Wedding Dresses

“…all enchantment is madness induced with art.”

- Gabriel D’Annunzio on Marchesa Luisa Casati

The naming of a fashion brand after Europe’s early twentieth century fashion legend Marchesa Luisa Casati, is sheer brilliance.

Dramatic, flamboyant, and highly elegant, Marchesa pushes the envelope of fashion further with wedding dresses from their Fall 2012 Bridal Collection. British-born Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig, founders of Marchesa, wanted this particular collection to be an ethereal underwater fantasy. If you ask us, the pair definitely succeeded.

Marchesa’s exotically decadent lines of gazar, layers of gigantic tulle flowers, silk crepe draped softly around female curves, illusion fabric with luxurious embroidery and beading—some of the dresses were simply outrageous and yet all were bewitchingly beautiful.  Georgina’s expertise on design along with Keren’s bespoke fabrics result in creations that are one-of-a-kind: a fusion of high fashion and eccentric aesthetic.

Here are some of the wedding dresses from the Marchesa Fall 2012 Bridal Collection:

Opulent? Oh, yes. Over-the-top? Maybe. But that’s the whole point. Marchesa, like its namesake and muse, is not just there to follow, but to be so different as to stand out from the crowd.

The Marchesa flagship store is based in New York. They are also carried by stockists worldwide—in London, Canada, Russia, Kuwait, Dubai, and Hong Kong. In Australia, Marchesa is exclusively sold at the Helen Rodrigues store in NSW. To view the whole collection and for more wedding inspiration, visit Marchesa online.

{Images via Marchesa}

We’ve got such a pretty treat for you this morning!

Mandy of Savvy Brides sent over a shoot of pretty designer wedding dresses. For those of you that don’t know, Mandy is the brainchild behind Savvy Brides, which is a fabulous Sydney boutique bridal service that specializes in buying and selling pre-loved second-hand designer wedding dresses.

Mandy explained the concept behind the shoot, “We wanted a lux feel to the shoot but for everything to be very simple so that the focus would just be on the beautiful dresses!”

Nadean of Photography by Nadean captured the shoot, while Agents of Beauty did the lovely hair and makeup.

Here’s our favourite wedding dresses from the shoot.

Savvy Brides Shoot

Wedding Dresses: Savvy Brides / Photographer: Photography by Nadean / Hair & Makeup: Agents of Beauty

Simply fabulous—that’s all we can say about these Aria wedding dresses.

The dresses are all made of pure silk, some detailed with fine lace, others with little thoughtful accents like flowers and sashes. Founder, president, and creative director Tak Hau established Aria 10 years ago after he had been designing cocktail dresses since the late 1980s. His creations sold at Barney’s, Nordstrom, and Cache, and many other exclusive retailers.

Tak graduated from Brooks College in California with a Fashion Design degree and was named Rising Star by the California Apparel News. Friends had started asking him to make dresses for them, and then eventually everything just grew into a booming business. In 2001, he opened his showroom in Los Angeles and the Aria online shop. Today, his dresses have been worn in over 10,000 weddings and have also appeared in movies and TV shows.

Aria offers a “try-on program” where you can request for your favorite wedding dress to be sent directly to you so that you can have an up close sticky beak. They can also send you swatches of fabrics and colors at no extra charge for you to be able to pick exactly what you want. It’s those little touches of care that make Aria so popular among brides in the States and all over the world. Not to mention that their wedding dresses and bridesmaids’ dresses are really all about style, quality, fit, and affordability.

Aria is carried by fine stores all over the US and has stockists in Canada and the Netherlands. They also ship to other countries. For more wedding inspiration, visit them online.

{Images via Aria}