flowerartgarden.com

The slightly quirky Bohemian style has made a big, big comeback, although it never really left.  In Bridal wear, dresses are softer, more casual and flowing.  In accessories, jewelry ranges from diamond chunky jewelry costing several thousands, to simple hemp pieces.  Hair combs, pins and adornments can feature jewels, feathers, bows, and flowers.  Its mix and match to get the look with no real rules and just good taste to pull off this look.

A flowing ,ethereal dress by Elizabeth Fillmore is great for a destination wedding.  Unencumbered by weighty fabric, the bride gets a chance to shine through.

A chunky cuff bracelet by John Hardy, available at Nordstrom’s, is a perfect example of Bohemian style.

The hairstyle on the  model wearing the Deborah Lindquist gown below, makes use of gold mesh which lends an offbeat, but elegant look when paired with gold earrings.  The dress design is a slightly more formal look which still retains the Bohemian look.

I just love this dress from Sae Young Vu Couture, which is perfect for a destination wedding.

Our own Bohemian Garden floral hair pin features a pearl center to give an otherwise casual accessory a touch of glamour.

A necklace from Boohoo.com can add a little drama to a casual dress.

Finding the perfect long sleeve dress may not be an easy task.  However, the new jacket trend in bridal wear, offers several solutions.

A faux fur cape from David’s Bridal can warm up most dress styles; The Vineyard Collection from Priscilla of Boston delivers “Jules”, a covered look for cooler weather;

Below, three styles from Elizabeth Fillmore, one of several designers who features jacket and sleeve looks. Photo bottom right of a beautiful ruffled sleeve gown from Farah Angsana Bridal 2010 collection.

Alfred Angelo offers up several fall and winter styles below, including a very unique coat style outfit.

Extreme high-fashion is always the hallmark of design house St. Pucchi, and they make no exception here with their covered up offerings from the 2010 collection.

What better way to begin a new year then to bring some love into your life and save the life of an animal.  IAMS Home 4 The Holidays program is working with shelters around the country to give wonderful cats and dogs a permanent home.  Please consider adopting a needy pet.  For pet profiles and details on how to adopt a pet, donate or volunteer, please go to: IAMS HOME 4 THE HOLIDAYS and click on their Home 4 The Holidays Link.

The color orange brings a perky lift to any wedding, and particularly a Fall wedding.

Photos:  Our own extremely orange bridal bouquet featuring multi-hued ranunculus; A wedding dress by Alfred Angelo brought to life with orange trim; a majestic orange tier cake by Collette Foley Bakery; a bright orange bow sets off a plain white chair cover; lovely orange pumps by Nine West; a burnt orange necklace at greenwithglamour.com; and an Alfred Angelo bridesmaid dress.

Definitely urban, the Balenciaga 2010 collection makes use of leather, the skinny leg look and a casual pulled together men’s style.  The resort collection softens things up a bit while still maintaining that city child feel.  Shoes range from flats to outrageously chic heels.

Those of us who work with color and design are said to have “an eye for color”.  This means we can not only see what works and doesn’t work but we can also visualize colors in our head.  If you say light pink and green, my mind filters through the hues of greens until it comes up with the best match for light pink.  But what if you are a harried bride just trying to choose not only a great color scheme for her wedding, but also her favorite colors?  Well to start with, keep it simple.

1.  Throw out the “shoulds” and decide what your favorite colors really are.  If hot pink and hot orange seems to risky for your particular theme (although it might be great for some weddings) then tone down one of the colors.  Hot pink can work with muted orange.  Hot orange can work as an accent color for muted or varied shades of pink.

2.  Visit the paint department.  Is there anything better than a “free” sample?  Pick up some of those little color cards.  Not only are the colors grouped by color families but you can compare different groups side-by-side to see which looks the best.

3.  Visit the fabric department.  Compare fabric colors t0 the color of your dress or group a few bundles together to see what looks great.

4.  Think outside the box.  If someone suggested burgundy and fire engine red you might think they were joking, but check out the wedding cake above from Pinkcakebox.com.  The two distinctly different colors are tied together by the addition of a creme/gold color which also provides a toned-down affect.

4.  White comes in many shades.  White, Ivory, Champagne can be mixed and matched for a dramatic result.  Many brides cling to white but the starkness of the color does not match all skin tones or color schemes.  Below our own cascade of roses mixes white and ivory roses for a more natural and softer look.  The red rose center would be too contrasting against stark white but works to perfection with the combination.  Below, a dress by Maggie Sottero combines shades of champagne and gold.  A similar look can be achieved with a mix of ivory and white or ivory and champagne.5.  Don’t vary the colors, vary the shade.  It really isn’t necessary to have a combination of many colors to achieve a multi-colored affect.  By varying shades of one or two colors a similar look can be achieved with less thought and work.  Below a cake by Pink Cake Box uses very few colors in a simple design, however, the different hues of the daisies work together to make the cake stand out.

Snooze.  Maybe we’ve just seen too many beautiful dresses during our blogging years.  So we set out to find something a little different and came up with these stunners.

Above:  Yes, its a Maggie Sottero, but we love the way it departs from her usual ball gown style.  The upturned ruffled collar, along with the draping, makes this an ultra-sophisticated design…just perfect!

Essence of Australia never disappoints, but the design above has to be one of their most elegant.  It almost has a dress over a dress look and combines multiple style elements while still remaining sleek.We’ve chosen two styles from Lara Helene Bridal Atelier for their delicate, girly girl appeal.  I love the fact that these dresses depart from the usual wedding gown look while still being so dramatically bridal.No list would be complete without something from the Pronovias Collection.  Below a stunning example of yards and yards of material draped to perfection.

In a perfect world every women would own at least one pair of Jimmy Choo shoes in her life time.  Most of us may never get to prance around in these, oh-so-fine, offerings from the legendary designer, but we can look and dream on.  We’ve also included two unusual handbags from the collection.

Below are some of our colorful floral arrangements and bouquets (we do white too). For more visit our pages at:

THEBOUQUETBOUTIQUE.COM and FLOWERARTGARDEN.COM

Click here for a FREE PRICE QUOTE

The design house of Peter Langner, based in Italy, consistently turns out lovely bridal wear and continues that trend in 2010.  The scalloped bodice above is an example of a demure and flattering creation; below, the ribbon tied-at-the-waist dress is almost too perfect; gathering at the bodice, saves a wide-strapped dress from over simplicity; and a shirred, form-fitting gown is the height of elegance.