The Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton

After months of rumors and speculation, at last the world’s anticipation was met with the glorious site of the beautiful Catherine Middleton revealing her stunning bridal gown for the royal wedding today! In a traditional yet modern design created by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen’s British fashion house, Kate elicited a collective gasp of delight as she alighted from the Rolls.

Kate’s gown is made from ivory and white satin gazar (a silk of loosely woven organza with a crisp finish), and the bodice and skirt feature hand-cut English lace and French Chantilly lace. The train measures nearly nine feet long. The lace appliqué for the bodice and skirt was hand-made by the Royal School of Needlework. Individual flowers were hand-cut from lace and hand-appliquéd onto ivory silk tulle to create the dress' unique design, which incorporates the rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock. Kate is said to have worked very closely with Burton on the design of her wedding gown.

Some fashion experts are likening Kate’s gown to that worn by Grace Kelley during her wedding to Prince Ranier III of Monaco in 1956. The intricate lace appliqué bodice and sleeves of Kate’s gown mirror those on Princess Grace’s wedding dress. Additionally, both gowns share a high-waisted, full-skirted silhouette with a long, dramatic train and were worn with the sheerest of veils and a diamond tiara. By the way, the gorgeous tiara Kate wore was her “something borrowed”, on loan from the Queen herself. The Cartier halo tiara was a gift to the Queen on her 18th birthday.

Other notable highlights were Kate’s sweet hand-wired bouquet and the bridesmaid dress worn by Pippa Middleton, Kate’s sister and maid of honour. Kate’s bouquet was comprised of myrtle (the emblem of marriage; love), lily-of-the-valley (return of happiness), sweet William (gallantry) and hyacinth (constancy of love). The shield-shaped bouquet was designed by Shane Connolly and incorporated these flowers that carry significance for the Royal Family, the Middleton family and the Language of Flowers.

Pippa’s dress was also designed by Sarah Burton and was created to share details with Kate’s gown. The beautiful and elegant cowl-necked design was made of a heavy, ivory satin-based crepe. And while white may seem an unusual choice for a bridesmaid dress, it is actually very traditional, dating back to ancient Roman times, when bridesmaids wore white as well as the bride to confuse evil spirits who might intend to kidnap the bride. By all the ladies wearing white, the spirits could not be sure which lady the bride was.

As the meticulously timed event continued post-ceremony, the couple was whisked away to Buckingham Palace in a 1902 State Landau Carriage, which was built to be used at the Coronation of King Edward VII. Finally, the happy couple made their appearance on the balcony for the anxiously awaited kiss. Spectators were disappointed with the quick little peck Will and Kate exchanged, but were rewarded a few minutes later with a slightly longer kiss.

Congrats to the beautiful Duke and Duchess of Cambridge! Thank you for sharing your wonderful day with us all! We wish you a lifetime of love and happiness!

Melissa Sweet & Platinum Bridal Trunk Shows this Weekend

Join us for a fabulous trunk show featuring the full collections of bridal gowns from both Melissa Sweet and Platinum for Priscilla of Boston. Call to make your appointment or to be added to our walk-in waiting list: 972.781.1619. Hope to see you this weekend!

StarDust Showcasing Gowns at Gleneagles’ Boas & Bling Event

StarDust Bridal Salon is excited to have been invited to showcase some of our fabulous wedding gowns at the Boas & Bling Bachelorette Event this Thursday at Gleneagles Country Club in Plano. The open house event will feature tips, sweet treats and tastings from our friends Kristin Burke, CWP, and Joanelle Loya, the dynamic duo of customized weddings and events at Gleneagles. You will have the opportunity to enjoy a tour of the beautiful venue, which offers the perfect setting for your elegant wedding reception. The shin-dig will also feature a panel of premier wedding professionals who will dish wedding planning advice and answer your questions! We hope to see you there!

StarDust Celebrations Launches Fabulous New Website

We are beyond thrilled to announce the launch of our beautiful new website!

The site is a very comprehensive overview and showcase of all of our services and products from bridal gowns, bridesmaid dresses and accessories to stationery, tuxedos and full-service wedding planning and absolutely everything in between! We have included some fabulous tools to inspire you as you journey through the wedding planning process, and we sincerely hope you will enjoy using them to your full advantage!

Come and check us out: http://www.stardustcelebrations.com/. Be sure to sign up for our mailing list if you’d like to be kept apprised of our sales and special events! Have fun!

The Royal Wedding of Prince William and Miss Kate Middleton

Photo: WireImage/Mario Testino

The wedding world is abuzz with the pending nuptials of Prince William and Miss Kate Middleton, now just a week away. "What will Kate's gown look like?" “How much will they adhere to tradition versus bringing in their own modern touches?” “Who are the some 1,900 guests who have the privilege of receiving an invitation?!” are just a few of the questions everyone is dying to have answered.

Speculation on the design of Kate’s wedding gown has been running rampant! Of course her gown will have sleeves…or will it?! Will there be lace? Tulle? Full ball gown skirt or sleek and form fitting? Just how long will Kate’s train be?! Well, we have heard some tidbits here and there...Kate’s gown is said to be designed by Sophie Cranstonunder the label Libelula. Sophie previously designed with Alexander McQueen. The gown is rumored to be made of ivory satin and lace with pearl buttons, a 10-foot train and sleeves, of course! The bride also apparently has two back-up gowns in case the full design of her gown is leaked!

Some of our gown designers were asked by Brides.com to create their own Kate-inspired design, fit for a princess. Here are a few of them. Aren’t they fabulous?!

Melissa Sweet Design



Platinum/POB Design



St. Pucchi Designs



Watters Brides Design



1,000+ year old Westminster Abbey, site of the Royal Wedding

There are numerous rules, traditions and regulations surrounding the wedding of a royal. The couple has chosen which they will stick to and which they will make their own. Will and Kate will marry at Westminster Abbey, the same location of the Queen’s wedding in 1947, and Kate will arrive in a car rather than the horse-drawn carriage that most royal brides use. As is custom, Kate’s bridal party will consist of several young children serving as bridesmaids and pageboys. What is not custom however, is Kate’s selection of her 27-year-old sister Pippa as maid of honor, the oldest main bridesmaid in recent royal wedding history.

Other sweet traditions Kate will be honoring is carrying a sprig of myrtle in her bouquet, and she will leave her bouquet at the grave of the unknown warrior at Westminster Abbey as a tribute to the armed forces. And Kate will be wearing a wedding band containing precious Welsh gold from the Queen’s personal royal nugget. Will, however, has opted to not wear a wedding band, explaining that he is just not a jewelry kind of guy.

Of the 1,900 invitations that were issued, a great number were sent to fellow royals, church officials, diplomats and foreign leaders in addition to the standard friends and family. And the philanthropic couple will not be expecting gifts from a formal registry from these guests; rather they have established a charitable giving fund through which they hope their guests will bless five charities supporting causes very close to their hearts. Learn more about the fund here:

Will and Kate’s ceremony is at 11:00 a.m. London time and will be followed by a wedding breakfast (think “brunch”) for 600 guests at Buckingham Palace hosted by Her Majesty the Queen herself. The couple will have a traditional several tiered fruit cake covered in cream and white icing and decorated with flowers; the confection will be created by Leicestershire-based cake designer Fiona Cairns. They will also serve a chocolate biscuit cake prepared by McVitie’s as requested by Prince William. The prince’s request is borrowing the “groom’s cake” tradition from the Southern U.S. and will be made of 1,700 Rich Tea cookies and more than 37 pounds of chocolate! Sounds like Will has a sweet tooth!

Will's "groom's cake" will be a much larger variation of this.

There are SO many fabulous details that we could just go on and on about, but there are plenty of sites that are solely dedicated to the Prince William and Kate’s wedding of the century. Check out a few of them for your Royal Wedding “fix” day or night! http://www.theroyalweddingwilliamkate.com/ or http://www.officialroyalwedding2011.org/tag/homepage/page/1

StarDust Introduces the Elana Collection for Mothers

As a Mother of the Bride or Groom, it’s a challenge to find the just-right wedding day ensemble. You want to feel beautiful and comfortable, and maybe even a little glamorous, right?! But some of the dresses out there are just plain frumpy! We at StarDust are always looking to broaden your options and we’ve just brought in a new line that is perfect for the stylish mom!

The Elana Collection is a line of customizable knit designs that offer a great variety of more modern styling for the discerning Mother of the Bride or Groom. Many of the styles can be ordered in more than two dozen colors and you can even add some bling if you like. These contemporary styled dresses and suits are comfortable, flattering and elegant. Call today for your appointment to check them out: 972.781.1619.

Spring 2012 Collections Revealed at New York Bridal Market

Whew! What an exciting few days we had at the fabulous New York Bridal Market last week! The designers have just outdone themselves, and lucky us – and you – we all get to reap the rewards!

With the pending nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton being top-o-mind for everyone in the bridal world, the royal wedding clearly made an impact on some of the designs of the new bridal gown collections. We saw that especially in the use of sleeves! Look at some of these beautiful options!

Eve of Milady/photo by Thomas Iannaccone



Watters Brides gown/photo by Thomas Iannaccone

And some of these gowns are just downright regal, don’t you think? Fit for a princess, to be sure!

Monique Lhuillier gown/photo by Steve Eichner



St. Pucchi gown/photo by George Chinsee


Texture was everywhere. Gowns were constructed of different fabrics and designers are using them in fun ways such as pleats on bodices and ruffles all over! Designers also used plentiful beading and appliqués to give their gowns a lot of dimension.

Alvina Valenta gown/photo by Robert Mitra



St. Pucchi gown/photo by George Chinsee


This trend gives new meaning to the term “blushing bride” – blush gowns! These gorgeous soft pink hues are sure to flatter any bride’s skin tone.

Watters Brides gown/photo by Thomas Iannaccone



Monique Lhuillier gown/photo by Steve Eichner


Who said you have to keep the botanical details in the bouquets?! Check out these amazing wedding dresses with larger-than-life floral accents.

Lazaro gown/photo by Robert Mitra



Eve of Milady gown/photo by Thomas Iannaccone



Jim Hjelm gown/photo by Robert Mitra


Another trend that is still going strong is the use of belts and sashes. This season, the waist accentuating detail has been elevated to a centerpiece of the design in some cases.


Wtoo Brides gown/photo by Thomas Iannaccone



Lazaro gown/photo by Robert Mitra



St. Pucchi gown/photo by George Chinsee

Did you notice that several of these wedding gowns have corset-inspired bodices? Not only do corsets give brides a lovely, feminine shape, but the hints to the seams and boning in these designs give the gowns a lingerie-inspired feel, adding a true “sexy factor” to these gowns!

Pronovias gown/photo by George Chinsee



Wtoo Brides gown/photo by Thomas Iannaccone

ALL the wedding gowns we saw were simply fabulous, but some our favorites this year were Lazaro, Watters and especially Eve of Milady! We had the added pleasure of meeting Eve! She is not only beautiful – just like her gowns – but gracious as well. We are so thrilled to be bringing some of these breath-taking new bridal gowns to our salons in the next few months! We just cannot wait to share these stunning gowns with you!

Girl Meets Gown Marathon This Sunday

WEtv will run back-to-back episodes of Girl Meets Gown this Sunday, April 17, 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. CT. We heart this fabulous show featuring some of our wonderful brides and their ups and downs of finding their dream wedding dress. Set your DVRs…you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll definitely enjoy these love stories between a girl and her gown!

Watters and WTOO Bridal Trunk Show This Weekend

Join us and a representative from Watters/WTOO for a fabulous bridal gown trunk show at our West Plano StarDust Bridal Salon. Please call for your appointment or to get on our waiting list.

Real Wedding Featured in BONT

This past fall we had the privilege of working to plan a fabulous wedding for a super-fun bride and groom. The result was a gorgeous hot pink, black and white wedding that is now being featured in the current issue of Brides of North Texas. Thanks, BONT, for recognizing this amazing event that incorporated lots of special details throughout, including a photo booth, a very realistic fish groom’s cake and an after party featuring zany props, a cigar roller and mini donuts made right before the guests’ eyes!

The wonderful vendors who made it all possible:
Bridal Gown and Accessories: Stardust Celebrations
Bridesmaids' Attire: Stardust Celebrations
Cake: Delicious Cakes
Cigar Roller: The Cigar Roller – Sabino Sotelo
Decor/Rentals: Liland’s Party Decor
Entertainment: Band – ZuZu Peddals, DJ – Jaime Chavez
Favors: Snack Box – homemade donuts
Florist: Dr. Delphinium
Hair/Make-up: Elan Studio
Lighting: Absolute Lighting
Photography: Visual Image – Carmine LiDestri
Photo Booth: boothBooth
Reception Venue: Wedgewood Ballroom at the Hilton Anatole
Specialty Linen: BBJ Linens
Strings: Gyros String Quartet
Transportation: Premier Transportation and Romantic Remembrances
Tuxedo: Stardust Celebrations
Videographer: Visual Image – Carmine LiDestri
Wedding Planner: Marsha Ballard French, CMWP – Stardust Celebrations
Wedding Venue: Perkins Chapel at SMU

This Weekend: The St. Pucchi Sale

This weekend we are having a sale on the ever-fabulous St. Pucchi. Current select samples will be discounted 20% and discontinued gowns will be an amazing 30% off! Please call 972.781.1619 to schedule an appointment.