Beautiful Bridesmaid Dresses

In case you haven’t noticed, bridesmaid gowns are better than ever! Girls want a stylish and beautiful dress, one that makes them feel pretty and a nice complement to the bride. Designers are really running with this and are making available some of the loveliest and most sophisticated styles lady attendants have seen! This season, colors are trending towards silver or neutrals, but we are seeing some fabulous reds and pinks. Also, the fabrics are soft and feminine....Bridesmaids really have come a long way!

Here are just a few of the gorgeous gowns hot off the runway.

The fabulous lines we are thrilled to offer are:

StarDust Bridal Salon
Alvina Valenta
Jim Hjelm Occasions
Lazaro
Melissa Sweet
Monique Lhuillier
Watters

LuLu's Bridal Boutique
Affairs by Mori Lee
After Six
Alfred Sung
Bill Levkoff
Cynthia Rowley
Dessy
WTOO

Visit one of our fabulous salons to find the perfect bridesmaids dresses for your wedding!

This Weekend's Trunk Show

Wraps and Shrugs to Warm Up Your Wedding

Baby, it’s cold outside! But you simply cannot wreck your entire fabulous wedding day ensemble by throwing a coat over your wedding gown…so what’s a bride to do? The solution is simple – a gorgeous and fashionable wrap, shrug or bolero jacket.

Designer Harrison Morgan has lead his namesake design firm into the fashion niche of soft accessories , and specifically in what he calls the “cover-up,” over the past 15 years. His designs are sought after by celebrities and socialites alike, and he is well known for his ability to seize upon an imaginative new fashion trend and make it his own. His designs are unique, modern, creative and feminine. When a bride adds a Harrison Morgan cover-up to her wedding day accessories, she will express her individuality and flair for fashion with confidence (and warmth!).

While steeped in the fashion world from the age of 16, Dana Stein did not begin her foray into the fashion fur industry until purchasing a personal knitted fur garment for the first time in 2006. Now she is lauded for her lightweight, fun yet glamorous everyday fur fashions. 2011 is the inaugural year for her bridal fur collection and StarDust is proud to be one of the first salons in the country to carry these sexy and chic yet practical accessories sure to bring a special touch to your wedding day!

That’s right! StarDust’s Bridal Salon now carries this fabulous outerwear designed with the stylish bride and her wedding party in mind. Our salon offers gorgeous bolero jackets, shrugs and wraps for the uber-sophisticated bride in a variety of fabrications from faux fur and silk knits to genuine fur. These luxurious accessories will add style and warmth to your wedding day at the very budget-friendly price point of $125-$250. Come in today to find the perfect complement to your bridal gown that will take your overall wedding day look to WOW!

Trunk Shows This Weekend

Ceremony Traditions

Looking for ways to make your wedding service uniquely yours? Why not consider including a special ceremony during your wedding such as one of these more unique options?

Unity Ceremony
While most traditional Protestant wedding ceremonies follow a basic order, there are many special touches you can add to your wedding to personalize it. We’ve all been to weddings where the couple has participated in a unity ceremony using candles. It’s beautiful, but not very unique these days. There are a few other ways you can connote the same idea.

Some couples have used flowers during the unity ceremony. Each mother carries a few stems of flowers in a certain color up the aisle and places her respective flowers in a vase. When it’s time for the unity ceremony, the bride and groom each take their families’ colored flowers and place them together in a larger vase in the center.

Many couples have used sand with the same idea. Each family has their own color of sand. During the unity ceremony, the bride and groom pour the sand in together, blending them just as their families are now becoming blended together. This is a particularly lovely ceremony to include when the bride and groom have children; it is a wonderful way to include them to symbolize the two families becoming one.

Blessing Stones

This sweet ritual can be part of your actual ceremony or take place at the end, which is what we recommend. At the end of the wedding ceremony, guests are invited to take a small stone from baskets (or vessel of your choosing), asked to make a wish for the newlyweds and cast the stone into a body of water (pond, lake, ocean, vase, etc.), leaving a memory for the couple. Throughout the reception, the couple can enjoy asking their friends and family what wish or advice had been cast into the pond for them. Sometimes, couples will have cards available for the guests to actually write down their blessing and place them into a blessing box for the bride and groom to keep forever.

Ring Warming

This is a wonderful tradition, but it works best when you have a small wedding or limit the “warmers” to just your immediate family (first row or two of family in the congregation) and your wedding party. When you do this, you can have your parents and grandparents at the altar area with you and your attendants for this ritual. The rings are placed in small organza bags (or whatever you’d like them in) and brought to the altar by an usher. The bag with the groom’s ring is given to the bridesmaids and the bride’s is to the groomsmen. When the music begins, the bags are passed to each person at the altar, ending with the bride and groom, who then present the rings to each other during the appropriate time. As each person has the ring bag, they should say a little prayer or blessing for the couple.

Be sure to check with your officiant about such amendments to your order of service. While these special touches won’t interfere with the traditional aspects to your wedding ceremony, you want to make sure your pastor will be on board and supportive of your choices.

Claire Pettibone and Pronovias Trunk Shows this Weekend

Claire Pettibone
Stardust Celebrations is pleased to announce one of our newest lines to the salon…Claire Pettibone!  Pettibone designs signify femininity, elegance and exquisite beauty. Each gown is embroidered with the finest European fabrics and laces.

Our Stardust Bridal Salon in West Plano is honored to host our first trunk show with this gorgeous new line this weekend, January 14-16.

Claire Pettibone began her love affair with bridal gowns at the age of four, after being mesmerized by a bride walking down the aisle of the historical St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. Pettibone is known for her unique, vintage-inspired gowns finished with a modern flair. Pettibone’s gorgeous gowns feature signatures such as delicate details, intricate embellishments and their ethereal, feminine feel. The timeless gowns are made of silk, lace, tulle and more and give the bride a feeling of utter glamour and grace on her most special day.

Please call 972.781.1619 for your appointment at our Plano salon.

Preview the entire gorgeous 2011 Claire Pettibone Bridal Collection here.

Pronovias

Hailing from the world-renowned Spanish design house, Pronovias gowns are glamorous, sophisticated, bold and majestic. Innovators in the bridal industry, it was the Pronovias Group who brought the “prêt-á-porter” or ready-to-wear concept from the fashion world into bridal. Pronovias gowns are decidedly feminine, designed to celebrate the female shape. Whether simply elegant, lavishly embellished or lace covered, Pronovias gowns are constructed with the utmost quality and are always fashion forward.

LuLu's Bridal Boutique in Uptown Dallas will feature the newest collection of these fabulous gowns this weekend (January 14-16) during a special trunk show. No appointment is necessary.

Get a sneak peek at the full stunning 2011 Pronovias Bridal Collection here.

Setting a Wedding Budget

Cha-ching! It's no secret - weddings can be expensive. During the wedding planning process, establishing a realistic budget is one of the tools that will drive your planning as much as anything else. As a bride, you’ll come across many versions of a budget, whether in magazines or on websites. When you hire a professional wedding planner, she/he will prepare a realistic budget tailored to your vision and priorities.

If you feel you’d rather traverse the planning journey on your own, you should consider a few guidelines when creating your budget. For starters, as a general rule for an average wedding in the D/FW metroplex, you can expect to spend approximately $300 per guest. This would be the all-inclusive bottom line. For example, for a 100-guest affair, you’d be looking at approximately $30,000, for the ceremony and reception sites, food/beverage, décor, entertainment, etc.

How do you divvy your budget? You should start by assuming you’ll spend half of your overall budget on the reception. And you’ll want to be sure to figure in the tax and service charge for your reception’s food/beverage expenses, which adds about 30% to the quoted food/beverage costs.

After that, start prioritizing what elements of your wedding are most important to you. Do you desire incredible photography to capture your day? Are stunning floral and décor hugely important to you? Maybe you envision a phenomenal gourmet dinner. Whatever your priorities are, take them into account when allocating your budget dollars, giving more of them to the components that matter to you most.

And perhaps the most important part of budgeting is being realistic and then sticking to it and tracking your costs as you plan. Having a budget will help direct you in your planning process and hopefully save you a lot of money-related headaches along the way. Happy planning!

If you like to know more about hiring a certified wedding planner to assist you in your wedding planning adventure, click here or call us at 972.781.1619.

When a Wedding is Called Off

Weddings are emotional events and the planning process can be a great time for the bride and groom to start functioning together as a team. Sadly, this time can sometimes bring to light the fact that the couple may not be meant for each other after all. Cancelled weddings are tricky and processing through them can be difficult. How do you know who pays for what? Is there ever a way to recover any funds paid out to vendors? How do you go about letting people know? Well as always, we are here to help.

If a wedding is cancelled, the bride or her family is responsible for all the expenses they are usually responsible for, as well as the notices to rescind the invitation – regardless of who calls off the wedding. The bride is also responsible for reimbursing the bridesmaids for any costs they may have incurred for bridesmaids’ gowns.

As for the ring, the bride may want to do a little research about this and seek legal advice. The ring is usually given to the bride as a gift and therefore, she doesn't have to return it. However, many brides do this as a symbol of calling it off!

Obviously, if the bride and groom were paying for everything together, they will need to figure out how best to settle their expenses and deposit forfeitures. A lawyer would need to be consulted in the event this cannot be worked out.

As for deposits paid, you would need to read each contract carefully, but generally all deposits paid to wedding venues and vendors are non-refundable. And wedding gowns, once ordered specifically to the bride’s measurements, are also non-returnable and non-refundable. But some ways to remedy the problem of a now unnecessary wedding gown would be to try to resell it or donate it.

If there is not time to send a letter of cancellation before the wedding, each guest must be called. If there is time to send a note to guests, it should read something like this:

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith
announce that the marriage of
their daughter
Joan
to
Mr. John Doe
will not take place

When a wedding cancellation occurs, it is usually very painful, so when guests ask " What happened?” the best response is "For personal reasons they decided to not become married."

We hope you never find yourself in this unfortunate situation, but if you do, we hope this will help you navigate through it. Best wishes to you all!

"Cheep, Cheep" January Clearance Event Starts Today!

You are cordially invited to start your New Year with tremendous savings toward the wedding of your dreams! Imagine saving 10% on bridal gowns by Lazaro, Jim Hjelm, St. Pucchi, Pronovias, Bliss by Monique Lhuillier, Maggie Sottero and so much more!

When you see our cute little chick, you know it's time again for great savings! Join us January 2-9, at all three of our salons for our "Cheep, Cheep" Clearance Event", where everything will be on sale! Yes, we said EVERYTHING! All gowns, accessories, gifts and more will be at least 10% off, but you can also find:

Wedding gowns from $400
Flower Girl dresses from $50
Cocktail dresses from $35
Jewelry, shoes, veils, invitations, mothers' gowns on sale up to 75% off!

Additionally at StarDust Celebrations in Plano, we are pleased to host a trunk show for the fabulous 2011 line from Alvina Valenta during this same time. The show will be held January 7-9, so call the StarDust Bridal Salon for your appointment to experience the latest stunning fashions from this world renowned designer. Get a sneak peek of these gorgeous gowns here.

And...have you ever dreamed of becoming a Cover Girl?! StarDust Brides, be sure to join us on Saturday, January 8, at our West Plano Salon to register in person for the Texas Wedding Guide Cover Model Contest. Full details on the contest can be found here.

Remember, for the clearance sale, each store will offer different sale items. Visit all three locations during this incredible event:

StarDust Bridal Salon in West Plano
6464 W Plano Parkway
972.781.1619

LuLu's Bridal Boutique in Uptown Dallas
2728 Routh Street
214.871.9610

A Bridal Closet, our Outlet in The Shops at Willow Bend in West Plano
6121 W Park Boulevard
469.366.0788
Located on the 2nd level between Macy's & Neiman Marcus
(Open only Friday, Saturday and Sunday)