We're Moving!!

The Wedding Dish has a new home on the web. I couldn't be more excited
Same great content, easier to use format. as you can see it still looks familiar but it is so much easier to navigate.
Major kudos to my techie other half, Marc Fuller. Those of you that are already clients of The Agency @ Think know Marc. If you aren't you can catch what he's up to on his blog Wedding Professional Success!

I think I'll throw some kind of little housewarming party this week. Stay tuned.

edit to add: In case you haven't subscribed to the shiny new site yet, I posted a handy dandy widget on the right with the latest feed from the new site so you won't miss a thing.

Best Place to Get Married!

Last night, here is sunny NashVegas the best of the best gathered at the Country Music Hall of Fame for the readers choice awards hosted by The Tennessean. The Toast of Music City as they are called polled reader in about a bazillion different categories to see who would come out on top. I am pleased to say that I had three dear friends of the Dish take home honors.

The top winner of the night was Cheekwood; chosen as “Best Place to Get Married.” Well gee, I already knew that! Glad to see that every one agrees.

Also bringing home metal last night were Branching Out in the floral category and Michael B’s Music for DJs.

Congrats to all of last night winners, you are The Toast of Music City!

Note to Brides

I had a wonderful time last week connecting with a group of fellow wedding professionals. As always, the conversation turned to work and you my dear brides were high on the agenda.

My friend Peter, denizen of all things rental, got off on a riff about phone messages.

“Please Christine” he said “remind them to leave me more then their first name and a convoluted message about their event”

Peter is right. It used to happen to me all the time. I used to get messages like this.

“Hi Christine. This is Sarah and I wanted to let you know that we wanted the first tier to have the raspberry filling on the lower and uppers spaces and the orange/apricot in the middle space and please make the top tier in chocolate only but if you could put a bit of amaretto in the soak the would be perfect.”

Great. No problem. Be happy to oblige. But which freakin’ Sarah are you and when are you getting married???? Yes I know, just use caller ID to call her back. Great plan if I knew what time she called. I can get a bunch of calls in one day and isolating the right one can be a trick.

As much as we like you to feel that you are the only bride we have, it simply isn’t true. If you are calling your wedding planner you can probably get away with the above message, but any other vendor is likely to have multiple wedding on any given weekend. Add to that the reality that we will be working with a bride for sometimes up to a year and you can see that we are often juggling 50 or more brides at one time.

Any time you must leave a message on voice mail for one of your vendors, please help them out by leaving a last name and a WEDDING DATE. Most of us file things by wedding date so that will help a lot. Also leave your last name. I clearly remember one weekend that I had three Ashleys. Unbelievably two of their cakes were almost the same. It tended to get a bit confusing.

We want to do the best job possible for every one of our brides, sometimes a bit of clarity helps.

Thank you Miss Peacock for Speaking Up.

I found the following comment from Miss Peacock over at Wedding Bee this morning.

”Since the VW salon would not allow me to take pictures, I asked these very unhappy 14 year old girls to model the dresses for me. They all showed up without washing their hair or putting on make-up, but since I was on a time crunch, I let it slide. They were also so hungry that I was worried they would eat me.”

Boy did she nail it! I have to tell you that seeing these models in person is sometimes pretty startling. While Miss. P’s comment is directed at the runway models for Vera Wang; the ones that have always disturbed me the most are the ones that Monique Lhullier uses. One season I sat in her runway show thinking that if these young ladies are that damn miserable why didn’t they just quit. Are they some kind of indentured servants? What are the designers trying to achieve with this undernourished junkie look?

In defense of Miss Wang, the models I see at her salon runway show don’t have that heroin junkie look. They also however, don’t have boobs either. I have sat at table in her showroom with both buyers and other members of the press and the comment always goes something like this:

“Pretty but can that gown even be cut to accommodate real breasts?”

It is a sad commentary that so many of the couture gowns are designed for the models rather than real American women.

At the same time that these designers are cutting for an almost boyish figure the popularity of breast augmentation surgery is on the rise. The result of these two distinctly opposite trends is that more and more brides that wear something like a size 2 in street clothes are having to order their gown in a size 12 or 14 to accommodate their bust. There is no way under the sun that these gowns can then be altered that much with out losing precious details.

I have said it before and I will keep saying until the WIC gets it. Stop designing for your models and take a look at the real women all around you. Climb down out of your atelier and go for a walk. One more thing, while you’re out there…eat a freaking sandwich, you could use it!!!!

Design Center

Check this out.

That is the Monumental Affairs Design Center.

“Located at Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill, this newly designed boutique offers a unique location for anyone -- from the newest bride-to-be, to the most seasoned Washington DC event planner -- to make the necessary selections of china, linen, floral arrangements, invitations, entertainment and more for their catered affair, in one convenient location. The rich décor of the room showcases the most current linen styles and china patterns, in a colorful and inviting setting”.

Well, it about time! Why should you have to run all over town to put together the pieces of your wedding? A meeting at the linen vendor, followed by one at the rental firm, followed by one at the florist … but wait, will the flowers work with the linen? Back to the linen rental. Oh hell…I give up!

I have seen a couple of enterprises like this start up in the last few years. There is a lovely one in Marquette, MI of all places called the Wedding Emporium.

What a concept, event and wedding planning in one relaxed comfortable place. Shouldn’t it have always been this way? I mean, aren’t you busy enough without spending hours every week traipsing from appointment to appointment?

Treats from a Friend

Friend of the Dish, Mark Currier, of M. Couturier and Atelier Couturier just sent me the link to his galleries from last Saturday’s wedding luncheon at the Hermitage Hotel. What a fantastic job. Mark was one of the sponsors of the event and it was a delight to catch up with him and his wife and business partner Christina.

I asked Mark what they had been up to and it seems they are on the road almost as much as yours truly photographing beautiful weddings all over the world. From Provence to Italy to Scotland they have captured the scenery as well as the wedding. Personally I am still smitten with their urban stuff so I included some along with the stunning bridge shot. Thanks for sharing Mark.

Mark keep me posted on your travels.

The Lipstick Jungle

Last night was the premier party for Lipstick Jungle the new series based on Candace Bushnell's book. I have to tell you that the girls in attendance loved it. You should have heard the whoops and hollers when Kirby tore off Nico’s pantyhose…Definitely a must see, it premiers Thursday on NBC.

But on to the party itself. Even thought the weather was shall we say inclement, you know your wedding diva wasn’t going to miss a girl’s night out with other wedding industry insiders. Courtney Hammons hosted the event at a new art gallery/venue in the heart of the city, Take 121. Just too perfect for the premier of a show set in Manhattan, don’t you think.

I finally got to meet fellow bridal netizen Ashley King Carter. If you haven’t checked out her site, AshleysBrideGuide, you are missing something. It is probably one of the best local bride’s guides I have run across. It’s hip, lively and informative. What more could you want. BTW Kickin’ boots girl!

I also ran across a cool new vendor with a way cool new product: lasar cut confetti. Check it out at their site, designs in paper.

Have a great weekend; I’m off tomorrow to a Bridal Luncheon at the Hermitage Hotel. I’ll have all the details on Monday.