The OurWeddingDay Blog

Wedding fashion is in a constant flux, which is a very good thing for bride’s looking for the latest and greatest wedding gown styles. The David’s Bridal website updates on a regular basis, giving you up-to-date information on various designer collections, including the White collection by Vera Wang.

One of the most recent White arrivals includes one of the most elegant halter wedding dresses to grace the site. It is a draped charmeuse halter with a net skirt and is only available at the David’s Bridal store. What makes this dress even more appealing is the price!

Another White addition includes a v-neck soft A line gown that is adorned with hand appliquéd lace. If you’re a true romantic, this dress is the one for you!

One of the wedding dress styles that was found front row and center in the bridal fashion world is the classic ball gown. The White collection offers a gorgeous satin-faced organza ball gown that would take any bride’s breath away. If you want to be the belle of the ball, then consider choosing this style wedding gown, and your wish will certainly come true.

Regardless of the wedding gown style you end up choosing, it’s important to keep in mind that your gown should fit your unique style and personality.

Read more:

• White by Vera Wang
• David's Bridal Flower Girl Dresses
• Using David's Bridal's "Figure Flattery"

One of the most fun parts of planning a wedding is choosing your wedding party gifts and your flower girl gifts. This takes some thought and planning, but it is also very rewarding, as you have the opportunity to thank your best friends. Here are a few ideas for flower girl gifts:

Consider having a t-shirt, hoodie, or backpack or tote bag custom made for the flower girl that says (of course) “flower girl” on it. That way, she can wear it to the rehearsal dinner. Not only will everyone find it adorable, but it will also make your flower girl feel really special and honored.

You should purchase flower gift dresses (meaning, the dress you want your flower girl to wear should be a gift to her). You do not have to buy the flower girl’s dress at a bridal salon; you may, in fact, find one somewhere else unexpectedly, such as at a department store or vintage dress shop.

Many little girls love the thought of being a princess and wearing a tiara. A small tiara will make her feel beautiful, and she will especially love being part of your wedding and will remember it for years to come. If you are having an outdoor wedding, you may also want your florist to make her a halo, accentuating her role as the flower girl.

Read more:

• Keeping Toddler Flower Girls Happy
• Your Flower Girl
• Participant Alternatives: Unusual Ring Bearers & Flower Girls

Worried you won’t find online wedding dresses that fit your shape? Don’t be! At Davidsbridal.com, you’ll find different links for various body types, and specific gowns for each. Knowing what your body type is and how to find the ideal bridal dresses for your shape is one of the secrets to finding the perfect gown. You’re welcome to drive around town, going from one wedding gown boutique to another, asking wedding dress vendors which gown fits your shape, or you can visit davidsbridal.com.

Where: Visit the home page at davidsbridal.com and click on the link titled “Bridal Gowns.” There you will find a box in the middle of the page called “figure flattery.” Click on this and you’ll be well on your way to finding your ideal wedding gown.

What: Below the words “figure flattery” you can choose which body size you’d like to shop for: Plus, Petite, Maternity, or Tall. Click on the appropriate size and you’ll find a large selection of gowns that are designed to flatter your specific body type.

Extra Info: Once you make your way to the appropriate gown selection, you will find a box that has the text “sort” to the left of it. Click it and you can view the gowns in one of three configurations: Price low to high, price high to low, or newest arrivals.

Read more:

• Complementing Your Figure
• Getting Fit for Your Big Day
• Plus Size Bridal Gowns

Flower girl dresses have never been more fashionable. If you want to find a fantastic selection of fashion forward dresses for a toddler flower girl, or even older, then visit davidsbridal.com for the latest and greatest.

Here is a sneak peek at the newest arrivals available to view on the website.

Dresses:

• An organza tiered tea-length ball gown style dress. Since the tea length dress is on the hot list for 2011, this would be a great pick for brides who want only the trendiest styles at their wedding.
• For a more princess look, check out the spaghetti strap asymmetrical tiered organza gown. This dress is nothing short of dreamy.
• The new cap sleeve tea-length gown with floral details is sweet and elegant.
• The shantung taffeta ball gown features a large bow, which accents an empire waist.
• The tank satin bodice with satin pick-up skirt is gorgeous and unique.
• If you like the idea of a ballet dancer flower girl, then check out the tea length tulle ball gown brocade tank.

Accessories
Davidsbridal.com also offers a wide selection of flower girl accessories that include shoes, headbands, veils, tiaras, necklaces, earrings, rings, and hair clips. Choose your flower girl’s dress first, and then design the rest of her ensemble around it.

Read more:

• Selecting Your Flower Girl
• Toddler Flower Girls
• Wedding Participant Alternatives: Modern & Unusual Ideas

If you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last six months then you probably haven’t heard that Vera Wang now has a collection at David’s Bridal stores across the country! Last September, Oprah showcased the collection, called “White,” before its debut in stores February 11th, 2011, with Vera Wang herself and a handful of models. This is a dream for budget conscious brides to be who have always dreamed of wearing a Vera Wang creation on their big day.

If you’ve been exploring online wedding dresses then I’m sure you’ve stumbled upon this gorgeous collection that is comparable to Vera’s couture gowns. “(I’m) totally committed,” Vera says. “It’s not ever only about a dress. It’s about the service; it’s about the knowledge and the help that David’s is able to provide brides.” Vera also says, “These dresses will be available to so many more brides than I’ve been able to ever reach before. So it’s a whole new world for us and bridal, with all the same aesthetics and design philosophy.”

The best part of this collaboration is the price! Gowns from the White collection will be available for $600 to $1400 in sizes 0-14. Vera announced that she would also offer a bridesmaid collection at David’s Bridal as well. Her bridesmaids dresses will range in price from $150 to $250.

If you haven’t found yourself perusing any particular online wedding store, then you’re probably wondering what styles and fabrics Vera’s White collection offers. The White collection is exemplified by hand cut details and countless fabrics such as satin faced organza, organza, taffeta, lace, tulle, crinkle chiffon, charmeuse and bobbin net. The colors are blush, ivory, soft white, and champagne.

Here are a few descriptions of my favorites from the White collection:

One dress in particular, a flare gown, was inspired by Chelsea Clinton’s wedding dress. This dress has a dropped waist and a flowing draped skirt. It includes a sash that is optional and sold separately.

The White collection also offers Ivanka Trump’s dress, which is a short-sleeved gown with the illusion of lace. It features a full A-line skirt made from satin-faced organza. What makes this dress so special is that it’s two dresses in one! The bodice is removable and transforms the dress into a strapless gown.

I’m a sucker for strapless gowns, so naturally the strapless taffeta gown is my favorite. It is comprised of taffeta and a soft netting that hugs a full ball gown skirt, with an asymmetrically draped bodice and sultry sweetheart neckline.

As if the bridal gowns and bridesmaid dresses aren’t enough, Vera is including accessories in the collection as well. Included are horsehair, floral, and crystal sashes, as well as embellished crystal headbands, crystal headpieces, crystal hair combs, and tulle veils.

If you’ve been searching for a dreamy online wedding dress, take a gander at the Vera Wang White Collection at David’s Bridal. There’s a good chance you may land on your dream dress.

Check out Gawker's new profile of the one and only Vera Wang:

Who: The fashion stalwart may be best known for her wedding dresses, but she's branched out into fragrances, eyewear, shoes, home furnishings, and more.

Backstory: Vera grew up in a family of immense wealth: Her Chinese-born father, Cheng-Ching ("C.C.") Wang built a fortune in the pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and packaged goods industries as the co-founder of U.S. Summit, a company that Vera's brother oversees to this day; her mother, Florence, was the daughter of a Chinese warlord and a former translator at the United Nations, who took Vera with her on many a shopping trip. Vera attended Chapin, was a competitive figure skater (she narrowly missed a shot at the making the Olympic pairs team in 1968), and went to college at Sarah Lawrence, studying at the Sorbonne in Paris her junior year. When her dad wouldn't pay for grad school in design, she took a job as a sittings assistant at Vogue instead, working at the magazine for 17 years and ending up European editor.

After coming to the conclusion that she'd probably never be Vogue's editor-in-chief, Wang left the mag in the mid-'80s to take a job designing accessories and at-home wear for Ralph Lauren. A couple of years later, she convinced her father-who had long turned down her requests for capital-to finance a line of her own. He had one proviso: It had to be bridal wear. She reluctantly agreed, and it turned out to be a fortuitous decision. Bridal wear lacked a high-end brand name at the time and Wang redefined the industry during the '90s, replacing the once de rigueur frilly, poufy-sleeved dresses with sophisticated, intricate gowns. A decade later, with help from her (now deceased) right-hand Chet Hazzard and licensing chief Laura Lee Miller, the Vera Wang brand has expanded to countless other markets.

Of note: Wang's early buzz as a designer was a result of her pricey, custom bridal dresses, and she remains the brand of choice for many of the fussiest brides. Jessica Simpson, Mariah Carey, Karenna Gore, Sharon Stone, Melania Trump, and Jennifer Lopez (on two occasions) have all worn her down the aisle.

By 2000, she'd moved into the fragrance business with a scent for women to wear on their wedding day. She soon moved into dishes, flatware, stationery, and lingerie.  On Valentine's Day '11, her new bridal line, White, will exclusively hit David's Bridal stores.

Personal: After decades of being, as she describes it, a "fashion nun," Wang tied the knot just a few months shy of her 40th birthday. Her husband is Arthur Becker, a former Bear Stearns broker-turned-computer executive. After unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant, the couple adopted two Eurasian kids in the early '90s, Cecilia and Josephine. The family resides in the 740 Park duplex once occupied by Vera's parents. They sold their previous apartment, a six-bedroom spread at 778 Park, for $33 million in October 2007. [via Gawker]

Physical therapist Keeley Mathews finds "the dress" for her October 15th wedding, a beautiful Priscilla of Boston wedding gown, for 90%-off (!!!) at the Chelsea Market in New York City. [via NY Daily News]

Did you catch Vera Wang on Oprah today?  It was a heck of a show!  Wedding dress and honeymoon giveaways galore!  Check out more about the Oprah episode here.

What was all the excitement about?  Wang announcing her exclusive partnership with David's Bridal.

Says the iconic designer, “I am thrilled for the chance to bring my very specific vision to David’s Bridal, the biggest wedding retailer in America. The ability to grow my sphere of influence in the bridal world is both a huge creative and business opportunity and one I am so excited about. With this new challenge, I hope to speak with a level of taste and authority that will resonate with brides everywhere. This association represents the next logical step for someone who has spent 20 years building a relevant and respected bridal brand. I can’t think of a more strategic or promising time to grow a new segment of my business than now!”

Vera Wang's new bridal line, "White," will hit David's Bridal stores in February, and every dress in the collection will be under $1,500!

(via Shine) The hunt for the perfect wedding dress can be both thrilling and daunting. First there's finding the style and fit that suits you in a sea of gowns and then there's the dreaded price tag. While every bride dreams of walking down the aisle in a beautiful designer gown, dropping upwards to five figures on a dress isn't a reality for many new brides today. Nevertheless, that doesn't have to mean settling for a less glamorous wedding dress. The market is flooded with budget friendly gowns that don't sacrifice taste and elegance for affordability. Designers and bridal stores like David's Bridal make it possible to look like a princess without having to spend half of your wedding budget on your dress. Just think of all the things you can do with the extra money!

Check out breathtaking options for affordable wedding gowns at Essence here.

Celebrity weddings and glamorous bridal magazines are a lot of fun, but nothing’s more helpful than learning how real brides plan their big day.

Meet OWD's Real Brides: real OurWeddingDay.com Brides-to-be sharing their experiences.  It’s not about the “right” way to plan; it’s about each bride planning the wedding that’s right for her.

Natalie from Irving, TX writes:

Started out the week learning that the dresses my bridesmaid's ordered from Helene Bridal were arriving but looked nothing like what was pictured on their website.  The color was way off (was supposed to be a light slate grey but it was more like a light blue/lavender color), the construction of the dress looked like what you would see in a beginners sewing class, and they couldn't zip the dresses up.  Come to find out, they have a restocking fee of $75 -- the dresses only cost $99!

So I was left to scramble, working 5 hours straight one day with David's Bridal, trying to locate 8 dresses of the same style and color for all the different sizes my girls are.  I wound up having to incur about $1,000 to replace all their dresses for them, because they had already purchased other dresses from Helene Bridal.  The only David's Bridal dress style that would work for all the different body types of my girls just so happened to be on sale for $99 -- but quantities were limited.  I had to purchase dresses from Fort Worth, North Richland Hills, Frisco, and Mesquite, TX, as well as Oklahoma City, OK, Little Rock, AR and Springfield, MO -- for all 8 dresses and a new Flower girl dress. What a crazy couple of days that was!  But now everyone has their dresses.  Hallelujah!  

Then, after my brother found out that I wasn't going to invite my sister, due to a falling out my sister and I had, he is now boycotting our wedding and sent an email out to our entire family (including aunts, uncles and cousins) behind my back and let them all know what's up.  Everyone did not need to know the drama of our immediate family, but for whatever reason it made my brother feel better to bash me to everyone else.  I am not going to be bullied into inviting my sister to the wedding.  People vote with their time, so it'll be his loss if he does not show.  And quite frankly, I do not want him there now after stabbing me in the back like this.  

So back to focusing on the wedding planning I go:  In this next week, we will meet with the DJ to go over our music choices and hear suggestions he may have.  I will continue to workout at 4:45am for my wedding gown fitting on May 8th and then sometime in the next week or two we will need to meet up with the hotel's wedding coordinator To go over linen choices, taste the food, pick out the cake and go over logistics of the wedding and reception layouts.  Busy busy!

Happy Planning!