Find Your Perfect Gown at LuLu's Casablanca Bridal Trunk Show

Happy New Year's Eve! StarDust Celebrations will close today at 4:00 p.m. and be closed tomorrow for New Year's Day, but we will reopen on Thursday with our regular store hours. And we'll be starting the New Year off right with some fabulous trunk shows! We told you yesterday about Victoria Nicole at the StarDust Bridal Salon, but we'll also be hosting a show for Casablanca at LuLu's Bridal Boutique! Here are the deets:

Superb quality, original design and attention to detail - three commitments from Casablanca Bridal to their brides. Come see what this looks like in lace, tulle, crystals and satin during our trunk show for this beautiful collection at LuLu's this weekend (January 3-5).

The talented Design Team at Casablanca Bridal searches world-wide for luxurious fabrics, exquisite laces, and dazzling embellishments. Each unique style is hand-crafted to ensure each bride a tailored fit. It is Casablanca's philosophy to insist on the ultimate in quality materials and uncompromising workmanship in every gown they create. Visit LuLu's during our Casablanca trunk show to shop the full newest collection and experience this beauty and quality firsthand!

Kick-start Your New Year with Gorgeous Victoria Nicole Gowns

We are ready to start 2014 with a flourish and these stunning new bridal gowns from Victoria Nicole are just the ticket! StarDust is thrilled to host a trunk show for VN's beautiful and romantic gowns this weekend! Call the salon to schedule your appointment during this exciting shopping opportunity: 972.781.1619.

Award-winning design genius Victoria McMillan launched the latest venture in her 20-year-plus bridal design career in April 2010: Victoria Nicole. StarDust is the only salon in North Texas to have the privilege of carrying the stunning collection.

Wedded to designer Victoria McMillan's own personal design sensibilities, the gowns are glamorous yet romantic, the picture of timeless elegance. With more than 20 years of experience designing sophisticated and elegant gowns, this is Victoria's most personal collection yet, and she imparts a bit of herself in every gown she creates. Victoria notes, "It is my intent to create styles brides can look back on many years later, and still love the way they looked on their wedding day. It is so very flattering to be chosen to be part of such a special day."

Trunk Shows are a very important part of the bridal industry. The special in-store promotions or sales events allow brides to shop an expanded collection of a specific gown designers' newest line. Often, salons will offer a special promotion or discount during a trunk show. The name "trunk show" comes from how the gowns used to be transported from salon to salon - in trunks!

January Trunk Shows Are Just Around the Corner

We are screaming through the holidays, and January will be here before you know it! We are thrilled to share our January trunk show schedule with you. StarDust Bridal Salon will host trunk shows for Victoria Nicole (January 3-5), James Clifford (January 10-12) and Birnbaum & Bullock (January 17-19), which designer Robert Bullock will attend. LuLu's Bridal Boutique will host trunk shows for Casablanca Bridal (January 3-5), Allure Bridals (January 10-12) and David Tutera for Mon Cheri (January 24-26). The LuLu's trunk shows do not require appointments, but be sure to call 972.781.1619 for an appointment during one of StarDust's trunk show.


Victoria Nicole, James Clifford, Birnbaum & Bullock and Casablanca are just some of the collections
that we will feature in our salons during January!

What is a trunk show exactly, you might be wondering? Sometimes we, who live and breathe weddings all the time, forget that terms and events that are common knowledge to us may not be so obvious to new brides embarking on their wedding planning journey. A bridal gown trunk show is one of these things.

Ubiquitous to the bridal industry, trunk shows are special in-store promotions or sales events when gown designers send expanded offerings of their new line to stores for brides to preview, try on and order. Often, salons will offer a special promotion or discount during a trunk show. By the way, you might be wondering how these events came to be called "trunk shows." The name comes from how the gowns used to be transported from salon to salon - in trunks!

Remember to Breathe: Stress Relief for the Bride

We hear you – wedding planning can be stressful. It shouldn’t be, but somewhere between attending numerous vendor meetings, navigating family dynamics and making dozens of decisions, you realize you need a break. Now! Fortunately, there are plenty of things you can do to combat stress during what should be a wonderfully joyful time in your life.

Probably one of the most overlooked – and the most difficult, if you’re looking at your to-do list – is to get plenty of rest. Lack of sleep can be a stress magnifier and often, people getting too little sleep are more prone to irritability and less likely to be able to handle things as they don’t go according to plan. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that adults get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. That’s a tall order, to be sure, but even making an effort to go to bed an hour earlier each night will contribute to you feeling more rested overall and help you stave off a little stress.

Eating more healthfully is another way to keep stress at bay. When you don’t eat healthy meals regularly, your blood sugar can be all over the place and that can lead to crankiness. Without the proper fuel, your mind doesn’t function at its peak performance, and you can be easily distracted. An obvious bonus side effect of eating healthy is that you’ll look even more fantastic on your wedding day!

Exercise is another excellent way to kick stress to the curb! There are so many options out there: running, yoga, Crossfit®, cycling, Pilates, Zumba®, swimming or barre, just to name a few! No matter which form of movement you enjoy, just getting a moderate amount of exercise a few times a week can really help relieve your stress.

Three ways it does this is to increase endorphins (your body’s own feel-good chemicals), distract you from what seemed so stressful in the first place and boost your mood! Again, the added bonus is that you’ll look awesome in your bridal gown!

And we cannot forget massage, a surefire way to loosen those knots in your neck, back and shoulders. Massage can be a great stress reliever by helping you unwind and loosen tight muscles. Consider a day at the spa to help rejuvenate you. Or even better, schedule a couple’s massage for you and your fiancé – and declare that date a wedding-discussion-free zone. Taking a little breather from wedding planning every now and then can be just the ticket to refreshing you.

Finally, if going solo while planning your wedding is proving to be too much, get help! Just like you would not consider tackling serious legal or financial tasks without an attorney or a financial planner, you might not want to take on wedding planning without an expert by your side. At StarDust, we know weddings. One of our mantras is that we are “all weddings, all the time” and we have planned hundreds of weddings, which make us uniquely equipped to help you plan your wedding day! Ready to enlist some backup? Learn more by scheduling a free consultation with one of our certified wedding planners today! Call us at 972.781.1619 to schedule an appointment or fill out this form on our website.

sources: for more info on stress relief and sleep, visit the Mayo Clinic’s and the National Sleep Foundation’s websites.

 

Beautiful StarDust Bride Featured on The Lovely Find

The weather is turning dreary again so we wanted to brighten your day today with a nod to a darling StarDust Bride whose precious southern farm wedding was featured on The Lovely Find. Rachel's precious wedding featured lots of mason jars, whimsical wildflower bouquets and brightly dressed bridesmaids sporting cowboy - or it is cowgirl?! - boots. But our favorite thing is the way lovely Rachel glowed so beautifully in her romantic Jim Hjelm lace bridal gown we helped her find here at StarDust Bridal Salon. Here are a few shots from Scobey Photography, but be sure to click on the link to enjoy the entire post!

Lazaro Bridal Gown Favorite Featured in Viral Video

Have you seen it?! The wild wedding video featuring epic battles between an armor-clad wedding party and ninjas, superheroes and more?

We think it’s great fun, and we always enjoy seeing couples’ creativity come together on their wedding day in a celebration that truly reflects them and their personalities.

In this fun film, the groom battles a knight in a sword battle, then come the ninjas, followed by Ironman and Batman, a crew of bellhops and finally, WWE manager Jimmy Hart. BUT. The star of the show? It’s this fabulous bridal gown by Lazaro that the bride looks amazing in throughout all of the antics!

Gorgeous tulle ball gown - Lazaro 3108

This darling bride is just stunning in this elegant confection of a gown.

The beautiful Lazaro tulle ball bridal gown, featuring a pleated silk satin organza bodice with sweetheart neckline, floral jewel encrusted band and chapel train is available in Sherbet, Ivory, and White.

And the best part? This lovely gown is part of our permanent Lazaro collection right here at StarDust! That’s right – we have a sample of this gorgeous gown in our salon, just waiting for you to come and fall in love. So call us at 972.781.1619 to schedule an appointment to try her on! And we promise, there will be nary a ninja during your visit. You’re welcome.

Brides of All Ages and Stages

There is no expiration date on love! And we have been seeing evidence of that more and more here lately at StarDust and LuLu’s. Theknot.com’sReal Wedding Survey 2012 showed that the average marrying age for brides and grooms is 29 and 31, respectively. However, with the uptick in encore weddings or couples just waiting longer to tie the knot, we are enjoying seeing brides of all ages and life stages seeking our advice!

 In addition to better health leading to greater longevity of life, one of the biggest contributing factors to more mature couples going all-out for their unions is the industry trend to customize and personalize weddings, which has led to an “anything goes” approach. Often in the past, older couples would either elope or just settle for a very small, low-key wedding. But no more! Couples now are savoring the opportunity to make their wedding a blow-out celebration with all of their friends and family, complete with fabulous food, over-the-top décor, amazing cakes, incredible entertainment and a show-stopping gown.

Of course, we serve numerous wonderful brides in their 20’s, and we often assist delightful 30- and 40-something brides but recently, we’ve relished helping lovely ladies in their 50’s find the gowns of their dreams. We’ve even have several groomsmen in for tux measurements that were using their walking canes – and we had one bridal gown client in her 90’s! Amazing! We love these mature clients and the zeal with which they embrace life!

Our expert bridal stylists can work with any age and any body type to ensure that each and every bride finds the perfect gown and feels beautiful and confident on her wedding day. The rest of our team throughout the store are also happy to help style your whole wedding, from bridesmaids dresses and tuxedos to stationery suites and wedding favors – no matter the age of your wedding party or the style of your wedding! Visit our website to learn more about how StarDust can help you create your very own beautiful, imaginative wedding!

Ask the Planner: Wedding Dollars and Sense

Q: How do we go about creating our wedding budget?

A: Establishing a wedding budget is the essential first step to take before getting too far into planning your big day! To begin, you’ll want to have frank conversations with everyone who will be contributing financially to your wedding celebration to make sure you are on the same page. You must know the bottom line you’ll be working with beforehand so you do not overspend.

Next, you’ll want to determine with your fiancé what your priorities are. Are you passionate about incredible food? Is killer photography one of your biggies? Is it imperative to you to have breath-taking floral and décor? Do you have to have THE band that will cement your reception in the minds of your friends and family as the party to end all parties? Whatever your top priorities are, make sure to set aside plenty of your budget to accommodate these important categories, and be prepared to scale back on items that are less significant to you.

Once you’ve prioritized, you’ll want to start putting pen to paper and actually mapping out your budget. You should start with the reception, as it will make up 50-60% of your entire budget. In addition to food and beverage (bar) costs, subcategories that fall under reception include venue rental fees, tax, service charges and/or gratuities and possibly security and valet, to name a few.

Other categories usually comprising the wedding budget include (but are certainly not limited to): ceremony, floral/décor, music/entertainment, photography/videography, stationery, rentals, bakery, favors/gifts and transportation/parking. There are plenty of wedding planning magazines and websites that can give you ballpark percentages of your budget breakdown by category. Use these suggestions as a guide but customize your budget based on the priorities you determined. We also always recommend a line item for “cushion” or unexpected expenses that may arise. You don’t want to go over budget simply because you didn’t anticipate any surprises.

If the thought of creating and maintaining a wedding planning budget is overwhelming to you, consider hiring a professional wedding planner. A StarDust planner can not only help you allocate funds and stay on track with your budget, but can also help you design a beautiful, imaginative wedding full of creative ideas that will represent you and your fiancé without breaking the bank!

Perfect Your Wedding Day Look During StarDust's Accessory Trunk Show

You've got the guy. You've got the gown. Now it's time to finalize your wedding day ensemble with headpieces, jewelry and a veil! This weekend, StarDust is pleased to host a veil and accessory trunk show featuring gorgeous veils from Toni Federici and stunning jewelry and accessories from Paris by Debra Moreland. Call the salon at 972.781.1618 to schedule your appointment and plan to bring your gown so our stylists can help you select the perfect complimentary pieces!

Extended Trunk Show for Eve of Milady

Here's your silver lining to Icepocalypse 2013: our Eve of Milady trunk show has been extended through this weekend!

Call to schedule an appointment to see an expanded offering of these exquisite Eve of Milady bridal gowns now through Sunday, December 15. Reserve your spot now by phoning StarDust Bridal Salon at 972.781.1619.

Finding Your Party Perfect Dress is as Easy as ABC!

‘Tis the season to…party! Ladies, we know that your calendars are quickly filling up with loads of fabulous shin-digs! What’s a gal to do when she needs new cocktail dresses for several soirees? Head to StarDust’s best-kept secret, A Bridal Closet!

A Bridal Closet (ABC) is StarDust Celebrations’ outlet, where you can find spectacular special occasion dresses for 40-75% off of the original retail price! The gowns are samples of our stunning Mother of the Occasion and bridesmaid dresses, most of them perfect for a holiday cocktail party! Not only do we have a great selection of designer gowns, but we also offer a variety of accessories at ABC.

A Bridal Closet is located in the upscale Shops of Willow Bend in West Plano. ABC keeps abbreviated hours, only open during shopping center hours Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so please plan accordingly!

**gowns and accessories shown are representative of types of styles that can be found at ABC, but these exact dresses and jewelry pieces may not be available.**