The Little White Dress

So normally I tell you all about the gowns you can wear for your wedding.  Which is great cause ya know, we're a bridal store...which implies that we clothe you for that occasion. But what I HAVEN'T talked about is...<drum roll> A RECEPTION DRESS!!

Or casual wedding dress. Ooooaaar a justice of the peace ceremony! Or a SHOTGUN WEDDING!! Do those even HAPPEN any more?!?  Please...SOMEONE say yes!  I find it wildly romantic.  Only I would find the idea of a cowboy standing at the alter next to his compromised fiancee, staring down the barrel of a rifle romantic. OOOH EVEN BETTER: Eloping!  I still want to elope.  Please?  Can I?  Mom, if/when you read this don't freak out!  I'm not even engaged.  It's a hypothetical, you have time to get used to the idea.

But as far as a Reception Dress is concerned, imagine this:  You've gone through the ceremony and all of your photos in your perfect gown from Camarillo Bridal (see how I did that?), you've danced your first dance in your full skirts swishing romantically around his legs, you've toasted all your guests in your bridal splendor and then BAM: You kick it up a notch with a sassy little number so you can fight over cake smashing  and bouquet throwing, and get DOWN on the dance floor!  Plus, just image how cute those getaway shots of you and your honey are going to be in a sweet little dress! 
I know, I know, you're all like "But Tabitha, that's too expensive and I can't afford TWO dresses!!"  Oh Honey.  Yes. You can. Be-CUUUUUZ there are OPTIONS. And by options I mean gowns at lower price points.  And by lower price points I mean less expensive than you think they are.

I'm going to show you some RE-DIK-U-LUSS-LEE cute options that range from $600 - $200 starting with the most expensive.

Uno: Classy and Curvey
Jasmine Bridal (hhmmm, sounds familiar...like...like, we just had a trunk show with them?)

And check out those Benjamin Adams shoes!! IIIIIIIIII KNOW.

Ok, so this is a beautiful one shoulder with crystal floral detailing on a side rouche.  The fabric is a poly satin and it has a STUNNING BACK:

I love rouching around ye olde arse because it accentuates your assets ;)  And here is the fabulous floral detailing that is on the right side of the waist:

It's bold and amazing and PERFECTLY matches this little cutie pie:

Accessorizing may or may not be my favorite thing about bridal. Because THAT is where who YOU are in all your individual splendour make an ensemble yours.

Dos: Short and Sassy

Alfred Angelo

First, yes, I know, Shelley's legs are reDONKulously long.

And secondly...AWWWWWWLL soooo cute!!  This has all of my favorite things in a wedding dress COMBINED with a sassy little hemline and beautiful taffeta fabric!!!

Favorite things (that are not whiskers on kitten or schnitzel with noodles): Sweetheart neckline, asymmetrical rouched waist, modified A line (lower on the hip), and a gathered skirt...

Also, please note how PERFECTLY those "Pink" (brand!) shoes match!! There's pleating that MATCHES THE DRESS. OMG we live in a world where this can even HAPPEN.  Yes.

I can just see one of you fabulous fiancees prancing around your reception in this, swing dancing, playing in the photo booth, and enjoying your party to its fullest!!  And if you're choosing to use this for your ceremony I (of course) have the perfect head piece for you!

BAM CUTENESS REIGNS!!

Tres: Frilly and Feminine

Alfred Angelo

Ok, so let's just talk about the things I LOVE about this dress...

It's beautifully soft and flowing chiffon...it's so feminine...it's flattering...it's perfect for SO many events...IT'S UNDER $250 because it's a bridesmaids dress!! GREAT option for a Little White Dress at a Little White Price!  So ANYONE can have the reception dress of their dreams!  We carry 3 different lines of Bridesmaids Gowns ALL of which are available in a white or ivory option.  YUP.

Back to this dress...

 So sweet!  This neckline is really flattering especially if you need to pad your under-endowment (ahem, me) and/or show off your pretty neck and shoulders :) Can't you just imagine stepping into your getaway car among showers of bubbles in this dress?!?  And then wearing it on the breezy deck of your cruise ship with a beautiful floppy hat holding a brightly colored cocktail?!?  Can't you just see it strewn haphazardly across the hotel room floor...WOA!!  Ummm...I mean...see yourself wearing it in a winery while you and your new husband lounge around the tasting room? If you answered YES to any of these you are obligated to come buy this dress.

Prettttyyyy much my current favorite head piece!!  It is very structured (hard backing) so you can use it any way you want...in your hair, on your dress, on a sash, it's up to you!

So YES! You can get that Little White Dress for your reception, for your casual wedding, for your courthouse wedding, for your shotgun wedding, or for your elopement!  We have the perfect one just WAITING for you!!

PS - Thanks for modeling, Shelley!! :)

Something Blue...

"Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue..." ("And a sixpence in your shoe"! Which we have here! Fathers are supposed to give them to the bride to put in their shoe to guarantee wealth in the marriage.  Yes, please!)

Bad news. I'm not funny today.  I tried to remedy the situation with an intravenous supply of Butterfingers, Baby Ruth, Starburst, and Snickers.  Which normally works, but I'm just not funny today.

OH YEAH: So Monday was Claire's birthday!!  She's old now.  "Old" according to hipsters who think the world ends at 24.  AND ALSO Pam and Renee are back...yay!!  It's nice to have the Queen Mother and the Wedding Lady back :)

Remind me why we do the something blue tradition?

Reminder: "Something Blue in ancient times is the symbol of faithfulness, purity and loyalty. Often a blue item is the garter and in olden times the couple wore blue bands on the border of their wedding attire to denote, love, modesty and fidelity. Another way to wear something blue is to include a blue flower in your headdress or theme your wedding flowers in blue. Today some brides even get a blue tattoo, wear blue nail polish or wear blue shoes." http://www.somethingoldsomethingnew.co.uk/


I personally am far to afraid of commitment for a tattoo but I have some other ideas to:

KAH-UTE!!!  Here's the thing...you can pick anything you want!!  Let your imagination run wild!!  The ring almost just cute overdosed me. So blue shoes?! We got you covered...check out our shoe dyeing: Dye-ing For Color

(Pssst: we also have cute blue panties in the store!!) 

Here is an idea we talked about before that I KNOW you're going to...no...no, NEED to have for your wedding!!

SO FREAKING CUTE. 'Cause you know I've told you about how we can make this happen for you!  Yes.  Blue petticoat.  And a picture like this one, in your photo album. Forever.

And here is the link to the info about our petticoat dyeing: Petticoats and Cake

Accessories for you AND your ceremony are great ways to incorporate this sweet tradition into your wedding. 

And guess what ELSE? (I say "guess what" way too much.  I am banning myself from now on.) We offer bags, ring pillows, and clutches in the store!  I personally love love love the blue garter so much. Gah! I would invite that garter to my wedding.

What about THIS bad larry:

 

Fact: we can NOT ONLY dye your petticoat blue and dye your shoes blue but we can also put those cute blue crystals under your shoe for an extra special touch!  Nichole started trying to do it for her own wedding shoes and we all loved it so much that we said "HOLY TUNA SALAD we have to offer this to our brides." So we do!  You can choose from a few different options of what you would like it to read.

This is featuring one of our recent and most adorable brides, Jennifer!  Check out her really REALLY fabulously blue idea!

We heard she loves Sean. ;)  We all squealed over these for a good 10 minutes and then swore that it would be blogged about!  I finally get to!! Yay!!  And congrats to you again Jenny!  We love you!! <3

Ok and now for my personal favorite that I WILL be doing for my hypothetical wedding:

YES!! Your wedding date or initials stitched onto your dress! I FREAKING LOVE THIS.  This is all of the things I love in one place:

-pretty blue

-wedding dresses

-handstitching

-photo ops

-unique details

I can die happy after my perfect wedding dress has a hand-stitched blue date in the hem.

And that's all for today. 

Wait, no it's not. I have to tell you one other thing...WE'RE SO EXCITED FOR THE JASMINE TRUNK SHOW!  It's this coming weekend!! Yayayayayayayayayayay!!!!! Seriously...like...love.  We can't wait to see all the dresses! And I can't wait to try some on...check out the gowns! www.jasminebridal.com

Deuces yo, I'm peacing out.

Our Team...

Working at Camarillo Bridal is kind of like working in an ER.  'Cause, ya know, both entail life and death situations...?

Ok, so maybe not an ACTUAL ER but we ARE all about emergencies, preventative measures, and solutions.  And honestly, it can sometimes be a really overwhelming job, but we always make magic happen...

This week has been in particular need of magic and yet at the end of each day I look around and see that we have 1) survived 2) accomplished what we needed to accomplish and 3) done everything in our power to ensure that our brides have the bridal experience of their dreams.

Which suddenly made me acutely aware of how amazing the team at Camarillo Bridal is.  These ladies...what's not to love?  Our staff averages a healthy L.A. 8 on the hot scale, all are of above average intelligence, and each have gifts that make them essential members to this store.  Without just ONE of these amazing women our whole equilibrium is off and we all are affected.

From Our owner, Pam, to our Diva-In-Training, Courtney, everyone plays a part in making this machine churn without a complaint.  One process breaks down and the whole store is a mess...which is why I am so thankful that we are able to trust each other to do our jobs fully and with attention to detail.

Some days I'm not as on my game (I KNOW, hard to believe, but true) and on those days the girls help me with that extra oomph that I need to keep things in order.

Some days one of us is out sick or on vacation, and ya know what?  I know I can count on these women to step up and pick up the slack.

Some days everything seems to go wrong but we know that if we ask for help, we will get it.

And some times help comes from unexpected places...today I was helped by fellow member of the wedding industry, Megan O'Neil of Soul Mates Bridal (CLICK HERE).  So I would like to give an extra big thank you so her!  Megan and Vanessa are top of the line wedding coordinators!  You guys NEED to check them out...amazeballs.  

THANK YOU FOR THE TIPS!

Here are the 3 things we rely on...

1: Good Coffee (thank you BFF who works there for the delish treats!!!)

 

2: Chocolate (panicked or not)

3: Our Team.  The Camarillo Bridal Babes.

So thank you to each of you brides who make this an amazing industry to be in, thank you fellow wedding-ers for the help, and thank you to the girls that I work with. <3

Real Bodies in Real Dresses: Anjolique and Maggie Sottero

This is going to come as a shock...

Different cuts look good on different bodies.

Oh. Wait.  You already knew that.  But I'm just saying, sometimes we forget as we look through thousands of images of wedding gowns that the way it looks on the model is NOT how it is going to look on us.

BECAUSE that bridal model is 6ft tall and approximately 120 lbs.  And airbrushed.  And Photoshopped.  And manipulated.  So let's talk a little bit about real bodies in real dresses.  And when I say "let's" I mean I'M going to talk.

TABITHA: NOT A LOT OF CURVE.

You can drive at high speeds around these turns.  I'm not the curviest of ladies.  I'm not even the curviest of teenagers.  I'm very thin, I have extremely small boobs, and I don't have a huge difference between my waist and hip measurement.  Which makes me great for dancing but not so great for modeling. (Like ballet dancing. Not pole...)

Ta-Da! Maggie Sottero.

This GORGEOUS Maggie Sottero is lending me it's curves :)

And that is because this is an extremely structured gown with built in curve.  The mermaid cut also makes me look like I have more hip going on than I actually do.  I still need to put cups into the bust in order to fill it out but I must say that even without it is structured enough to make me look balanced...

Side booty and everything...SCHWHAT'S UP!

Note: corset backs have many advantages as you can see here.  1) Makes your waist look TEENSY and your hips look LUSCIOUS. 2) More forgiving in the sizing!  

So thank you Maggie Sottero corset back for making this rump a reality:

JAYME: BROAD SHOULDERS AND A LARGER BUST

Yeah, so THIS lady got blessed with beautiful shoulders and boobs.  And pretty narrow hips, too.  So she's able to really rock a gorgeous top like THIS:

WHAM!!  Maggie Sottero

Another beautiful Maggie Sottero gown!  That lady knows what's up.  Your shoulders really have to be wide enough to support the structure of this gown. If you have little shoulders like mine then it's going to fall off to the sides.  (Which looks like you're playing dress up.)

So then the entire front of the gown is cut to beautifully highlight a full bust line (a.k.a. great rack).

See! If you have little minishoulders this dress is just going to look like flying squirrel wings instead of this fabulosity that Jayme has going on.

And now just a to highlight a few gorgeous details because this is one of our favorite gowns!

 GAH. Reeediiiculoussss.

And the buttons!! Eeee!! Such amazing detail!

SHELLEY: REALLY TALL

Like, 6 feet tall.  (She's a bridal model so yeah.)  Some of these dresses have beautiful detailing that really cannot be worn by a shorted woman.  One such gown is the Amazing Anjolique!

 OOH LA-LA!!  Anjolique

This is one of our favorite gowns! Anjolique has a beautiful line of gowns that we are delighted to share with you ladies!

This gown has the modified A-line with detailing around the hips which means that it really does need to sit JUST BELOW the hip...which is difficult if you are 5'1" because it will be roughly at your knees.  And then the rest of the skirt with it's playful pick-ups will be almost on the floor.

You can see how the floral detailing wraps all the way around just under the booty, so it looks AMAZING on Shelley's long body.  Because she is lengthy her derriere is in the right position for the bum of this bodice to be sumptuous!!

Toljya.  Bootylicious. (BUTTONS!!)

You can see how pretty and intricate the floral detailing of this skirt is...and check out those BUTTONS!! So pretty!!

So the moral of the story is that WE HAVE A DRESS PERFECT FOR YOUR BODY!!  'Cause that's the whole point of what we do!  We want you to show off your best assets and highlight your favorite parts that make you, YOU!  So I know I've said it before but I'm going to say it again...make an appointment when you are ready to buy a gown and I promise you won't be disappointed with the experience of finding YOUR DRESS!

And for fun we have "HOW TO BE A BRIDAL MODEL" with Tabitha:

Ya know how in the magazines the bridal models are just full of angst and also apparently really unhappy about just LIFE? Yeah.  And how they stick their shoulders out awkwardly? Yeah.  This is my tutorial on how to make that happen.

Lesson #1:

 Lean forward at an angle.  Allow your shoulders to fall forward.  Never look at the camera.

Lesson #2:

Lean back as far as you are able to...almost fall over. Shift all your weight forward.  Pretend someone far away called your name.

Lesson #3:

Find a couch.  Lean as uncomfortably as possible.  Place your hips at the edge of the cushion like you're going to slide off.  Gaze into your future.

Lesson #4:

Lay on the couch.  Feel every angsty thought you've even felt.  Carelessly drape your limbs across your face/body.  Realize how futile life is.