~by Cheryl

From Dance Partners to Life Partners: 

Initially, Marie and Tiafau met in high school, but he was a couple of years older than Marie and friends with her older brother. However, when he got back from an LDS mission in 2007, she asked him if he would be her dance partner and audition for the BYU dance team. They began dancing together in August of 2007 and were partners for a couple of years. Although they would be together a couple of hours each day for practice, Marie had a policy not to date her dance partners. ”I veered away from that for a really long time,” she said “but it didn’t work!” In November of 2008 they added dating to the dancing. 

Engaged on August 18th, 2009, the couple had to quickly make some decisions about the wedding date. “There was a family situation to schedule, plus we had to leave on a dance tour in October” said Marie. With these considerations in mind, they quickly chose September 25th, 2009 as the big day –a mere 5 1/2 weeks later! Without missing a beat, however, they dived right in and started planning. Marie still had to think of school, work, and dancing, but the hard work definitely paid off!

The Gown:

Marie really wanted an ivory gown with a lot of lace. But as a dancer, she was also going for a modern look. She chose a Tara Keely strapless gown –but she needed some customizations to make it fit her religious preferences:

Because Marie is a petite woman, Nancy angled the skirt onto the bodice. She also removed the bodice and redesigned it to Marie’s desires, and added, much to Marie’s delight, some extra fabric in under the arms for easy movement. “Nancy knew dancing was important to me; most wedding gown sleeves make it hard to lift the arms, but the inserted fabric underneath allowed me to dance in my dress!” 

When asked what she liked best about her dress, Marie said “Everything! I felt like a princess. Working with Nancy was so wonderful; she was really accommodating to my schedule. I was so grateful because I was so busy and she met with me whenever we could work it out.”

Marriage is not a ritual or an end. It is a long, intricate, intimate dance together and nothing matters more than your own sense of balance and your choice of partner.

- Amy Bloom

Congratulations Marie and Tiafau!

~by Cheryl

Priscilla of Boston is a popular designer these days. Avenía Bridal has already sold several gowns from the Vineyard Collection (from Priscilla of Boston), and we are not alone! Kleinfeld’s in New York City has recently sold Vineyard Collection gowns; I had a glimpse of one while watching the new season of Say Yes to the Dress (on TLC). I was thrilled when I saw it because it is available through Avenía! Many other gowns featured on Say Yes to the Dress are available through Avenía Bridal, too. Designers I’ve seen on the show (that we carry)  include Badgley Mischka, Liancarlo, Rivini, and (of course) the Vineyard Collection.

Here is the Vineyard Dress:

~by Cheryl

Badgley Mischka is one of several designers available through Avenía Bridal. Of course, we only carry their wedding gowns, but for all you fans of American Idol (or just great fashion in general), here is a photo of Kara DioGuardi in a beautiful Badgley Mischka gown at the Emmy Awards last week!

Badgley Mischka also designed gowns for Marcia Gay Harden and Padma Lakshmi:

~by Cheryl

“A picture paints a thousand words” is how the saying goes…
Here’s a painting of what to expect when you visit the Avenía Bridal Boutique:

~by Cheryl

There is nothing but excitement at Avenía Bridal when new gowns arrive! As Lisa, our managing director, said: “It’s like greeting an old friend; we purchase the gowns several months before we get them into the boutique, so it’s always exciting to see them again!” One of our favorite gowns recently arrived from Rivini:

Cashel

~ Cashel is a floor length fit and flare gown with a sweetheart neckline and tiered skirt. Each tier is finished in a graduated banded silk organza treatement; the waist is an accented organza belt with an organic organza flower. Delicate Alencon lace begins at the neckline and continues throughout each skirt tier. ~

Stop by the Avenía Bridal boutique to see it!

~by Nancy

Silk is a natural fiber made from the cocoons of the silk worm and can be woven into many varieties of fabrics, such as taffeta, dupioni, satin, mikado, voile, organza, chiffon and crepe. This is because different varieties of  silk worms  make different varieties of the silk thread.  One would be used for dupioni, for example, and the other would be used to make a satin.

Polyester, on the other hand, is man-made. It is created from a derivative of plastic, and although it can be woven to look like silk (in the same weave), it still has all the properties of a man-made product.

Wedding gowns are made from fabrics that come from both of these fibers, and although there are positives to both, silk is still my personal  favorite.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why choose a Polyester Gown?

*It is less expensive.

*It can usually be washed with water and is durable, whereas silk is more delicate and usually requires dry cleaning.

*It will last forever –literally!  Plastic does not decompose.

*Although it doesn’t shimmer in the sunlight as nicely as silk, it is still very pretty.

Why choose a Silk Gown?

*Silk is only a fraction of the weight of polyester.  The silk fibers are finer and less bulky on the body therefore it won’t weigh you down or exhaust  you as you wear it.  Polyester is 10 to 20 times heavier than silk!

*Silk has a natural shimmer which is enhanced in any lighting.

* I prefer to work with silk because it drapes more responsively, weighs less,  responds to the press and to the tailor’s hand far better than any man made fibers.

*Silk is delicate and may require delicate care, but it is softer to the skin and more breathable.   All of the natural fibers (including rayon, cotton,  or linen) are more breathable compared to polyester fabrics so  they are cooler and more comfortable.

*Because of it’s natural origins silk has a positive energy and response to the body when worn.

*Silk will last a long time; they have found  beautiful silk fabrics in the pyramids of Egypt.

*When worn, silk will drape and form; it will not add bulk to the body.  Because of this, silk is  more flattering  to wear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is why I prefer to work with natural silk fibers at Avenía Bridal.  The gowns breathe better, drape better, and weigh so little. Wearing a heavy gown is exhausting, but silk automatically rectifies this without effort because nothing flows more elegantly, shimmers more beautifully, yet weighs so little on the body as silk!

The Utah Wedding Expo is being held this Saturday, September 19th, 2009 at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. 

Avenía Bridal will not be participating as a vendor this year, but we will have several gowns on display. Look for our gowns, and tell us you were there in the comments below! Be sure to tell us which gown was your favorite, too.

~by Cheryl

As mentioned in our earlier post, Avenía Bridal participated in the Utah Valley Women’s Expo. The event itself was, according to Nancy, “very well attended and so much fun! I visit so often with just brides and their mothers, it was exciting to communicate with so many other people in an event that wasn’t exclusively for brides.” In fact, Avenía Bridal ended up handing out  dozens of cards (as per request) to many different people who knew of a bride; mothers, sisters, grandmothers, friends, –even three grooms-to-be!

The Expo was an excellent opportunity for Avenía Bridal to show the community that Utah does have access to amazing designer gowns, and (better yet!) the gowns can be customized into whatever the bride needs them to be. This was easily done by participating in four different fashion shows where Avenía Bridal’s models were able to introduce gowns for the Fall 2009 season. However, even from the time Avenía was setting up the booth, people were delighted with the uniqueness and quality of the wedding gown designs; they were impressed to see something from the couture fashion world that could be redesigned to meet their own preferences.

The following are some pictures of our models:

Left: 

Gabby wearing Dove by Rivini; Natalie Barrus; Stephanie wearing Whitney by Badgley Mischka; Piri wearing a Tara Keely 

Above: Piri wearing Cashel by Rivini; Ashley wearing Mallory by Badgley Mischka; and Gabby wearing Argel by Rivini

Nancy Barrus

Brides Revisited (i.e. Fun Stories!):

Crystal Busath, a former bridal customer, approached Nancy at the Avenía Bridal booth and presented her with her own wedding album. Crystal said, “I’ve never seen another dress like mine, before or since my wedding” and since she was so happy with her unique gown, she wanted to let other people see pictures of it at the booth.

Here is the gown:

One of the Emcee’s at the Expo happened to be in the home of another previous bridal customer, and, seeing photos of the bride in her custom-made bridal gown asked, “Who made your wedding dress?” She was told it was Nancy Barrus. When Nancy introduced herself at the Expo, the Emcee said, “Oh, I know you! That dress you made for Courtney S. was absolutely incredible!”

Here is the gown:

~by Cheryl

InStyle Weddings has featured their favorites for Spring 2010. The Badgley Mischka gown Coco (pictured above) is currently available at Avenía Bridal (with an optional customized bodice by Badgley Mischka), and was InStyle’s #5 pick. Badgley Mischka was also listed in Embellished Belts –as #1. Many other gowns, all available through Avenía Bridal, were featured:

Rivini

#21 in Top 25:

and #8 in Embellished Belts:

Liancarlo

#19 in Top 25 and #6 in Embellished Belts (same gown in each category):

Vineyard

#23 in Top 25, #3 in Beautiful Bows (same gown in each category):

and #8 in Floral Details:

~by Nancy

One of the most recent and popular fabrics for wedding gowns is called silk voile, more commonly known as satin faced organza. Throughout the past year,  this light-weight fabric has become a favorite of top-name designers (including Badgley Mischka, Vineyard Collection, Liancarlo, Tara Keely, and Rivini). Many designers needed to find something – due to the recent economy– that was as elegant as more expensive fabrics (such as silk satin), but that would cost less. Satin faced organza was the solution! The fabric is so light, a breeze can easily pick it up; it flows and flutters with every movement of the bride.  The gossamer fabric is not as flamboyant as satin –the shimmer is soft and ethereal. When lined with taffeta, satin faced organza creates a very light and lovely noise. For brides who are looking for an elegant gown, but need to be prudent with cost, this fabric is a wonderful alternative! 

The following gowns (by Rivini and Tara Keely) are made with satin faced organza, and are available through Avenía Bridal.

Tara Keely

“Ambrosia” by Rivini

“Angel” by Rivini