Spread the Love on Your Wedding Day

I love the idea of celebrating your love by giving back to the community on your wedding day. There are several organizations set up to help you do this. Here are a few:

* idofoundation.org Offers a "charity registry" (you register with charities you'd like your guests to donate to, in lieu of gifts). It also allows you to register with I Do Foundation's partners ( ex. Target). Up to 10% of guests' gift purchases from these partner stores will be donated to your selected charity. These donations are made at no additional cost to you or your guests.

Donate left-over food from your reception to secondharvest.org/foodbanks

Even though you insist that you picked dresses that your bridesmaids can "wear again"--they probably won't. Encourage your friends to donate their dresses to organizations that provide free prom dresses to high school girls that cannot otherwise afford them. Here are 3 such organizations:

* princessproject.org

* safeinsacramento.org - Cinderella's Closet

* glassslipperproject.org

Encore Bridal also donates a portion of our profits from every sale to charities that support cervical cancer research and education.

Now don't you feel good?!

A Kick *%#@! Exercise Routine

Brides, if you really want to get in shape for your wedding day, I have a recommendation for you. About a year and a half ago my husband decided that he was going to take the summer off of work and spend it getting into shape. He joined a training facility in Hermosa Beach called VERT (Velocity Exercise Resistance Training). Three days a week he'd come back from VERT looking like he just tried to do a marathon in 60min. The entire summer this was all he could talk about. He'd rehash his workouts each day (to my boredom) and then ask me several times.. "can you do this?", "how many can you do of these?". At the time, I'd been running for awhile, just finished 2 triathalons (1 sprint distance and 1 olympic) and thought I was in pretty good shape. So I decided to give this VERT a try. Well, 15min into my trial session I was lying on the floor not sure if I was going to vomit or faint. 20min later I stumbled out the door and went home. My pride hurt, I refused to go back until a few months ago. I started off completing 30min sessions and worked my way up to 60min. It is by far the most challenging work-out I've ever done with the quickest results. I usually leave feeling completely energized by the fact that I was able to get through the hour. So if you live in the westside/southbay and you want to get in the best shape of your life for your wedding day may I suggest http://www.vertfitness.com/.

Trunk Show - Sunday November 18th

I'm excited to announce that we are hosting a trunk show with A Legendary Affair in Manhattan Beach on Sunday November 18th. I will have all of our in-stock wedding dresses and bridal accessories there for you to view. We are also accepting a limited number of Personal Appointments for brides who want to try on dresses and receive styling advice. These appointments will book quickly, so email me (info@encorebridal.com) to schedule your appointment. In addition to Encore Bridal there will be several other wedding vendors there, and bridal attire for purchase (ex. custom veils, headpieces, etc...) - a mini bridal show if you will. Event details below. Hope to see you there!

Event Details

Location: A Legendary Affair - Wedding and Party Planning Showroom

505 N. Sepulveda Blvd. Suite 10

Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

310.545.5200

Open Reception from 11:00am to 2:00pm

RSVP to Julie at info@encorebridal.com or 310.545.1409

Another Way to Go Green on your Wedding Day

As we are becoming increasingly more aware of our impact on our planet, more brides and grooms are looking for ways to incorporate eco-friendly practices into their weddings. That is one reason why I love providing brides the option of bridal attire that is both environmentally conscious and fashion forward. Maybe you hadn't thought about it, but buying a "Pre-Owned" gown or bridal accessory reduces waste and the use of the world's natural resources. Encore Bridal also makes every effort to use sustainable business practices. Now when you purchase your dream wedding gown you're saving green in two ways- the green in your wallet and the green of the earth!

In this vein, I'm always on the lookout for new green resources for brides and grooms. Recently I met Christine Saunders, owner of The Spiraled Stem, located in Southern California. Beside creating beautiful floral designs (see her portfolio on her website), she has found a way to reduce the impact of her business on the environment and promote sustainable practices in the wedding and event industry. She uses organic flowers from companies that meet comprehensive sustainability standards, uses and re-uses eco-friendly containers, reduces and recycles packaging supplies, and contributes her cuttings to a local composting program. After talking with Christine I was impressed by her passion for floral design and desire to meet the needs of brides with as little impact on the environment as possible. Check out The Spiraled Stem at http://www.thespiraledstem.com/.

Celebrity Wedding Gowns

Katie Holmes in Valentino

Eva Longoria in Angel Sanchez

Nicole Kidman in a gown designed by Nicolas Ghesquiere for Balenciaga

Which celebrity had the best wedding dress? Take our poll (located on the left side bar)...VOTE now for your favorite! I have my pick and will let you know after the poll ends.

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Encore Bridal and Scribble Couture Launch Party!!

On August 23rd we celebrated the launch of http://www.encorebridal.com/ as well as the launch of Scribble Couture's new bridal handbag line. Thank you to all of you who braved the Thursday night traffic in LA to join us at the offices of Regal Real Estate! It has been a long, but exciting year, and I'm so thrilled to have our eBoutique up and running. Now we want to spread the word...Brides Have Options! We no longer have to spend retail prices for high-end designer gowns! We can have that "need to have" dress and still afford flowers.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Scribble Couture, the founder, True Cross, is extrememly talented. She has created a custom handbag line that will embroider any image you can dream-up onto one of her high-end leather handbags. The eStore is http://www.scribblecouture.com/.

For those of you who missed this event, I may be doing one more bridal trunk show in the LA area this year. I will keep you posted. Happy planning!