David's Bridal

Melissa Sweet Valentine’s Day: A Dream Marriage Proposal

By Sarah Pease

Style MS251002

It’s Valentine’s Day!  In honor of a day dedicated to love and happiness, I’ve designed a proposal for this incredible Melissa Sweet gown inspired by everything sweet.

Start by securing the use of a picture-perfect bakery for your backdrop…something to evoke the feelings of white picket fences, pastel colors and gingerbread-style houses.  Arrange a special “decoy” plan on Valentine’s Day – perhaps on your way to dinner reservations, you suggest stopping at her favorite bakery for a treat.  As you approach the bakery, something looks a bit different.  Instead of the typical outdoor fluorescent lighting the entire bakery is illuminated with candles.  You step through the doorway, barely hearing the jingle of the door chime in the background because as you make your way inside the sounds of a European-style accordion float through the air, just like the music found on a French street corner in the movie Amelie or Chocolat.

Your noses are tickled with the smell of fresh-baked cookies and as you stroll around the shop, you realize that each of the display cases are filled to the brim with her favorite sweets and treats.  Delicate heart-shaped sugar cookies decorated to look like the white lace in the Melissa Sweet gown alongside hand-made sugar flower roses in various shades of creams and ivories, and finally a delicately ruffled cake perfectly presented in the middle of a tiny bistro table in the center of the room.  As you approach the cake, it’s flanked by life size white trellises covered from top to toe with hanging vines and soft ivory blooms.  Next to the cake is a sterling silver cake cutting set engraved with the words “Will You Marry Me?”

Just like the Melissa Sweet gown, this marriage proposal idea is the perfect concept for someone who appreciates the sweetness of life and love and forever wants to remember their Valentine’s Day as the day they were engaged!

Sarah Pease, The Proposal Planner ™ is recognized as the foremost expert on marriage proposals and is the pioneer of Marriage Proposal Planning. Based in New York City, Sarah and her team at Brilliant Event Planning have designed and produced dream engagements for countless lucky couples from across the world and are the go-to source for all things regarding “Will You Marry Me?”

Credits for collage:

Cookies

Bakery

Accordion

Cake

Cake cutter

Oleg Cassini Opulence: A Dream Marriage Proposal

by Sarah Pease

To truly translate the beauty of this opulent Oleg Cassini gown into a dream marriage proposal, we’ll step back in time to the days of the maharajas of Ancient India.  We begin with a majestic setting of a maharaja’s palace outside of Delhi, a World Heritage Site, where you’ve arranged a private, guided twilight tour of the palace.  As sunset nears, you encounter your tour guide just outside the gates and learn that you’ll be entering the castle just like the Maharaja and his wife did in the ancient days…on elephant.  The royal beast lumbers uphill towards the palace on a winding stone path and the guide describes the history behind the cobblestone streets and looming marble structure.  You arrive at the front entry to the palace and you’re treated to a royal welcome with a shower of fresh rose petals, ceremonial feet washing and refreshing citrus water.  Your future-fiancée  suspects nothing because she assumes it’s all part of the elaborate private tour.  You continue on your journey and the sun slips below the horizon until finally you reach the masters’ chambers.  It’s a private, quiet space that was reserved only for the use of the Maharaja and his wife.  As your guide pulls aside the thick tapestry covering the doorway and ushers you inside, there’s a sound of twinkling bells.  Your sweetheart enters the chambers to discover it completely filled with candles.  Across one wall of the room is an ancient waterfall flowing with jasmine-scented water, and the bells are actually a duo of musicians playing a traditional ballad.  You discover a small set of jade-encrusted thrones and as you’re seated, you pick up a delicate work of art from the table.  It’s a perfect replica of the mirrored walls that line the room, and on the back is inscribed a promise that says “For as long as these walls have endured, so will my love for you.” As you learned earlier in the tour, the palace is hundreds of years old and since it is a protected historical site, it will be preserved forever…and so will your love.  As you drop to one knee and propose to her, she says yes.  Your perfect proposal evening is complete when you emerge from the suite to find a delicately adorned table for two inside the palace gardens and a sky full of stars to accompany you for dinner.

Sarah Pease, The Proposal Planner ™ is recognized as the foremost expert on marriage proposals and is the pioneer of Marriage Proposal Planning. Based in New York City, Sarah and her team at Brilliant Event Planning have designed and produced dream engagements for countless lucky couples from across the world and are the go-to source for all things regarding “Will You Marry Me?”

Photo Credits:

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/himjosh/3558445827/
• http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/india-photos/
• http://shreyesnr.blogspot.com/
• http://www.hoparoundindia.com/rajasthan/alwar-attractions/neemrana-fort.aspx
• http://www.essenceinphotography.com/courtyard-of-the-maharajas-palace/

New Year’s (Wedding) Resolutions Every Bride-to-Be Should Make
BY CATEY HILL

If you’re getting married in 2013, you already have a lot to think about — the dress! the flowers! the music! — but you need to add one more thing to the list: money.  Specifically, brides have to start planning now how they’ll plan their dream wedding in an affordable way.

OK, I know money is the last thing you probably want to think about, especially when it comes to your big day, and it’s tempting just to put it on your credit card and worry about it later.  But that’s a big mistake, as you and your hubby will face a big, fat, stress-inducing bill just when you’re trying to enjoy your first year of wedded bliss. Ick!

Instead, make — and stick to — these three, simple wedding new years’ resolutions, so you can have a budget-friendly, but still amazing, wedding.

1.  Make a wedding budget
I know budgets get a bad name — ew, who wants to think about restrictions on spending! — but I swear they’re easy to make and follow.  First, you have to figure out how much you can afford to spend on your wedding.  To do that, ask yourselves:  How much have you and your soon-to-be hubby saved for the wedding, and how much will you have saved by the big day? How much will your families chip in?  Add that up, as well as any other money you’ll get (could you host a yard sale to earn some extra cash or pick up a side job using a site like TaskRabbit.com?), and you have the amount you can spend on your wedding.

Then, you’ll need to figure out what your wedding will cost.  Don’t worry, this sounds scary, but it’s totally not.  To make this super easy for you guys, I’ve created a wedding budget that you can print out and use to help yourselves figure out cost.

TOTAL BUDGET: $____________________________

2. Ask for deals on almost everything
As women, we often find it hard to ask for what we want, especially when it comes to money.  But here’s the thing: Asking can pay off in a big way, especially when it comes to scoring deals on wedding stuff.  (And really, why should the sometimes-more-assertive opposite sex get the better deals?!)  You can often get significantly lower prices on catering, the venue, photography, flowers, the band and more by negotiating.  And it’s actually pretty simple to do.  Get at least three quotes from vendors and then use those quotes to start a negotiation with the vendor you’d like to use. You can say something like “I’d love to use your services, but X other company is actually offering X price.  Do you think you can match that price?”  You might not always get a better deal – especially if you’re negotiating for something that’s in high demand like a hot wedding venue or a sought-after caterer – but it’s worth a shot!

3.  Focus on what’s important
Most likely, you’re not going to be able to afford everything you want for your wedding.  After all, not everyone can get married in June at the boathouse in Central Park or don a vintage Vera Wang.  But that doesn’t mean you can’t have most everything you want.  To make sure you get the things you want most for your wedding, you’ll need to create a priority list that ranks all the things that make up a wedding — venue, photography, dress, band, flowers, etc. (you can use the budget above to help you figure this out) — from most important to least important. You should spend more on the items you ranked higher on the list, while spending less on those that are lower down.  You may decide to splurge on the perfect dress and an amazing photographer while just serving beer and wine or passing around one less appetizer during the reception.

A New Style Council is in Office for David’s Bridal!

We are proud to introduce the 2013 Style Council! A notable stylist, a renowned wedding and proposal planner, a prominent financial-savvy advisor and a budget fashion expert have joined forces to “propose” their knowledge as part of the Style Council.  Be sure to check out each Style Council members bio to learn more about their area of expertise and keep an eye out for their upcoming posts on our blog!

2013 Style Council:

Sarah Pease –  The “I Do” Expert

Nikki Pennie – The Purveyor of Style

Catey Hill – The Money Maven

Carmen Ordonez – The Budget Fashion Aficionado

Sarah Pease

The “I Do” Expert

Marriage proposal and engagement expert, Sarah Pease, is the pioneer of marriage proposal planning. Sarah has made her mark by designing and producing hundreds of dream marriage proposals in New York City and around the world.

Described as a true people-person, her success can be attributed to her genuine likeability coupled with a keen sense for what makes men (and the women they propose to) tick. She’s equally as comfortable discussing football and finance as she is shopping for the perfect diamond ring for her clients.

Sarah began her career in the banking industry, but quickly realized that spreadsheets and interest rates weren’t her passion. As the daughter of a small business owner, and armed with her MBA studies, she quit her job and started her company, Brilliant Event Planning, focusing on planning high-end weddings in New York City. When she learned that an acquaintance had popped the question by putting a gorgeous diamond ring at the bottom of a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, the idea of proposal planning was born.