Are they having us on????

In anticipation of my dress arriving later this week, it has got me wondering about the wedding industry and especially wedding fashion!

Although I do understand that handmade ball gowns with bustles, corsets, beading and lace can takes months to create, I am uncertain why with more and more future brides turning to sheath dresses the timeline on the order is not falling! Surely a simple dress could be available off the rack and then tailored to each bride in store?

If we take the example of some bridal designers, the succesful ones are now mass producing in China, so that is why the order takes this long, from China to Europe or the US then distributed to each country/state and then within the state to each store, this takes quite a few months and I won't even think about each party adding on their profit at each stage of the process!

So it becomes clear that the actual manufacture of these gowns takes no more than a few days, of course your choice of designer and actual design does dictate the quality of the fabric used and the finish required, however it really does make you think about the prices we are paying for wedding dresses!

All this has preoccupied my mind as I am waiting for the delivery of my dress ordered less than a week ago that was shipped yesterday a mere 5 days after making the order, can the dress really fit, really be beautiful, really have the finish that I want? And if so, is it the first of many designers to kick back against this long drawn out process?
All I can do is wait and see.........and hope!

SP

Dress dilemma's

Well where to start with this post?

Having spent almost 4 months on the dress, with around 1 appointment to try on per week, the end result left a lot to be desired. It did not feel particularly well made, I wasn't certain about the fit and my fear were confirmed when a friend with a lot of fashion sense said I couldn't wear the dress in her opinion.

So we unpicked the dress looked at creating a new skirt made of the mousseline only to realise that the lining was too short, needed taking in and the bodice needed fitting, hmmmm, sounds like creating a new dress to me.

So the panic set in, what to do, should we persevere ourselves and hope for the best or give up and buy a new dress and with just one month until the wedding day, what are our options?

Well I am an Internet savvy person and love looking at wedding blogs and sites and keeping up to date with what is going on in the industry so my first thought was to look on the net-a-porter wedding boutique where you can find designer off the peg gowns that you can buy online! Unfortunately nothing appealed enough for me to spend a mere 3000 EUROS and with time being of the essence I decided to look further afield for something I was more confident I would love. For those of you interested in one I considered for a brief moment:

 The Rachel Gilbert gown

So I was looking at a post over on a blog and happened across these fabulous pictures of a designer called Maria Lucia Hohan's atelier, simply divine:

I checked her website, www.mlh-shop.com,  only to find that they were available to buy online, hooraaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy!!!!!!!!!!! 


The dress du jour is this:

And may I remind you of the post a few weeks back: http://littlewhiteagenda.blogspot.com/2010/07/my-favorite-wedding-dressever.html


So it is ordered and I expect it to arrive late next week or mid week after, please cross your fingers and toes that it fits and I love it as much as I think I will! 

5.5 Weeks Until D-Day

Natalia: So, D-day is just 5 and a half weeks away.  How are all the plans coming along?

Sara: They are coming on slowly.  There is still lots to do, I am compiling a list and hope to get most completed in the next 2 weeks

Natalia: What if anything is causing you the most stress?

Sara: The dress and the paperwork.  The dress is really late and still not completed, the paperwork I just need to do and haven't, so that is my own fault.   The original plan was to have it complete in May, it is now August and I reckon it will be done for the end of August.  It just means that if I hate it, I don't have an alternative.

Natalia: You were worried about it a couple of weeks back.  Are you still having doubts about it or do you still love the design?

Sara: I am very critical of it, I can't really see it very well, there is no full-length mirror at the dressmaker’s house, and so it's hard to tell. I definitely would not have it made by this lady again.  It has been far too stressful.

Natalia: Do you have to go to Athens to get your paperwork done or can you get it all done in Rhodes Including the Apostil?

Sara: No it's all done in Rhodes, I just have to decide to go and do it really.  I need to speak with the priest and then take a morning off and go to get everything done.  All our paperwork is issued directly into Greek, so we don't need Apostilles or translations or seals of any kind.  If you are a foreigner; paperwork cannot be Apostilled locally, unless it can be issued here, the only place in Greece are the embassies in Athens

Natalia: Is your priest quite relaxed or is he of the old school mentality about paperwork?

Sara: Very, very relaxed, which is great.  He is actually quite fun!!! However I still need to get the paperwork from my local parish and the main Archiodiocese before taking it over to him.  I have to request my birth certificate, go to my local parish and get a freedom to marry letter, buy the money stamps from the tax office and then take this all to the Archiodiocese who will issue the marriage license, then take this to the priest in Kastellorizo.

Images from weddingobsession.com

Natalia Yannaghas: So on the reception side how are things going?

Sara: Fine, I think food and drink is now all sorted and ordered (apart from the raspberries, but they too are almost sorted).  The entertainment is almost complete; we need to order the final speakers and CD player equipment for the DJ. Decor, I still have to make the pom poms, another hundred rice cones, the table plan needs doing and I have to buy some additional lanterns.

Natalia: The hotel had rented rooms out to guests who were not coming to your wedding.  How have you sorted that problem out?

Sara: We booked all the remaining rooms, and in reality I think they have rented 5 out to others (3 were already booked when we approached them.  So we have just dealt them out to guests as they have confirmed they are attending. However the issue of having to rent all the rooms was not made clear from the beginning

Natalia: Have you invited the guests from the 5 rooms to the wedding?  So you can party for longer?

Sara: We are looking at turning the music down around 02.00 AM, I am ok with this as the timeline is to start the dancing at 22.00

Natalia: Will you be seeing the party out until the end or will you make a retreat earlier?

Sara: No way.  I am staying to the bitter end.   I am deliberating how to deal with the fact that I am not having official photographs taken, nor changing and really want to attend the cocktail party, however everyone so enjoys the official "entrance" as man and wife, I am not sure if we should leave at some point although it does seem pointless

Natalia: I thought that you were having some official Photos?  And more importantly why can't you attend the cocktail party?   Just get announced into that instead of dinner. It would be a crazy decision not to attend. Cocktails rock!

Sara:  We could do that.  Arrive late at the cocktail party; it goes on for about an hour, so we could come for the second part! Especially with our friends performing on their guitars, I love their music

Natalia: Perfect and get some photos done in the first half even if it is only 10.

Sara: Yes, I suppose we can just walk back slowly and Annie can take some pictures

Images from Dannisblog.com & thehaystackneedleonline.com

Natalia: The big question is; are you excited?  What is your favourite feature of your wedding?

Sara: I am apprehensive at the moment, but really want to make an effort to get things finished so that I can be really excited and anticipate next month’s festivities! I think I love the theme colours and the disco ball chandelier, I also cannot wait to see the effect of the olive trees all lit up. I also love the digital Polaroid camera that we have decided to use instead of a guestbook; each guest will take a picture of themselves and then write their name or a wish for us. I am going to frame all of them for on my wall.

 SP & NY

My Favorite Wedding Dress.....Ever

I don't think Natalia and I are in complete agreement over this wedding dress, but I decided that it deserves it's own post!

Jenny Packham has made a huge impact on the wedding fashion industry in the last few years, she has become the go to designer for Grecian, flowy, simple and vintage looking gowns for the modern bride who does not want to wear a ballgown or traditional dress to her wedding! Her workmanship, choice of fabrics and collections are fantastic and I usually like several of her gowns in each collection, however I have fallen hard for this specific gown in the 2011 range.

Ok, what is it that I adooooooooooore about this dress??? It's reminiscent of ballet, it looks like a skirt and top, the clashing of textures of the fabrics, satin set against tulle, a simple design yet so incredibly beautiful!

Now is this ideal to be worn to a wedding abroad?????????? Yes absolutely, to hell with all my rules and regulations, wear what makes you happy and this dress is definitely one that would make me feel happy for many years to come. By the way it costs around 11.000 $ so if you too fall for the dress be prepared!!!

SP

My Fave Short Wedding Dresses

I am on a roll with one of my favorite subjects: wedding fashion!!! So today we are looking at my top 3 short wedding dresses, of course I don't need to mention why a short dress is a fun, comfortable dare I say sensible length of dress to choose for a wedding abroad! Team with killer heels and amazing headpiece and a tan and everything else will fall into place!

From the top we start with an incredible designer who has taken the fashion world by storm and is simply fantastic, Marchesa, her range of bridal wear is gorgeous, however I find her fashion range even more inspiring and think a lot of the dresses are perfect for the fashion conscious brides out there! So, on to my first pick, feathers, tick, low back, tick, blush color, tick, hmmmmmmm, a no brainer!!!!!!!!!

My second choice is by the Pronovias city line, I am having a short ruffly moment, ok I admit it will not work for most, but if you are tall, slim and have plenty of confidence why would you not??? I think I would make the belt more of a statement look at me piece though!

My final dress is again by Marchesa, yes I know repeating myself, it is gorgeous though, this minimal, origami style, simple, minimal gown is fantastic for a modern wedding, I would team with colored or perhaps metallic shoes to really set it off!

SP

Our Wedding Dress pics for this season

If you have read my previous post on how to choose a wedding dress, then you can now consider that I have flicked through many magazines and have settled on the following dresses fit to be worn for a wedding abroad and one that is fit to be worn to anything and anywhere, it truly is love at first sight for me!

Starting from the top, we have the simplest of simple wedding gowns, with a round cut t-shirt style on top, yet an elegant maxi length, I love this style for it's simplicity. Available at JCrew.com

The second is by a favorite designer, Marchesa, I just adore her, this gown is not from her wedding range, however I feel that it's such a grecian inspired, drapy, glam gown it would be ideal to be worn to a wedding abroad. marchesa.com

The final dress is by the chicest of chic designers, Vera Wang, this is a little puffy for my usual tastes, however I love that it's frothy, I love the sash around the waist and the contrasting black color and I love that it is almost sculptured rather than entirely soft and flowing, a very interesting shape.

SP