Wedding Gowns & Bridal Gowns

Gloves have never really gone out of style, but more and more brides choose to accent their wedding dress with gloves in the year 2010. Check out these photos for inspiration on how to wear gloves to your wedding.

Dress up a gorgeous strapless gown with opera-length gloves! These are the gloves that go well above the elbow; they look best with ballgown dresses, mermaid dresses, or column dresses. For a more vintage look, don a small birdcage viel.

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I love bridal bouquets made out of things other than real flowers, such as Swarovski crystals or origami. It never occurred to me to make a bridal bouquet out of vintage brooches until I saw this piece from Portland floral designer Lisa Martin. She participates at a local designer bridal event, and every year she makes one special piece that deviates from her usual floral designs so someone can purchase it on the spot. Last year, she made a bouquet of feathers. This year, it was a bouquet of vintage brooches. Actually, she used brooches, rings, and earrings, as long as they looked like flowers. There are about 75 vintage pieces on the bouquet and it took her over 3 months and $500 to make.

If you have your heart set on something similar, start collecting vintage jewelry and brooches as early as now. It’s a great way to cut down on flower costs, not to mention that it allows you to incorporate family jewelry on your wedding day.

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All eyes (and lenses) are going to be on you during your big day, and surprise beauty mishaps can happen even if you have your pre-wedding skin and hair routine all planned. The last thing you want is for your makeup to fade before dinner or for your lipstick to smear right as soon as the photographer’s lens is pointed at you. It helps to bring a compact, mirror, lipstick, comb, and a small eyeshadow palette with you so you can retouch your makeup in between photographs. Of course, these must-have items should be kept in a chic bridal handbag so you don’t spend the whole reception keeping your makeup tucked under your wedding dress.

Unlike a normal handbag or evening bag, a bridal bag has to be unobtrusive; it should be pretty but it should not take attention away from your dress – unless it is simple, unadorned, and calls for loud accessories to complete the look. If you’re on the hunt for the perfect bridal bag, check out the gorgeous items from Bolcito Bags. These fashion-forward purses will not only keep your makeup in one place; they come in versatile, timeless designs so you can use them again and again. Look under the cut for my favorite pieces from Bolcito’s debut collection!

Made of ivory silk, Blossom (P800) will definitely amp up the romance factor of your wedding day look. The bag resembles a kissing ball, if kissing balls were made of silk, and I think you can get away without carrying a bouquet of flowers if you have a bag like this.

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No, a kissing ball isn’t a fancy ballroom party where guests go about kissing each other. Kissing balls were actually popular handmade Christmas decorations during the Victorian age, a practice that pre-dated hanging mistletoe on a doorway. Kissing balls of old were made of pine needles, evergreen boughs, and flowers arranged around a potato or apple. Today, kissing balls are made of brightly colored flowers and have a number of uses: as an alternative to bouquets, as decorative ornaments for any occasion, and as traditional Christmas decor. The use of kissing balls in weddings is a very recent development. At first it was because many churches did not allow flower girls to drop petals on the aisle because of the damage they do to the carpet, but then more and more brides started noticing how adorable their flower girls looked when they carried little balls of flowers.

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Marilyn Monroe might think that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but who says decking yourself with shiny gems is the only way to accessorize your wedding dress? You’ll stand out even more if you finish off your wedding dress with a non-traditional object, like lace. Lace bridal jewelry is a gorgeous and creative alternative to traditional bridal jewelry. The same rules still apply – the more simple the gown, the larger and more ornate the lace jewelry. The more embellished the gown, the simpler the jewelry.

You can easily make lace jewelry yourself with lace from a craft store, or you can buy them from US-based Etsy seller Live in Style. They’re a little expensive, but the craftsmanship looks excellent and each piece is intricately designed. I’m absolutely in love with her creations; check out my favorites below!

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