Whatever the Weather We’re Better Together

If the Weatherman could actually control the climate he’d be the best paid man on the planet. Brides-to-be would be lining up at his door to line his pockets with some cold, hard cash to ensure warm, dry weather for their wedding day. Strategies for selecting dates promising favorable weather range from consulting the Farmer’s Almanac to just picking a day on the calendar, crossing fingers, and hoping for the best. Unfortunately, when it comes to wedding day weather there is no guarantee. We’ve learned two things about wedding day weather over the years. 1. Always have a contingency plan if you’re planning an outdoor wedding. Better to have an impromptu indoor wedding in the event of a monsoon than to blow the budget sending a groomsman to Target for every rain poncho and umbrella available. 2. Whatever the weather we’re better together. Meaning, at the end of the day you’ll still be married and your wedding will be full of wonderful memories. If unwelcome weather crashes the wedding it may prohibit outdoor photos but it’ll only enhance the wedding day stories. We even had one bride who was married in a hotel lobby during a hurricane. It was more of a boutique hotel, no ballrooms or event space to relocate her beach wedding indoors. Recanting the story for us a few months later she shared this sentiment, “While we obviously wouldn’t have chosen to get married in those particular circumstances it made us realize that if we could make it through a hurricane and still say ‘I do’ then we could make it through anything.” Weather can't stop true love's sunshine.

“Last minute Lucy” vs “Plan ahead Paula”

My family has always been the type to wrap a present in the car on the way to a birthday party. We literally kept tape and scissors in the car and would often purchase the wrapping paper on the way to the event. To this day I get compliments on how well I wrap a package which I credit, in part, to wrapping many a present while in a moving vehicle. If you’re one of those people who get the most done at the last minute then you’re nodding your head and thinking, “Great idea! Why waste time wrapping in advance?!” If you’re a careful, consistent, calendar addict then you’re questioning my sanity and, perhaps, my upbringing. Either way, each of us has methods of getting things done that suit us. Some work best under pressure, some want to keep pressure as far out of the picture as possible. It’s important to identify which of these two characters you are and plan accordingly. If you’re “Last minute Lucy” just make sure you don’t underestimate your time and push everything out so far that you’re completely overwhelmed at the last minute and drown in your “to-dos”. If you’re “Plan ahead Paula” keep in mind that your task list does not have to rule over you. There is, in fact, more than enough supporting evidence that if something on your list has to be pushed back a day, or even a week, the world will not implode. I promise. Key point: Magnify your strengths and identify your weaknesses so you can strategize accordingly.

Go with the flow or swim against the current?

An interviewer recently asked me how wedding fashion has changed over the years Treasures has been in business. My reply? “Bridal gown styling is like an ocean. Fashions will ebb and flow but ultimately each bride seeks to find the gown that will embody her style, clothing personality, and the feeling she wants to evoke on her wedding day.” Trends will come and go, which creates a dilemma for the bride who finds herself drawn to trend detail in a wedding gown. She wonders if she’ll love it forever or look back with regret thinking she “dated herself” by choosing a style that was popular when she was married but may not be a few years down the road. Our advice is to be true to your personal style. If your gown captures your personality you’ll avoid regret and love it for life.

Example: Bows and ruffles are in at the moment. If your clothing personality is romantic and you tend to wear very feminine details in your outfits, then bows and soft ruffles suit you. Choosing a gown that has these details will be an expression of your style and will make sense. However, if your clothing personality is classic and you’ve previously expressed your hatred for all things bow laden and ruffle accented then choosing a gown with strong bow and prominent ruffle detail would be silly. The key is to make sure your gown is an expression of you. It’s exciting to be surprised by what gown you end up choosing. Listening to your voice instead of the voices talking “trend” will help you avoid being swept away by styling that doesn’t suit you.

Men…keep your mouth shut.

Before you think I'm being mean to the guys, hear me out. That's friendly advice in my title. The following is a recent comment I made to my sister Bonnie:

We need a Public Service Announcement that goes out to all newly engaged men which says, "If your bride asks you what type of wedding dress you envision her in the proper response... the ONLY proper response is, 'I can't even imagine. I just know that whatever you choose is going to wow me beyond words, if I'm even able to look past the sparkle in your eyes to notice what you're wearing. I only pray to God that I'll still be able to breathe.'" Perhaps we can have all diamond retailers distribute that as a temporary tattoo that only dissolves after the wedding day. And underneath it should say... "Repeat as many times as necessary."

The most hysterical part about this is… I’m only half kidding. We’ve seen seemingly harmless comments from Mr. Right go oh-so-wrong once his future Mrs. begins her gown search. “I don’t like poufy dresses” sounds like “I have to wear a mermaid dress which I hate and which I feel makes my butt look huge” in a bride’s mind. When, in all reality, all he meant was, “Please don’t show up looking like something off of ‘My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding’. I want to be in the same room as you on our wedding day.” While you want to consider your fiancé and his preferences in your gown selection, he wouldn’t want to keep you from the dress of your dreams. Most men learn, at one time or another, the valuable lesson “Happy wife, happy life.”

Our experience has been that sometimes guys will voice an opinion in passing that they later don’t even remember expressing. One of Our Brides was practically biting her fingernails while choosing between ordering her dress in white or ivory. Her fiancé said he only liked white… but she looked better in ivory. She ended up ordering ivory. On the wedding day when he complimented her on how breathtaking she looked she asked him, “So you don’t mind that it’s not white?” His response… “That’s not white?” So you see, sometimes even *they* don’t know what they mean. The key idea? Don’t let something your fiancé said in passing keep you from the dress of your dreams. He’ll thank you later, when you don’t spend your whole marriage regretting having let something he doesn’t remember saying keep you from the gown you love. Happy wife, happy life…. happy husband.

Our Bride Brag

We’re delighted with all the media coverage of Treasures and Our Brides lately! In case you missed our Facebook and Twitter bragging… I mean humble sharing… ;) We’ve decided to showcase some of the links and particulars so you can enjoy them. We’re so proud of Our Brides, how beautiful they look, and how many magazines and blogs took notice!

Kristin M. was featured as the "Most Romantic" photo in Points North Magazine. Her photographer was Ric Mershon Photographers. http://www.ricmershon.com/

Kristen C. on the cover and feature article of Panama City Living. Her photographer was FRSHNK Photography.

Bloggers took notice of Mia’s Four Oak’s Manor wedding. She was featured in three blogs! Links below.

Savvy Details Bridal Blog!

The Lovely Find!

Done Brilliantly: The Blog of Two Bright

Jessica caused quite a stir in Colorado! Our dresses go places (including Colorado, apparently)! Links below.

Couture Colorado

Colorado Wedding Style

Dena was featured in Carolina Bride magazine. I couldn't get the picture to post properly but you can see how fabulous she looked on our website. She was gorgeous enough to deserve 2 pages! Links below.

Dena

Dena 2

Alright already!

I can imagine that somewhere, someone might get tired of hearing about “Our Brides”, “Our Brides”, “Our Brides”. Tons of tweets, a multitude of Facebook updates, the special photo section on our website, stories told in conversation…etc, etc, etc. It’s possible that someone could get sick of hearing that term… I suppose. It’s kind of unfathomable to me because I never get sick of saying it…”Our Brides”, “Our Brides”… yep, still not sick of it. So, what’s the big deal about “Our Brides”? Ummm…everything! We love working with Our Brides! We have more fun than we should probably be allowed helping them choose the dress of their dreams, then jewelry, maybe a veil. Talking about how they’ll wear their hair, where the wedding will be, bridesmaids colors, how they met their fiancé and on and on. SO. Much. Fun! Seriously. We feel like friends of Our Bride by the time the whole process is through. We get a little sad when the day comes for her to pick up her gown and whisk it away to the wedding, knowing we may not see her again. Until….she sends pictures! Which is why we ask for wedding photos every five minutes. Wink, Wink.

So then we make Our Bride a special page in the “Our Brides” section of our website! A whole page named after her to show off the photos of her big day! We’re so proud of how she looks and feel like we got to be a part of the wedding even though we weren’t in attendance. Then, we think… “Wow, she looked so good her picture belongs on the homepage! Or the Bridal page!” Now all the photos on the Bridal page of our website, the one that lists the designers we carry, those are all actually Our Brides! Yep, you thought they were models. Yep, they make our dresses look good…really good. And all but one of the photos on our homepage are actually Our Brides! Yes, it’s hard to believe. No, none of them are professional models that I know of. Now you can see why we’re so proud of them! Why we talk about them every chance we get and why we’re always sending people to go see the pictures in the “Our Brides” section of our website. That’s the story on “Our Brides”. And if the person who may or may not be sick of hearing about “Our Brides” is reading this…you’re just gonna have to stop listening.

Tony Bowls' dresses are HOT- coming and going!

Tony Bowls is a name that’s sweeping the nation! From his extravagant pageant designs worn by pageant winners including Miss America to designs worn on Television, the Red Carpet and on the covers of Magazines – Tony Bowls' dresses turn heads! His own upcoming reality TV series will give even more insight into Tony’s life as an award winning designer but the thing that’s easy to see is that Tony knows fabulous! His dresses for prom from his Tony Bowls Evenings, Tony Bowls Paris, Tony Bowls LeGala and Tony Bowls Shorts collections are HOT! They come, they go! As fast as these dresses hit the door they’re gone! In high demand and short supply if you’ve got your eye on a Tony Bowls gown this year our advice is to get it while you can! Prom is fast approaching (faster for some girls with some schools having March proms here in Atlanta) so don’t wait!

Spring 2010 Bridal Styles arriving daily!

Spring is upon us! Ok, so it's still January and you think I'm crazy talking about spring. But spring really is here, at least at Treasures! Fabulous new Spring 2010 Bridal Gowns are arriving daily! Fresh new styles are breathtakingly gorgeous and waiting to be worn down the aisle by YOU! Now you might be thinking, "My wedding is in Summer or Fall 2010. It's not time for me to shop yet! These dresses are for Spring weddings, right?" But I've got news! Bridal gowns are not like our regular clothing. Spring refers to the release date of these gowns and not the time of year that they're expected to be worn! Bridal Designers come out with styles appropriate for all seasons in each collection. So if you've got a wedding anytime in 2010, now is the time for you to walk through our door! Bridal gowns take 4 to 6 months on average to arrive. Now, while we have rush options available for weddings sooner than that and we've been known to pull a few miracles out of our back pocket for very close timeframes, shopping ahead is definitely advisable! Not only will you be more relaxed but knowing what your bridal gown looks like helps the whole planing process go more smoothly! Those questions like "What formality should the bridesmaids dresses be?" "Should the guys wear ivory or white shirts with their tuxedos?" "What flowers in the bridal bouquet?" "What formality and color of invitations should I choose?" and the list continues, are more easily answered if your dress is already chosen. And don't forget the Mother of the Bride and Mother of the Groom! They can't choose their dresses until you choose yours and the bridesmaids! We love seeing that sigh of relief when brides choose the dress of their dreams! Come in and let us help you choose yours! Call for an appointment today! You can also check out our website at http://www.treasuresformals.com to preview these styles prior to visiting us! See you soon!