts more than 40 million unique visitors annually. Although Huth declined to articulate how large the Wang business might become, he is clearly thinking big. "Vera wants to sell a lot of dresses, and that's what we want to accomplish," he said. "As she designs we're going to be on the other side, trying to balance her enthusiasm and her design with the realities of our customer."



One such reality is the mass bridal customer can barely help but be obessed with the notion of a Vera Wang dress."A show like the Kardashians, [Khloe] was talking about having a Vera dress and who wouldn't want to have a Vera dress," Huth said. " I mean, how many stars do you have, or [famous] people, who want Vera Wang to design [their] wedding dress? You look at our customer who's mainstream America, and how many of these women would say, 'Geez, I'd do anything to have a Vera Wang gown?' That's the whole premise [with] Vera: She is the queen. For us, it's going to further validate the value of what we give our customer.

"'I'd like a Vera Wang dress, but I can't afford it' - we hear that frequently," Huth continued. "We do an awful lot of consumer work and when we were looking at different brand options, hands down, she was the one that they wanted."

For her part, Wang insists that those women will get more than her name on a label, a statement supported amply by precedent: her far-flung collection for Kohl's, the design of which traces back clearly to the artful approach she takes to her own ready-to-wear. "I said then, 'I'm not going to Kolh's unless I can make good product that I'm proud of, or if it's not true [to my aesthetic]," she said. "At David's I think I will be able to bring a taste level. I've been doing this for 20 years in September, and whom can I reach? With all the development, with all the draping, trying to push the volcabulary of bridal ahead every single year, what is the point if I can't share all this work [via] a brand that is reliable amd credible to people, if I can't bring it to another audience?"

Asked whether she's concerned about the inevitable downgrade in fabrics, Wang took issue with the premise of the question. She maintains that at least when it comes to classic fabrics - crepe de chines, for example - she and other top-tier designers source from the same mills as many designers further down the food chain. "Even for my lower price point of ready-to-wear, I do the basic CDC program," she said. "We do wash it, and we do things ti it.. The truth us, we're all using [certain] fabrics. And by the way, a lot of the [designers] who do those [mass] chains use the same fabrics, only they get them directly from the mills in China. You can't compete unless you have a big company behind you because, let's be honest, they're not going to pay the same for the fabric. The truth here [is that] most of us in America who are upper-end designers use Symphony. [For David's] I will be using Symphony and other things. I'm sure there are poly versions [of various fabrics] - which a lot of designers on the upper end [of bridal] use, too."

The collection's initial range will feature about 20 bridal gowns, which will hit the stores next spring. Beyond that, a number of fine (and some not so fine) points remain to be fleshed out. For example, Wang and Grauso indicated the launch would be across all doors, likely in March, starting with bridal gowns only with bridesmaids to follow. Wang also said she would love to do children's wedding attire. Huth said he expects to start with "150 doors, give or take," launching with bridal and bridesmaids, as early as late January: It's a matter of how quickly we can get both lines together." And he's not anticpating Vera Kids.

All agree that this could develop into something huge that could well change the vocabulary of mainstream bridal across the country. And while none of the three key players would bite when asked if the business is intended to go after J. Crew and the upcoming Urban Outfitters foray into bridal, it certainly sets the stage for "Bride wars" of the retail sort.

Then of course, there's the matter of high-low, and whether a customer for one of Wang's elaborately hand worked lace creations from the luxe end of her signature collection.\, which could cost upwards of $15,000, might not like that another bride can get her own Vera for three figures.

"Our modern girls are not going to be turned off because we do something else expensive," Grauso said. "That's not something people today are embarrassed by."

Beside, the design will be worthy of the label. Notes Wang, "If I couldn't raise the bar, I wouldn't do it."


Article written by Bridget Foley for WWD

Article Source Rashidah Ferguson for Beyond Black Beauty

Image via WWD

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Monday, April 19, 2010

New York Bridal Market: Trend Alert

Happy Monday Budget Brides!!
I hope all of you had a productive and relaxing weekend. Another trend that I found from New York Bridal Week is Floral Headpieces. Two designers have really took this trend to the next level. I think that this trend adds a little secret garden feel to the over all look. Check out the images below from Carolina Herrera and Douglass Hannant.
Carolina Herrera



Douglass Hannant


Douglass Hannant


Douglass Hannant
What do you think about the floral headpieces trend? Is this something that you would add to your wedding day attire?
Images via Aisle Dash


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Friday, April 16, 2010

New York Bridal Market: Trend Alert

Happy Friday Budget Brides!!


Another amazing trend for Fall 2010 can be called many names like bolero, shrug, glam poncho or cropped jacket. This trend is super chic and definitely adds that wow factor to a traditional wedding dress. A jacket or shoulder covering (my special name) is great for the bride whose wedding ceremony is in a very traditional church where bare shoulders is frowned upon. Here are some great choices from St. Pucchi, Monique Lhuillier, Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera as well as a great choice for bridesmaids from Thread.






Images & Trend via Aisle Dash
Check out The Budget Brides Handbook recap of New York Bridal Market here


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New York Bridal Market: David's Bridal Fall 2010 Collection

Happy Friday Budget Brides!!!


I know I left you high and dry on Thursday with the New York Bridal Market recap. However, I was just exhausted last night. I have been staying up to 4am every night this week "borrowing" images from our favorite sites, resizing and making adjustments. I hope you guys have really enjoyed this weeks recaps.

David's Bridal is the ultimate destination for the bride who is looking for all the trends at a moderate price range. Below you can find my 5 top dress picks from the Fall 2010 Collection. From tea length to tiered skirts, David's Bridal has delivered once again. Enjoy!!







View the entire David's Bridal Fall 2010 collection here.
Images via Aisle Dash


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