Check out the dresses below and remember ALL dresses are for sale at The Bride’s Project, www.thebridesproject.com, with proceeds going to various cancer charities. A lot of these dresses have elements of hand sewing making them one of a kind couture gowns!

Click on an image to get a closer look. Enjoy!

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In previous posts I talked about gifts for your bridesmaids; well what better way to wrap up your bridesmaid’s gifts than in bright, gorgeous reusable bags. Alyssa, designer and creator of Evergive Bags, comes from a great background of design, including creating costumes for the National Ballet. 

These bags are made with fabrics fresh from the Akosombo textile mill in Ghana, West Africa. The bright colours and funky prints really create an excitement for gift giving.

The easy to use bags come in all different sizes so why not even wrap your guest favours in these. A gift that keeps on giving, that is environmentally friendly and supports local business — i can’t think of a better kind! Go to www.evergivebags.com for more information and get your hands on these gems.

I met Colleen from BlissEscape  at The Winter Holiday Sale and when she explained the product to me I immediately thought “what a great way to get away without breaking the bank”. BlissEscape is the world’s first guided audio relaxation travelogues. They take you through a guided meditation, allowing you to transcend to other parts of the world while creating a calm, peaceful environment within the comfort of your home. Head over to the website www.blissescape.com and check out Colleen herself in a video explaining more about the product.

As mentioned in part 1 of this blog series of unique ideas what a great gift idea for bridesmaids and for the bride herself! After months of hard work and planning for the big day, take a break the week before the wedding and travel with your mind to the beautiful Mediterranean or even a Caribbean beach. You and your bridesmaids won’t regret it. You’ll feel refreshed and relaxed for the wedding day and even better you’ll look it too!

The holidays are over and as the new years starts brides can get back to focusing their attention to their big day. With most weddings still happening in the summer months it is time to get things in order. As I mentioned in my previous blog I met some great vendors at the Winter Holiday Sale last month and my next three blog entries are going to highlight some great businesses that brides can use for their wedding.

Let’s start off with  bridesmaids, what are they going to wear? It’s always hard to please a group of ladies with one dress design so why not have the dresses custom made and at a reasonable price! U:her, whose signature is to ‘be who you are’, creates beautiful pieces that are ‘classic but with a modern twist’.

Tiffany, the creative mind behind U:her, is great to work with and will take the time to create a perfect vision for your bridesmaids and your wedding day. Not only will the bridesmaid dresses be different from any other wedding but the dresses will fit perfectly which means they will be figure flattering and your friends will LOVE you for that!

Tiffany also has a line of silk screened bamboo T-shirts  and dresses which she does by hand and the silk screen designs are her hand drawn fashion illustrations. What a great and unique idea as presents for bridesmaids! Here are some shots of these items taken at the Holiday Sale.

Check out her website  and facebook for more info: uherfashions.blogspot.ca   www.facebook.com/uherfashions

Stay tuned for more uniques ideas for your bridesmaids……

This past December 8th and 9th sparkle&pomp had the privilage of being one of 25 great businesses participating at the TBDC Winter Holiday Sale held at The Foundery, 376 Bathurst St.

Here’s a few shots of our table from the show

For the show we added new designs: women’s headbands, hair clips and brooches, little girl headbands, hair clips and hand crochet purses and pocket squares for men. Take a look at the pictures below for all our new one of a kind designs!

Women’s Headbands

Women’s Hair Clips/Brooches

Girl’s Headbands

Girl’s Crochet Purses

Men’s Pocket Squares

and here’s a sneak peek of our new line of hand knitted shawls which we unveiled at the show

The show was a great experience and we were happy to meet so many people and fabulous vendors. Stay tuned for our next blog which will be featuring some of the vendors from the show!

HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY SEASON AND WE’LL SEE YOU IN THE NEW YEAR!!!

Please check out their website for more information www.thebridesproject.com

Helen, founder of The Brides Project, is a joy to work with and all the volunteers who work there match her enthusiasm and compassion. I had the pleasure of taking some outdated dresses and revamping them in hopes that these dresses would be given another chance and for a bride to fall in love with for her special day! Check out the before and after pictures below (you can click on each image to get a larger view). ENJOY!

BEFORE: 1970′s Lace Wedding Gown

AFTER: Beautiful Lace Destination Dress

BEFORE: 1980′s Wedding Gown

AFTER: 1950′s Inspired Cocktail Style Wedding Dress

BEFORE: 1990′s Wedding Gown

AFTER: Modern and Chic Wedding Gown

I am very glad to be able to contribute to this great organization and excited to say that both the 5o’s style cocktail wedding dress and the modern, chic wedding gown have sold (the latter selling in just an hour after it’s arrival at the boutique!) and gone home with happy brides.