Quick and Easy Holiday Tips...

Nothing fancy but these tips get the job done.

Happy Holidays!

The Bridal Bar

Tis The Season…

I love the feeling of giving! Around this time of year there are so many occasions for that perfect gift. Come into the Bridal Bar for your holiday shopping!

Need a hostess gift... the Bridal Bar preferred members have endless creativity to offer you. Hartworks and Exclamations offer some incredible gift baskets and don't forget about the goodies in-store! Our Gift Bar - Full of essential wardrobe necessities for a perfect wedding day without wardrobe malfunctions, lingerie guide for you and your bridesmaids, wonderful last minute gifts, stocking stuffers, gift bag completions and more!

San Diego Wedding Party Bridal Show... coming again this February!

Thank you again Crown Wedding, Catherine Bachelier Smith, Wildflower Linen, Botanica, Tim Otto, A Better Deal Tuxedos and The Bubbly Girl! The Bridal Bar VIB Lounge was a hit and we could not have done it without you!

Oh the fun continued...

More from the San Diego Wedding Party Bridal Show! Chez Bride and A Better Deal Tuxedos dazzled the show with stunning formal wedding wear. Chile Co along with The Bubbly Girl provided fabulous cocktails and appetizers for all our guests. Kahala Travel offered great travel advice and Taylor Films captured the runway fashion show for a more intimate viewing in our Bridal Bar VIB Lounge.

The San Diego Wedding Party Bridal Show... part one!

Oh what a production… the Bridal Bar VIB Lounge took up a large portion of the Hyatt ballroom and took it up a notch with a stage! The time and effort that went into the production is definitely not over looked… The amazing 1200’ staging was furnished by Classic Party Rentals, San Diego Stage and Lighting and Plush Lounge. Spencer Bezy along with Voice and video provided a giant screen and projector, which entertained our brides with endless music videos and an up- close view of the ballroom fashion show! We have to thank Wedding Elegance, Indulge, Crown Weddings, Adelaide’s, Catherine Bachelier Smith, Botanica and Wildflower Linen for the gorgeous lounge décor.

10 News A-List Businesses... Congradulations!

CONGRADULATIONS!!! The Bridal bar is so lucky to have an incredible array of vendors… they are talented event professionals and have an impeccable reputation in their fields of expertise. We would just like to personally congratulate and acknowledge our preferred vendor winners of 10 News A-list businesses.

Into Ink Invitation Designer...

A little invitation inspiration for your day! Your wedding day story begins with your invitation… a creative designer can begin to narrate that love story to your special guests.
Email:greg@intoink.com or theresa@intoink.com
Phone: 858-271-6363
www.intoink.com

We love Lucero Photography!

Lucero is one of our highly recommended wedding photographers and he constantly amazes us with his work. This is just a small taste of what he has to offer!

Lucero Photography, Inc. focuses on capturing the true essence of the wedding day. Their style is artistic, edgy and photojournalistic. Jeremy Lucero, owner and head photographer gives an experience and images that go beyond the expectations of his clients. Lucero finds much importance in cultivating a great relationship with each client and making them look and feel they’re very best in front of the camera. Lucero Photography is based in Southern California and has been traveling the nation to photograph beautiful weddings for over fifteen years now.

Email:snap@LuceroPhotography.com

Phone: 866.898.3686 toll free

www.LuceroPhotography.com

HOW MANY BRIDES GET TO THROW THE BOUQUET FROM A ROOFTOP?

The mark of true elegance has infinite options and at The Ivy a multitude of ways to indulge your whims and immerse yourself in genuine luxury awaits you. If you’ve ever wondered if there is a way to further refine the finer things, then The Ivy is your answer. The 20,000 square feet of event space at The Ivy manages to be rich, stylish and functional all at once. And with a full staff that is as knowledgeable as they are accommodating, flawless functions are our ongoing focus. The Ivy Hotel has taken care of every detail to make sure that the style and service of your San Diego wedding reception surpasses everything you could have imagined.

phone 619.814.1000
http://www.ivyhotel.com

Charmed Events Special Offer!!!

We love Charmed Events... Checkout the fabulous promotions they have going on for our Very Important Bridal Bar Brides!

SPECIAL OFFER

DONATE TO ANY OF THE FOLLOWING CHARITIES
AND RECEIVE UP TO $600 OFF OUR PACKAGES!
Susan G Komen for the Cure
Donate online at www.Komen.org or call 1-877 GO KOMEN (1-877-465-6636)
San Diego Humane Society & SPCA
Donate online at www.sdhumane.org or call 619-299-7012
Alzheimer’s Association
Donate online at www.alz.org or call 1-800-272-3900

• Donate $50 or more and receive $200 off our “Peace of Mind” package

• Donate $100 or more and receive $400 off our “Support” package

• Donate $200 or more and receive $600 off our “Guidance” package

Please contact us for package details and pricing.
After verification or receipt of donation is provided,
discount will be taken off of final payment balance.

The Bridal Bar San Diego

We love Bridal Consultants they make planning a wedding a lovely experience!

Charmed Events is one of our preferred vendors…
Established in beautiful San Diego, California, Charmed Events is the wedding and design company of choice for stylish, savvy couples in the know. They approach the planning process as a collaborative effort with their clients. Using your style, sensibilities, and preferences, they help you create a wedding that is truly personalized and original. They believe that balance between the design and function of a wedding is key. Their ability to focus equally on both of these essential planning considerations sets Charmed Events apart from the rest. They design every wedding with a new perspective, rethinking every element and introduce fresh, modern ideas. Let Charmed Events' proven methods and exceptional resources make you’re wedding planning experience fun, enjoyable, and stress free.

Charmed Events:www.charmedevents.com
Photos: Melissa Mullen Photography www.MelissaMullen.com

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE DRESS

With so many options where do you start when selecting a dress? We have the answer to that… lets start with the wedding theme. Garden wedding? How about a lovely halter adorn with fabulous flowers! Uptown Girl, let’s go with a mod style dress and accessorize with a birdcage veil. Winter Wonderland, let’s warm it up with hand-draped bodice and a gorgeous train. The options are endless, come into the Bridal Bar and be inspired by all our vendors have to offer. Let your imagination go, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create.” - Albert Einstein

The Bridal Bar San Diego

"Champagne and Sheets for the Blissful Bride" You are invited to a special, invitation-only White Sale featuring bedding and bath linens from Private Quarters.  Learn about our "Blissful Bride Bed" and bring the LUXURY of a 5-star hotel, the ROMANCE of a B&B and the SERENITY of a world-class spa into YOUR home. Registry available. Bring your girlfriends and shop in our beautiful canyon-view showroom, enjoy some champagne or coffee and pastry tasting courtesy of Espresso Mio.  RSVP by July 10th and your name will be entered into our drawing for a beautiful velvet robe!

JULY 11 @ PS Decor & Design 11am to 4pm

P.S. Decor & Design
1920 Fort Stockton Drive
San Diego, CA 92103 

Cool Technology for the Wired Bride!

The Bridal Bar San Diego

One of the greatest challenges in planning a wedding is the need to organize and easily access information. One minute you are looking for that phone number or website address of the great photographer you heard about. The next minute you are trying to remember exactly what that dress looked like that you tried on last week. You’ve got gifts to keep track of, budgets to manage, guest lists to prepare, wedding gowns to shop for and on and on and on.

Even for the most organized bride, managing all of the details can prove to be a daunting task. For some time various websites have offered online planning tools and wedding software has also been available.  Now for you iPhone or iPod Touch users, there are a number of applications that savvy programmers have created that will make the planning process much easier than you ever dreamed. They range from simple counters that are mostly fun and give you a wedding day countdown to complex planning tools that organize every aspect of your planning process. 

One of our favorites is the Bridal Gown: Wedding Dress Shopping Assistant. You don’t realize how hard it is to keep track of what you like and don’t like in a dress until you have tried on 30 gowns at 5 salons and can’t remember the details of any of them.  With this handy app you have all of the details at your fingertips and can even attach a photo of you in the dress from your photo library.

If you don’t know where to start your planning or just want to make sure you have a comprehensive list of action items,  My Wedding is a planning tool that includes 166 pre-

populated ‘To Do’ items from the experts to get you started.  With this application you can add your own items, organize, edit and track items, or even ‘spin the wedding decider’ to help make decisions when you just can’t make up your mind.  The biggest strength of this tool is that it reminds you to include many items in your list that you might otherwise overlook. The major downside of this app is that it only lets you check off the items you have completed and doesn’t allow you to track any of the additional details.

Weddings generally include lots of parties and showers and fantastic gifts from thoughtful friends and family. They also include lots of thank you notes!  The Thank You Gift List is a great app that allows you to create a list of events and track the gifts that were received at each event.  It also integrates with your address book and allows you to add a picture of the gift to the list for reference.  This app makes it super easy to keep track of all of your gifts in detail and tracks your thank you notes as well.  The great thing about this app is that it also can be used for later events such as Christmas, birthdays, and more.  

If you are dreading that first dance and don’t want to splurge on actual dance lessons, Waltz is simple little app that gives you video dance lessons.  A little practice and you will look like a pro when you hit the dance floor on your special day.

 

And finally our absolute favorite app is called IWedding.  This app costs a little more than the average app but utilizes many of the powerful features already built into your iPhone or iPod Touch to help with the organization of your wedding. It truly is

 comprehensive and has some of the coolest features to simplify all of your planning.  IWedding tracks your ‘To Do’ list, your budget, your guest list, your honeymoon, your first dance song selection, your vendors, your deposits, and so much more.  It incorporates all of the checklists you need with a central location for recording all of the actual details for every item on the checklist.   It also allows you to review your ‘To Do’ list by category, such as bride, wedding party, reception, etc. which allows you to focus on one topic at a time. 

The guest list manager includes full integration with your contacts and address book, keeps track of RSVP’s, and will track meal preferences as well.  The budget manager keeps track of all of your budget items and includes full details on times, dates, deposits, and costs for many of your line items including venues, officiant, photography, transport, flowers, and more.   This is truly a must have app for busy brides.

For those of you who don’t live in the world of APPLE, another easily accessible tool is www.weddingwire.com.  It includes a website creator, budget manager, guest list manager, vendor manager, timeline, checklists, seating plan creator and more! And best of all – it’s all FREE!  This robust tool is extremely intuitive and provides lots of photos for inspiration and offers matching services to help you find the right vendors.

 

Whether you elect to use some of the latest technology or rely on basic spreadsheets or simple paper system, the most important thing is to relax and enjoy the ride! 

 

The Bridal Bar San Diego

Encore Bridal, The Omni Hotel San Diego, and The Bridal Bar present:

San Diego's Largest Wedding Dress Sale --

New, Sample and Nearly-New Couture

 

Current couture bridal gowns from the most sought after designers -- Melissa Sweet, Vera Wang, Rosa Clara, Christos and more -- discounted 40-70% off retail for one weekend only. 

When:  VIP Cocktail & Pre-Event Shopping Reception Friday June 12, 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

 Saturday June 13, 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Sunday June 14, 10:00  a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Who:  Fashionista Brides, Recessionista Brides, Fans of Couture Bridal Gowns

Cost:  Regular event entry is free. 

Friday night VIP Cocktail & Pre-Event Shopping Reception:  $25pp.  Guests can view and buy gowns prior to the event’s opening day at a champagne cocktail reception.  Each VIP guest also receives a Gift Bag filled with cost saving goodies.

Register Now!  

Contact:  info@encorebridal.com, 310-545-1409 for more information

Event Highlights:  VIP Cocktail & Pre-Event Shopping Reception; Raffle Prizes Valued at hundreds of dollars (Winners announced Saturday 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Sunday 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.)

Parking:  Discounted valet parking is available for $20 at the hotel.  Public parking is available in the structure across the street from the Omni -- entrance off of 6th street.

Out of Town Brides: The Omni Hotel is offering out of town brides a significantly discounted room rate of $99/night for the weekend.  

Additional Information: 

*Sale is first come, first serve

*No appointments taken

*No merchandise hold policy

*All gowns typically street size 4-10

*Designer labels include Vera Wang, Melissa Sweet, Christos, Kenneth Pool and many more!

*Dresses can be tried on in a community dressing room with assistance from an Encore Bridal consultant

*It is recommended that brides wear strapless bras, bustiers, lingerie, and underwear.

*All sales are final (no returns); gowns sold "As-Is"

*Cash and credit cards accepted; NO checks

Websites of Interest:

www.EncoreBridal.com,

 www.OmniSanDiegoHotel.com

www.BridalBar.com

Romance by the Sea

The Bridal Bar San Diego

The Bridal Bar was thrilled to be a part of La Jolla Cove Suites' recent showcase.  The event featured lots of wonderful Bridal Bar Members including Foto Cabina.  Check out the cool party pics they shared with us.

Sweet Sensations

The Bridal Bar San Diego   

Cheryl from The Sweet Studio continues to astound us with her beautiful favors.  Don't let the name fool you as her creations are sweet for sure but not all edible!  Check out the amazing variety below.  

The Bridal Bar San Diego

We are so pleased to welcome our newest member of The Bridal Bar!

Nahid Farhoud of Wedding Elegance   is renowned for her beautiful events with an international flair.  Wedding Elegance offers a sophisticated array of services and coordination packages that fit your event planning needs and budget.  Whether you need help developing a theme and timeline for your wedding, someone to run the rehearsal or want to invest in full service support, Nahid  has plans to meet your needs.  

Welcome Nahid!

Here are a few photos to whet your appetite!

Romance by the Sea, A Wedding to Remember

The Bridal Bar San Diego

Please join the Bridal Bar at La Jolla Cove Suites' 3rd Annual "Romance by the Sea, A Wedding to Remember."

  

We'll be showcasing some of our favorite vendors and spotlighting our new line of pashiminas and parasols.

  

Enjoy an evening of gourmet food and live entertainment as the sun sets over the world famous La Jolla Cove.

What: La Jolla Cove Suites - A Wedding to Remember

Where: La Jolla Cove Suites

1155 Coast Blvd.

La Jolla, CA 92037

When: May 6th, 2009, 5pm

Moving Sale! Photo Specials

The Bridal Bar San Diego

We are so excited to welcome Michael Spengler and Studio M to the neighborhood!  Their new studio is located at 5759 La Jolla Blvd. right here in Bird Rock.  Michael has been sharing the progress of their remodel on their blog and we can't wait until they open in June and we get to see the final result.  

Studio M is offering some great promotions in the month of May in celebration of their move so now is a great time to take advantage of their talent. 

The Bridal Bar San Diego

Douglas Hannant Bridal

Take a look at the recent collection of up and coming bridal designer, Douglas Hannant.  The gowns are sophisitcated, sexy, and perfect for a Hollywood glam affair or the right destination "I do."

Photos from Brides.com

Douglas Hannant, Douglas Hannant Bridal 2010, fashion

The Bridal Bar San Diego

Check out these cool wedding albums from Adesso.  If you love the idea of personalizing your guest book with photos from your day, then Adesso offers the perfect combination of a guest book and photo album.  From beginning to end, your wedding day will most likely be a bit of a blur. With a little creativity, you can create a remembrance of your day that you can take with you and enjoy on your honeymoon.  What's not to like?

You can find Adesso albums at The Bridal Bar!   

The Bridal Bar San Diego

Once again, the Bridal Bar is pleased to host Guest Blogger, Kristi Brooks from Stylelab.  As Kristi continues to plan her big day, like most of you she is facing the creation of "The Guest List."  Let's listen in as Kristi shares her challenges and some solutions! 

The Magic Number....

Why does it seem that 150 guests is the magic number for most weddings? And more importantly, why does my fiance have such a giant family?! I grew up with two sisters, one uncle, one aunt and one first cousin, so my entire family can fit very comfortably around 2 or 3 tables. My fiance on the other hand.... different story. Since our venue can only accommodate 160 guests, this has been my single greatest stress so far.... cutting down the bloody guest list! Is it wrong that when any couple friend of ours breaks up, I say a little silent cheer? ( if you are one of my broken up couple friends reading this, I am terribly sorry for your loss and know you will find an even better mate, but not until after November 14th please:-)

To remedy this conundrum, I have devised a little test.... 
1) Does this person know I am engaged? If not, they're out.
2) Have I seen or at least talked to this person in the last year? If not, sorry, you also may not attend.
3) Were we invited to their wedding? This one is tricky and case sensitive; I am still working on a few of those cases.

I think all in all, it really comes down to who do YOU really want to be there on YOUR big day?

Kristi Brooks

Stylelab

www.thestylelab.biz

kb.style@yahoo.com

310-756-4939

 The Bridal Bar San Diego

$100 Nordstoms Gift Card

Short on spending money?  What girl isn't right now? CZ Events would love to put a little spending money in your pocket! Refer us to a friend that contracts for our services and we will happily return the favor by sending you a $100 gift card to Nordstroms! Do you know someone celebrating a significant birthday or anniversary?  Do you know someone getting engaged? Send us to them and we'll send you shopping!   

 

This offer good on event packages contraced by 5/31/09

Cynthia Zatkin Events

2324 Chalcedony Street

San Diego, California 92109

The Wedding Lens - Online digital photo sharing

The Bridal Bar San Diego

  Check out this cool wedding photo sharing site we found on twitter !

 The Wedding Lens allows you to create a customized online wedding album filled with photos from you and your guests. You just register and tell everyone to upload their photos into one online album that is only accessible by you and your friends. From there, you can download and print whichever photos you like – regardless of who uploaded them to the album.

If you've been considering placing disposable cameras on each table - you can get a similar result without having to develop all those photos.  And everyone (not just the bride and groom) get to see all of the fabulous photos from the event.  Very green and you get instant gratification while you are waiting on all those professional photos to come your way.  

Spring Sale at Chez Bride Moderne

The Bridal Bar San Diego
  

Spring Sales Event

April 1-30, 2009

Call to  858-551-1295  to schedule your appointment right away for the best selection!

www.chezbridemoderne.com

Wedding Wow on a Budget

The Bridal Bar San Diego

Today we are so pleased to feature some great advice from one of our wonderful event professionals, Merilee Hennings, of EverAfter Events.

We recently asked our members to give us some great ideas to maximize the wow at your wedding while keeping your budget under control. Merilee's advice?

 "Even though you are on a budget, don’t forget about the lighting! It will create the wow without breaking the bank!"

Merilee goes on to suggest that the secret is to compromise in other areas where guests won’t notice in order to add lighting to your event.

Another great idea is to put some real creative thought into the wedding…especially when thinking about how you can add details…they don’t often cost a lot, just take time and imagination to add your personal spin. Here's a great wedding that included some great personal touches including "cinnamon roll"

 seating!  How original!

Photos by Garrett Photography

For more great ideas from EverAfter Events, you can visit their website at www.everafterevents.biz

Join the Party - the LA Photo Party

The Bridal Bar San Diego 

The Bridal Bar had a blast with LA Photo Party at the Wedding Party Bridal Show.  If you were at the show, you can check out your photos online at  http://laphotoparty.com/weddingpartybridalshow

And if you would like to create your own party at your upcoming wedding or special event, mention Bridal Bar when booking LA Photo Party in the month of March and receive 10% off your package price.

Programmed to snap a picture every 5 seconds, LA Photo Party's portable, professional photo studio made Bravo's stars shine, Citibank’s honchos let loose, and countless brides jump for joy. Now, they're ready for your event.

LA Photo Party's Photo Booth Without The Booth is wide enough for a 10-person group hug, classy enough to double as a fashion shoot, and quick enough to catch a mid-air leap (and the potentially ensuing mid-floor spill). We’ll bring the props, costumes, and wigs, and even print the photos onsite, guaranteeing your guest's souvenir pictures'll be candid, hilarious, and completely unique.

Hire LA Photo Party for your next:

wedding, bar mitzvah, corporate event, fundraiser, sweet 16, wrap party

4X6 or 5X7 photos are printed onsite instantly!

Call for details: 310-997-0019

The Stylist selects the perfect dress!

The Bridal Bar San Diego

THE dress.....

For my celebrity clients, incredible gowns are a dime a dozen. You wear one down a red carpet, get photographed, toss it off, and give it away as you would rather be caught dead in Hollywood than be seen in the same dress twice, then pick another one and repeat. For us "normal" gals, this is a once in a lifetime experience.  I have styled enough brides to know it's the dress most of us had be dreaming about since we saw our first Disney movie. While ( thankfully) my taste has evolved since Belle strutted her stuff in that giant yellow ball gown, I still wanted that "Princess for a day feel". I knew what style I wanted, strapless Mermaid style with rouching, now I just had to find the frock.

I hit up all the usual suspects in San Diego, and fell in love with a dress ( and the fabulous Michelle and Angie) at M Bride, only to find out it was the same one a friend of mine had worn. Now usually, that stuff doesn't bother me, but since it is a wedding and all, I kept searching for a more unique option. I went to Mon Amie in Costa Mesa and feel in love with all things Ines de Santo. I was told she trained with Christian Dior (whom I adore for his fierce admiration of the a woman's hourglass figure) and can rouche fabric like no one's business. The third dress I tried on was heaven. It was everything I wanted and so dramatically glamorous! It was straight off a 1950's Barbie, and I was a goner. Budget be damned, I had to buy THIS dress... and I did! 

Photo Credits: Google

Best,

Kristi Brooks
Stylelab
www.thestylelab.biz
kb.style@yahoo.com

Green Wedding Style

The Bridal Bar San Diego

Check out this totally fun "green" wedding dress!  A local fashion designer, Mary Drobnis, was kind enough to share the dress with us for the Wedding Party Bridal Show's first "Green" show. The dress is made of spraypainted coffee filters that have been repurposed.

Modeled by Meagan Rae,  Photo by Mary Drobnis

We event talked Katie, our Bridal Bar Barrista, into wearing it at the show and had lots of fun showing it off.

Photo by Tim Otto Photography

Going Bridal, In Style....

The Bridal Bar San Diego

The Bridal Bar is pleased to feature Guest Blogger, Kristi Brooks of Stylelab for the first installment in her personal journey to the altar.  

I have spent the majority of my career making other people look like a million bucks, and now suddenly, the spotlight has fallen on me! Being a celebrity wardrobe stylist, my first concern is always my client...Does her dress fit? Is she comfortable? Are all her bits and pieces where they should be? Will she be featured in the front, not back pages, of USWeekly?. If I can even get a brush through my own hair when I am working, I consider that a giant victory! 
But, as of October 3 2008, the day my fabulous fiance popped the question, I have had to shift the focus a bit and actually think about me for a change. And let me just say, I have a whole new level of respect for anyone who is planning, or has planned a wedding! 
As everyone one of my hitched girlfriends advised me, before I could even get down my first glass of champagne as a betrothed woman, a date and place is the first order of business. I looked at several venues in Orange County and San Diego, then finally settled on a beautifully historic Inn in Tucson, Arizona, where I grew up. 
Okay, checked one thing off my to do list, and now the real fun begins..... The Dress!!!!


Best,

Kristi Brooks
Stylelab
www.thestylelab.biz
kb.style@yahoo.com

Encore Bridal comes to San Diego

The Bridal Bar San Diego   

We are super excited to welcome Encore Bridal to San Diego!  They offer new and nearly new couture gowns that are truly amazing.  If you have been dreaming of THAT dress but are trying to watch your budget, now you can have the dress of your dreams and not feel guilty.  You can check out their line at the Wedding Party Bridal Show on March 8th. We'll be partying on the patio and thinking green!