Spring 2009 Bridal Market!

Every year, one weekend in mid-October is like a national holiday for all of us at Promise! It's Bridal Market! Held in NYC in showrooms and luxury hotel suites, bridal designers show their newest collections to bridal shops (ranging from boutiques like Promise to institutions like Kleinfeld). The downer is that all the fabulous styles won't come to our shops until later winter/early spring...but that is far outweighed by all the loveliness we are able to see now.

We saw tailored sophistication at L'ezu Atelier, inspired, edgy romance at Claire Pettibone, dreamy, soft elegance at Lea Ann Belter, and stunning, feminine gowns at Elizabeth Fillmore. We also saw some new designers we are thinking of adding to our carefully edited collection, but we are still deliberating, so stay tuned!

We will post images of our favorites from the collections soon; for now, here is a recap:

As usual, the gowns at L'ezu were perfectly constructed and elegant, but, this season, some of them have a new and luxe twist! Some L'ezu gowns are adorned with...diamonds! Lovely, sparkly jewels that you can remove from your gown post-wedding and have made into jewelry to wear after the wedding (Angelina, their model looks stellar in one of Patty & Corrina's designs).

On our way to see Lea Ann Belter, since we were shopping for wedding gowns and since, of course, there is no wedding without love, Kori and Tania had to pause!

At Lea Ann Belter, Lea Ann and Karen (and her wonderful model Pearl) showcased Lea Ann's collection, which was filled with touches of lace, organza, and real freshwater pearls! Like L'ezu, the pearls can be removed afer the wedding for jewelry.

We thought the idea of precious jewels on gowns was so romantic! We were all ready to swoon - who doesn't love versatility in their wedding gown?!?!

At the Claire Pettibone Show at the Bowery Hotel, my mom (and partner, Juliana) and I were totally in love with the collection - this season, Claire's theme was "Rock and Roll Bride." While the collection was all Claire Pettibone, with layers of lace and softness, there was definitely spice and sass in each gown that strutted down the runway.

We were all breathlessly anticipating viewing Elizabeth Fillmore's collection - and not just because it was our last appointment! We were enraptured by her divine fabrics, laces, and perfect combination of modern, graceful, and enchanting gowns. We were so taken with each gown we saw, we were all reduced to "Oh! That is GORGEOUS!" as a neverending refrain.

Of course, no visit to New York Bridal Market is complete without dinner with our friends from Alexia's Bridal Boutique in Carey, NC. Alexia and I both opened our shops around the same time, and since then have been eating delicious dinners together in New York every year! This year, we went to Bar Americain (one of Bobby Flay's restaurants). It was excellent - if you go, try the Cioppino, it will make you weep.

After more shows on Monday, we dragged ourselves to the train station and back to DC!











- Jessica

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