The Anne Barge Blog

I went to the most beautiful wedding this weekend at the Halcyon House in Georgetown. The bride did an amazing job of matching her wedding details to the location. Wearing a beautiful english net gown with understated black bridesmaid dresses and gorgeous creme and green bouquets she made the location flow effortlessly into her scheme. Historic homes are some of the most beautiful wedding venues around, and they easily give you a sense of their character. While the Halcyon House was once a Navy Admirals home, it now lends itself to a sophisticated and understated elegant setting. With crisp clean lines and bright green against brick this home is perfect for simple beauty without many flourishes. Other historic homes, for example Southern mansions, lend themselves to a more elaborate scheme. When looking at a historic home as your wedding venue go with the feeling and mood set by the home for a harmonious wedding day look.

Halcyon House – www.HalcyonHouse.org

Swan House – www.AtlantaHistoryCenter.com

Dresses by Anne Barg

Today’s dress is another beautiful style from our newest Anne Barge Couture Collection. Made of smooth silk taffeta, this style is the perfect blend of whimsy and architecture. The strapless bodice is draped and pleated into a figure flattering shape with built in sash. The natural waistline then meets a soft A-line skirt detailed with taffeta leaf cutouts and a sprinkling of beading.  This gown is good in any location and any season. It is one of the most flattering gown shapes, and will fit most body types.  For more information, pricing or locations please contact us at info@AnneBarge.com. This gown can be seen at Anne Barge trunk shows, and will be in stores soon!

We all have those things which calm us 100% of the time. Mine is a warm cup of tea. Whenever, I am stressed, tired, worried, sad, or downright blue a sweet, creamy cup of tea cheers me right up. Why, even at Anne Barge we make pots of delicate black tea to sip during muslin fittings and meetings.

On my wedding day, my stomach was in knots. My sister and sister-in-law brought me a warm cup of tea from Starbucks as we sat in the salon getting our hair done. The calming steam eased my nerves and the warm cup took the chill off my icy hands. In that moment the world got calm and I was able to enjoy the time with my bridesmaids.

On your wedding day, moments of peace are a must. Take any chance you get to calm yourself and seek inner peace. These moments are special and will help clear your mind to remember all the important details. Moments of peace can be listening to your ipod, meditation, a yoga session, a run, or even a cup of tea.

We have tons of brides who seek more tropical locations for their weddings. Why, one of our own flew with her dress to Jamaica for their nuptials! As I prepare to fly out for vacation today I am scrambling to make sure we are prepared for the airport. While I am packing silly putty, obnoxious toys that make noise, and plenty of fruit snacks for my one year old; I feel that is nothing compared to flying away with your wedding dress in hand. Security is stressful enough without carrying the most important garment of your life through!

In real life it has happened in front of my very eyes.  The bride has her dress bag in hand as her only carry on, and she clutched it tightly to her chest. She got to the front of the line and slipped the hanger out from the garment bag (which I thought was genius and would never have thought of doing) and walked through the security. She beeped! Oh no! She walked back through and they made her put her dress on the moving belt. She nervously watched as it made its way through. The beading on her dress had set off the censors, and now those beads looked suspicious. My heart went out to her and they asked her to take it out of the bag. She made her fiancee turn around as they scanned her dress. Finally they let her go with her dress. A bit shaken she walked off to enjoy her wedding in paradise.

So what are some good ideas for traveling with your dress?

1- Be super nice to the security people and explain to them with honey dripping from your voice what is in your bag. (Make sure also it is in a garment bag with the store name or designer so they can put two and two together.) Usually they will help you. I have even seen them let someone pass it through and they scan it with the wand.  They have done it before and if you are nice they will take extra care.

2- Plan to re-press your dress when you get to your destination if you want no wrinkles. It will have some from the travel, but they can be minimal. Just have a back-up plan to be safe and stress-free.

3-Call your airline before travel and ask questions. Most airlines have Captain’s closets specifically for something like your dress.

4- If you have to put it through the belt, take your time and be careful. Make sure the bag doesn’t touch the sides. One of you go in front and one in back to block others from putting things too close to it on the belt and to grab it the second it comes through.

5- If they want you to take it out, ask them for a private area. Also, you can ask that they wear gloves since it is white, or to let you do all the touching.

MOST IMPORTANT: Keep your cool, take your time, and be flexible. Any problem has a solution that still ends up with you on a plane to paradise!

If you have any tips please let us know so I can post them here…let’s work together!

Sometimes a girl who loves sparkle just falls in love with a lace dress, and sometimes a dress just needs something to kick it up a notch. A brooch is a perfect solution for both these problems! A punch of high voltage sparkle can add pizzazz to any style, and can also be useful in pulling in amazing rhinestone (or for the lucky few, diamond) jewelry. Brooches are a great way to add a touch of your own personality as there are millions to choose from . Flea markets, antique stores, department stores, fashion boutiques and even your Mother’s jewelry box are great places to find individual pieces to add some flair to your wedding day. A great place to pin them on your gown is at the waist, center back, knot of your ribbon or even your neckline. Try them in different places to see what works best with you and your dress. Here are some ideas to get your juices flowing.

So, this weekend I got possibly the worst haircut in my whole life. It was one of those instances where the first snip made it chin length instead of shoulder length. At that point…what can you do. Since there was no way to glue the eight inches back on my hair, I began to look into “other options”. Since my hair can luckily still go into a short ponytail, and since I do love the bangs I invested in a flock of new headbands. My new look would include a spunky pony with super cute headband. I knew just the place to find these new conversation pieces…my ever growing favorite ETSY.com. If you have never shopped on Etsy before I encourage you to check it out. ETSY is an online market place with handmade goods and true vintage pieces. You can find anything on ETSY including very cute one of a kind creations. The creativity explodes in every ETSY store and I found so many great headbands. Who knows…maybe this headband look will become a permanent hair-do!

Clockwise from top left corner:

1. LittleWhiteDresser (www.LittleWhiteDresser.Etsy.com)

2. Schickimickis (www.SchickiMickis.Etsy.com)

3. EveryDayFairyTale (www.EveryDayFairyTale.Etsy.com)

4. AmieNoelDesigns (www.AmieNoelDesigns.Etsy.com)

5. LittleWhiteDresser (www.LittleWhiteDresser.Etsy.com)

And if all else fails…go to Nordstrom and get this super cute Diane Von Furstenburg hat!

Today’s featured dress is one of our newest La Fleur creations. You can’t be shy is this fitted trumpet gown! The dress is completely pleated to the skirt, and it hugs every curve your Mama gave you. The full trumpet skirt is given tons of texture with perfectly placed pick-ups ,and it is hemmed with small pleated trim to pull skirt and bodice together. Made of silk taffeta the dress is light and lustrous. This gown will work on anyone who is fierce enough to wear it, and it will work at any time of year and venue. There is only one rule when wearing this sexy number…you better work it!

Please contact us at info@AnneBarge.com for more information, pricing and locations near you.

At Anne Barge we get so many letters and emails from brides that we have visited at trunk shows, and it makes us feel so good! So many times a bride will come in to visit us with a huge problem…I am too short for the dresses, they don’t make dresses in my size, I haven’t found anything I like.  They all leave with totally different words, “Thank you!”. I have been with Anne long enough to see the “never say never” attitude. I think she can find or make a dress for anyone on the planet! The most important thing when negativity creeps into your shopping experience it to listen to your designer representative  or the designer herself. They have seen it all, and they have the solution for any problem. Sometimes it is very hard to trust a stranger who has just pulled a crazy dress off the rack. Trust them and put on that dress; more often then not they are right and it is your perfect dress. Be sure to keep an open mind at trunk shows and you too can be a trunk show success story. To read some of the actual letters scroll down!

“Thank you so much for making my wedding gown experience such a great one. My dress turned out absolutely beautiful and was exactly what I had been dreaming of since I was a little girl-it was stunning!” “The one-on one service and expertise in your boutique is unmatched. Everyone was always very accommodating and helpful with anything I needed. I am truly thankful for everything that you and your staff did to make the process so easy. Thank you again for the amazing dress. Choosing an Anne Barge gown was probably the best choice I made in my wedding gown process-I would recommend it to anyone!” “Thank you so much for my beautiful dress. It was such a joy to meet you at the trunk show. The dress is an heirloom that I hope my daughter and granddaughter will want to wear it at their own weddings.” “The first e-mail I saw today was yours and it made my day. A million and more thank yous for your help. My wedding will now be perfect in every possible way I am marrying the man of my dreams and I have the most wonderful dress” “Thank you so much. I have to give you credit for customer service! You are awesome! I hope that it works out with the dress, just because of the customer service that you have provided! Thank you for your help.” “Thank you, thank you for your creative genius and openness to make changes to your design to customize my wedding gown. The dress was just perfect, unbelievable-truly more than I could have expected in terms of its fit with the style of the wedding and my personality. Our wedding was amazing, definitely the happiest night of our lives up to this point! Since appreciation for your role in our wedding.” “I never thought I could love a dress as much as I do this one, not that I would find a dress so well-suited for me in all respects. Being petite, I have struggled to find a dress that is beautiful and elegant, but does not overpower me in size or design. This dress by Anne Barge is the perfect balance and I have literally been glowing since Monday. I can’t wait to wear the real thing on my wedding day!” “Of course the dress I chose for my wedding is one of yours, but as soon as I tried on this dress, I knew that I just had to write you!!! I must have tried on six of your dresses and they fit better than any of the 1000 that I had already tried on! I have found that most dresses are not made to fit a tall, thin bride….but every single one of your dresses fit me perfectly and made me feel like such a princess!!! I just wanted to thank you, because had it not been for your gowns, my dress shopping experience could have been a nightmare!!! Keep up the beautiful work!” “I have just returned from my appointment at an Anne Barge Trunk Show at The White Dress By The Shore in Clinton, CT and I have to tell you how incredible it was. Your representative was absolutely wonderful. She was sweet, knowledgeable and funny. Not only did she make me look and feel like a princess, but she made my mom so happy. The entire experience was exactly what I had imagined it would be. On top of all this, your dresses are absolutely exquisite. The quality and design are beyond beautiful…I would recommend them to anyone. I decided to customize one and to be able to do that is such a wonderful thing. I am now going to have a dress made just for me…it truly is magical! So thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything…the dress and the whole experience!”

Don’t believe that we can find a dress for you? Send us a photo of yourself and we will send you back the styles we recommend. Info@AnneBarge.com

Married on May 17, 2008, Nocona probably thought her time in the bridal spotlight was over. It’s not! Trying to find inspiration for today’s post I randomly clicked my way around the Anne Barge website (which I highly recommend you do sometime!). It was in the “Real Brides” section that I ran across beautiful Nocona. Her styling of this La Fleur gown inspired me. It is the perfect example of how your personality can come shining through even when dressed in white. I adore the red shoes and the birdcage veil. We get tons of request for birdcage veils, which are not easy to pull off, and she does it flawlessly. Styled to perfection with awesome personality shining through Nocona is today’s featured bride.  It doesn’t get much better then this!

Photographed by Mesha Berilacqua

Last night at Chastain Amphitheater I was lucky enough to see the Barenaked Ladies perform. For those of you who have never heard of this Canadian born band, I urge you to go purchase their album Rock Spectacle to introduce yourself to the band. Their fun loving lyrics and obvious joy at performing will immediatly endear you to them. Part of their charm is their playfulness and the fact that they always seem to be having fun. What great inspiration for a wedding…fun and playfulness. If their is one lesson you can take from the band its if you are having a great time…so is everyone else!

Dress: Anne Barge

Earrings: Carol Tanenbaum “Schiaparelli” www.CarolTanenbaum.com

Shoes: Kate Spade www.KateSpade.com

To learn more about Barenaked Ladies visit www.BarenakedLadies.com