Ruby Woo Wedding Couture

A lot of people say to me that “Realty shows” are fake! It is scripted and there is very little “reality” left over. I am open to everyone having their own opinions but I think (I too can have my own opinion) on the show “Say Yes to the Dress”, the bride’s shocked reaction to the price tag of her dream dress is real! They fall in love with a dress and then their heart drops to a new low when they see the price tag is beyond their budget by 300%.

Ivy Su and Teang Tang, owners of Ruby Woo Wedding Couture can be considered as “wedding dress fairy godmothers.” They have come up with a solution for brides that want their dream dress without the heartbreaking price tag.

Ruby Woo Wedding Couture allows brides to get their own custom made couture wedding dress for $1000.00 and delivered in 12 weeks. You can have a designer inspired wedding dress, or you can start from scratch on your own. You become the designer of the most important dress you will ever wear in your life. Don’t you love the sound of that?

If you are not convinced about the quality of the dress, you have an opportunity this weekend to see some dresses up close. This Sunday, May 1st, Ruby Woo Wedding Couture is hosting a tea party with proceeds from the event supporting the Canadian Red Cross - Japan Earthquake/Asia-Pacific Tsunami relief efforts. 12 Designer inspired wedding dresses will be auctioned off to brides to be. The winning bid will have their wedding dress custom-made to flatter the bride’s figure. 12 wedding vendors (including myself) will be creating a theme for each dress display as well. If you would like to check out these beautiful dresses and meet some wonderful vendors, make sure you RSVP. The tea party will be held at the Art Gallery of Calgary from 1:00-4:00pm. Hope to see you there!

Royal Wedding Dress

People not in the wedding industry may not see what all the fuss is about with the Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton. When their engagement was announced, I was so excited for them but didn’t really have anyone to share the news and excitement with cause I didn’t think too many people would care. I was excited because I know their wedding will set new wedding trends and standards. All eyes will be on this wedding and it will be talked about for decades. I even started reading CNN just to keep up with the Royal Wedding! (Occasionally, I would read some world news too. I am a changed person after their engagement!)

In addition to the Royal Wedding being an important one, all eyes will also be on Kate’s wedding gown. No doubt, her dress will be the inspiration for many brides that want to look like a princess and to have a princess wedding. There have been numerous speculations on who is the designer of Kate’s dress, but nothing has been confirmed. It is amazing that a secret like this has been kept so under wraps. In a couple more hours, we will be able to see Kate’s wedding dress. It has already been set to record on my PVR with extended time!

While I have my own predictions on what I think Kate’s dress will look like, I think I am just going to keep it to myself to see if I am right! In the meantime, here are some interesting facts I found on wedding dress when I was researching for my radio interview.

• Wedding dresses used to be colorful and not necessarily white.
• White wedding dresses became popular in 1840 after Queen Victoria’s wedding.
• Many people assumed that the color white was intended to symbolize virginity. However, it is actually symbolic of a Christening gown.
• Princess Diana’s wedding dress was ordered to be made only three months before her wedding and it was made in the designer’s basement.
• Princess Diana’s wedding dress had a 25 ft veil and 10,000 pearls.

Oh gosh, I just couldn't help posting a picture of my dress prediction. A blog isn’t complete without a picture! Here is a wedding dress by Phillipa Lepley.

Reducing Waste at your Wedding

This post is dedicated to Earth Day. Although I love the wedding industry, I cringe when I think about all the potential waste it creates. Although I try to create beautiful weddings, I also try to do this with the least amount of impact on the environment. Here are some tips on how you can reduce waste with your wedding decorations.

1. Look around your house and/or collections. Everyone has a collection of something. (One of my friends used to have a collection of buttons.) You will be surprised to find that your collection of vintage ginger jars will make awesome centerpieces and your collection of neckties would make cute whimsical pew bows.

2. Ask friends and family for stuff. If everyone you know contributes one or two vases, your centerpieces or candy buffet vases are now taken care of. Just make sure you put labels on the bottom so that they can be returned to its rightful owner after the wedding!

3. Share with another bride – if you wedding ceremony is in the afternoon and there is a morning wedding ceremony, consider talking to the morning bride about sharing wedding decorations. This can reduce waste and cut costs.

4. Buy used wedding decorating items. Most likely these items have just been used for a couple of hours much like your decorations will be. It is not tacky to use old things, it is resourceful. Also, you can consider it as part of you “Something new, something old, something borrowed, something blue!”

5. Hire a wedding decorator, most likely he/she already has huge quantities in everything already and will have the opportunity to reuse them.

After your wedding, also remember to recycle any left-over menu cards, place cards, or ceremony programs. (Make sure you keep one or two as a wedding keepsake!) Flowers or floral centerpieces can be re-gifted to senior homes or hospitals. Not only will it bring new life to the flowers, it will also bring lots of smiles from unexpected recipients!

Weddings can be beautiful without being wasteful! Here are some pictures of creative weddings from Forget Me Knot Weddings.

New Wishahmon Website!

After two months of hard work by my wonderfully talented graphic designer, Eva, the Wishahmon website has been revamped. I must say it looks absolutely FABULOUS!

This is the fourth time the website has been redesigned or tweeked in the last four years. I guess you can say I have been struggling to project the image of the company in the last couple of years. (Eva has been very, very patient with me.) This time around I tried to stay true my designs and who (I think) I am. The final outcome is modern, clean, and full of visuals. I am finally comfortable and proud of my website. Please check out the new Wishahmon website when you get the chance and let me know what your thoughts are!

TOMS Shoes

I love shoes almost as much as I love weddings. On average, I buy four pairs of shoes on each vacation. The most I ever bought on vacation was nine pairs. (Oops. No idea how that happened.) Now before you start to wonder, what does my shoe addiction have to do with weddings? Wait for it…the wedding part of this blog post is coming.

When discussing the wedding ceremony design, brides often ask me what type of shoe or heel they should wear that day to walk down the aisle. Rather than going into huge detail about current shoe designers and trends, we often discuss the type of flooring (whether hard wood or grass) at the ceremony venue and options to accommodate the shoe/heel. I have to stress to brides that aisle runners help very little when you are walking down the aisle in heels. Aisle runners help keep the wedding gown clean but it does not solve the problem of uneven grass. An option is to rent sections of a dance floor to place on top of the grass and place an aisle runner on top.

Recently, I started advising my brides to wear her most comfortable shoes for the ceremony, whether these are cowboy boots, runners, or flip flops. I tell my brides that the best shoe/heel for the ceremony is whatever they can walk comfortably and confidently in. I also remind them that most often they are going to be nervous and excited. The last thing they need to concentrate on is walking. Save the heels for wedding pictures!

A couple of months ago, one of my best girl friends introduced me to a line of shoes called TOMS Shoes. This is a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. As of September 2010, TOMS has given over one million pairs of new shoes to children in need through Giving Partners around the world.

TOMS Shoes also have a bridal line! How absolutely cool is this? Brides and grooms can wear TOMS Shoes on their wedding day and know that two children on the other side of the world will also be wearing a pair of shoes as a result of their purchase. What a memorable way to celebrate your wedding day!