Late last week Jessica at West Main Bridal & Couture sent me photos of this fabulous new Casablanca gown and a bit of info. for you… thanks Jessica!

We’re really excited about this gown and know our brides will love it!
It’s a strapless gown with a sweetheart neckline and beautiful silk Charmeuse
accents on the bust and back neckline.  The mermaid silhouette is gorgeous and has
Swarovski crystals, rhinestones and sequins bead-work and embroidery sewn onto
netting over satin lining with delicate covered buttons on the back bodice.

Contact Info. for West Main Bridal & Couture
~ address: 101 East Water St., Charlottesville
~ website: www.westmainbridal.com
~ e-mail: info@westmainbridal.com
~ phone: 434-979-5683

This beautiful wedding gown is available now at our own lovely West Main Bridal & Couture. Be sure to check out this design called “Fiori” by Maggie Sottero. It’s an A-line, asymmetrically pleated soft shimmer-satin gown featuring Venice lace appliques cutting through the bust and wrapping across the back creating a contemporary one-shoulder neck line. Seeing it in-person is a must!

Contact Info. for West Main Bridal & Couture
~ address: 101 East Water St., Charlottesville
~ website: www.westmainbridal.com
~ e-mail: info@westmainbridal.com
~ phone: 434-979-5683

Lyndsay of Bella Bridesmaid in Richmond contacted me recently to let me know about their new shop and today I’m happy to pass that information along to you…  It looks very sweet but I haven’t been there yet so if anyone reading this has, please send me a comment to say what your experience was.
Here’s a note from Lindsay:

We are so excited to offer brides and their bridesmaids a unique and fun experience while shopping for dresses! Bella Bridesmaid offers modern, fresh and chic dresses in a wide variety of colors, fabrics and styles! No matter if your wedding is a black tie event or a classic vineyard affair, we have the dress for you!

In addition to dresses, we offer fun and innovative accessories. If you are looking for bridesmaid gifts, we have so many wonderful ideas! From customizable jewelry to luxurious clutches to hair petals, your bridesmaids will be ecstatic when they receive your gift! In addition to bridesmaid gifts, we have great accessories to outfit the younger ones in your wedding party. Maihar Design offers one-of-a-kind ring bearer pillows and flower girl wands that are simply beautiful!
If you are looking for bridesmaid dresses or accessories, we hope that you’ll stop by to see us!

Contact info. for Elizabeth & Lyndsay at Bella Bridesmaid
~ address: 5611 Grove Ave., Richmond 23226
~ hours: Tues. – Fri. 11 – 7 & Saturday 10 – 5
~ phone: 804-658-0105
~ e-mail: richmond@bellabridesmaid.com
~ website: www.bellabridesmaid.com

On Thursday afternoon I stopped by West Main Bridal & Couture to catch up with Susan Sorbello who’d just returned from Europe and, of course, she was happy to show off this beautiful new gown…

“We just received our first new gown of the season from Modern Trousseau.  Her name is “Autumn”.  We have her in ivory French Alencon lace over latte Italian duchesse silk satin.  This gown is truly breathtaking and shows off the figure beautifully with a modest mermaid cut.  Callie at Modern Trousseau has designed a stunning, flowered ribbon belt which trails down the back.

We matched the gown with a fingertip length Laura Jayne Alencon lace veil in ivory.”

Beautiful pics by the incomparable Jen Fariello!

Contact Info. for West Main Bridal & Couture
~ address: 101 East Water St., Charlottesville
~ website: www.westmainbridal.com
~ e-mail: info@westmainbridal.com
~ phone: 434-979-5683

Happy Halloween everyone!  I thought that today would be a great day to share this fun resource with you.  As you will see at Wedding Dress Fantasy there are really no limits at all to the possibilities for a bride who wants something a little out of the ordinary for her wedding dress.   Blue?  Black?  Purple?  Pink?  Wedding Dress Fantasy has ‘em all… and lots of ‘em!  They list hundreds of dresses in every imaginable color (with photos) and, although I’m no wedding gown expert, their prices seem really reasonable to me.  I think I’d choose the turquoise one… how ’bout you?

Susan Sorbello of West Main Bridal & Couture tells me that with the sudden change in temperature she’s having lots of brides coming into her shop looking for wraps and cover-ups that they can wear with their gowns.  Here are a few of the many options currently in stock with many more on the way!

Beautiful Tabrett gown by Maggie Sottero with stole

Stole in beaded ivory three-dimensional lace by Sorbello Couture

Duchesse satin and beaded shawl by Sorbello Couture, in ivory over a diamond white gown by Eugenia Couture.

Contact Info. for West Main Bridal & Couture
~ address: 101 East Water St., Charlottesville
~ website: www.westmainbridal.com
~ e-mail: info@westmainbridal.com
~ phone: 434-979-5683

S ♦ A ♦ L ♦ E

My friends over at West Main Bridal and Couture need to make room for new gowns arriving now, and so they’ve put half of their beautiful gowns into their “Cash for Wedding Gown Clunkers” sale. They have five racks bursting with beautiful wedding gowns. In addition to the marked-down price, West Main Bridal wants to help their brides out by offering a further $100.00 off the sale price if they can show them a picture of a gown they are not going to wear. This could be your Mother’s gown, or a gown you’ve already purchased but decided not to wear for your wedding.

All you’ll need is a picture, (either on a camera or printed) to show them. Please note: They do not need you to bring them the gown. This is important – they do not want to deprive you of your Mother’s valuable gown!

Many brides have considered wearing their Mother’s gown, but either it doesn’t fit, is not in good condition, or they just don’t think the style will fit with their wedding ideas. This is a limited time offer (only thru September 15th), and does not apply to gowns special-ordered for the bride. The gowns will be sold “first-come-first-served”, “as is” with all sales final. Please call West Main Bridal for full details.

Contact Info. for West Main Bridal & Couture
~ address: 101 East Water St., Charlottesville
~ website: www.westmainbridal.com
~ e-mail: info@westmainbridal.com
~ phone: 434-979-5683

This month Susan Sorbello is sharing a selection of the beautiful bridal veils that she has available now at West Main Bridal and Couture. All the veils can be ordered in custom lengths and different colors.

Beautiful Aubry (below) is wearing 3 different lace-edged ivory veils, all by Laura Jayne Bridal Design. Veil no. 1 (left) has Alencon lace edging and is “Waterfall” length. Veil no. 2 (right) has a Chantilly lace border with ribbon running through and a separate blusher layer:
In these photos (below) Aubrey is wearing veil no. 3 (left) a cascading oval of French Chantilly lace and (right) a Casablanca Bridal gown (style 1938). It is of crystal satin with a rauched bodice and features a strapless, sweetheart neckline.  The price of gown and veil ranges between $970 and $1140:And, here (below) the lovely Keriann is wearing a fashionable headpiece by Laura Jayne Bridal Design. Since Keriann will be wearing a simple silk gown for her wedding, the champagne ‘cage’ veil adds a vintage finishing touch. She is using Laura Jayne crystal hairpins to anchor the veil and two silk flower hairpins to finish. The whole ensemble would cost around $250:

Contact Info. for West Main Bridal & Couture
~ address: 101 East Water St., Charlottesville
~ website: www.westmainbridal.com
~ e-mail: info@westmainbridal.com
~ phone: 434-979-5683

July Dress of the Month

Earlier this week Susan Sorbello of West Main Bridal & Couture sent over some info. and photos of a wedding gown they’d just received and are loving.  Susan said, “it is the Melissa Brooch by Maggie Sottero and it’s absolutely stunning! The brides who have been lucky enough to see it so far have loved it.  It is a figure flattering, ruched, tafetta gown with Swarovski detail in front and back at the hipline. The sweetheart neckline is extremely popular and looks great on the brides. This gown is very affordable, definitely within most brides’ budgets, but looks a million dollars.”

Thanks Susan…. it’s absolutely beautiful!
Be sure to give Susan a call to set up a time to see this beautiful gown and all the other wonderful gowns and accessories at West Main Bridal & Couture!

Contact Info. for West Main Bridal & Couture
~ address: 101 East Water St., Charlottesville
~ website: www.westmainbridal.com
~ e-mail: info@westmainbridal.com
~ phone: 434-979-5683

If you’re planning a wedding in the Charlottesville area, the Charlottesville Wedding Directory will make your life so much easier… check it out… and happy wedding planning!

If you’ve ever considered buying or selling a used wedding dress I think you might want to check out Once Wed.  Once Wed is a free listing service for wedding dresses that is updated daily.  The photos that I’ve posted here are of dresses that have been posted to the site in just that last week or so (and there are lots more!).  The prices that I’ve seen so far range from $200 to $5,650 (for a Vera Wang dress) but most of the prices are more in the $1000 – $2000 area.
I admit that I’m not really up on my dress designers, but I do recognize a few famous names: Oscar De La Renta, Vera Wang, Carolina Herrera and J Crew… I’m sure lots of the others are famous too and you’ll probably recognize them!
If you’ve had any experiences buying or selling a used wedding dress from Once Wed or from any other site, I’d love it if you’d leave a comment and let us know how it went.