you can't have too much help . . .

to get the perfect look for your wedding. That's why I loved participating in the brides.com "trend leaders on tour" held at ultra on west 26th street in manhattan.

There were so many wedding experts in this club, and lots of people came to check us out. Eleni Gianopolis of "eleni's cookies" was there, as well as a host of others who chatted with brides-to-be and their friends. This was a great space, with complimentary food and drinks, so it certainly started off on the right foot! After setting up the tables and spreading out all of the jewelry, the guests started coming over to check things out. Of course, the crystallized swarovski elements area was the place to be- there were lots of crystallized accessories on display in the booth. There has been some pretty good press coverage of the swarovski wedding book 'unbridaled', and people wanted to see and try on my earrings and barrettes that were featured in the book and check out the beautiful display with some of the same gowns, handbags and shoes that were in the book.

Heidi Bentsen from swarovski worked with modern bride to make all of this happen. I am so lucky to have the support of swarovski, the crystallized brand is really catching fire. It is pretty cool they asked me to show my work and talk to the brides-to-be.

We met a number of brides and grooms who are actively planning their weddings, and they were delighted to see all of the resources the modern bride and brides.com organization had assembled in this room.

I think the concept of this event is simply brilliant; the trend leaders on tour event travels from city to city and the cast of experts changes as they go along, so prospective brides and grooms can meet and work with people who are local. After all, there's nothing like personal attention, and having so many new york wedding experts in one room is not something you see every day. After a while, you see that the experts, merchants, and staff has a good time too, these are great events. So, to round out the week we have the halloween parade on friday night, Oct 31st. If you go you will definietly have fun. Watch from the sidelines, or participate. It's the most fun thing in the city this weekend.

I spent some 'bridal best' time with Josephine and her friends Carmela and Margarita, they are from Brooklyn and Josephine is just starting to plan her outfit for her wedding next summer. Helping a wedding party is a lot of fun ! (we offer this in NYC, contact the website) We made a connection right away, she's getting married where I got married, the North Hills Country Club in Manhassett, Long Island. And she will be wearing a dress from Priscilla of Boston- the mermaid wedding dress. I loved her choice, remembering my search for a gown as nice as the Priscilla of Boston gown that my mother wore at her wedding. Look at that photo of Dorothy and Joseph Chiarella on the right, taken on their wedding day, wasn't my mom beautiful !

In new york, the place to shop for your wedding gown is kleinfeld's. This gigantic bridal gown store is just a few blocks away from this event tonight, and of course Josephine had been there a number of times before deciding on the right gown for her. A smart bride-to-be carries a picture of everything she has already bought, and pictures, clippings, and articles containing all the possibilities she's considering for her wedding. Josephine did this ritual one better and had all of the info on her laptop.

After seeing her gown, we checked out the nicole miller website next, and she showed me her choice of bridesmaids dresses. A crowd gathered, and we looked at a few different styles, all of us had a favorite so I think that decision will be made another day. Happily, she loved my sweet pear party earrings, and so we'll be shipping these to her soon, along with a different earring from the sweet pear collection for her to give as bridesmaids gifts.
We chatted some more over another glass of wine, and off they went to see the incredible cake and stationery displays on the other side of the room.

I have met a lot of nice people at wedding planning events, and offer this as a personalized service at my studio in manhattan. But to do this as a member of the best of the bridal best (that's what it says on the invitation!) was a treat. I hope this event is repeated on a regular basis, it was a treasure trove for brides-to-be and I had a lot of fun, too. ciao !

New York Weddings - Crystallized !

It is a wedding feast in the big apple this week. This weekend is the WeddingChannel Couture Show at the Intercontinental Hotel. And, last night my friends from Swarovski held the most unbelievable party to celebrate the arrival of the crystallized brand.

The brand is new, it's logo will let us all know when we are buying the real thing by swarovski. The crystallized label is the brand name for all loose crystal elements made by swarovski, the worlds leading producer of precision cut crystal. These crystal elements have been worked into the most fabulous wedding designs, and shown to a star-studded crowd last night at the Rockefeller Center Loft & Garden.

We spent a beautiful evening on the roof gardens that flank the ice-skating rink and 30 Rock. The city looked fabulous, and so did the wedding gowns, accessories, jewelry and even the bottled water - they all were made using crystallized swarovski elements. My design is a clear crystal necklace and earrings, you can see them on these photos below.

There were also some incredible wedding gowns by designers like John Galliano and Judith Leiber, and all kinds of other wedding necessities by other designers, all crystallized and they were all so lavishly displayed...

If that is not enough, the designs are all part of a wedding celebration by swarovski, coinciding with the US release of the book unbridaled, which features designers chosen from all around the world. We all use swarovski crystals, and they picked us to showcase their crystallized brand.

It was a thrill to be in such a place, with great food, and a really nice crowd on a perfect october evening. The folks from swarovski really know how to throw a party! The swarovski product line is so well-known around the world, so naturally there were some of New York's most famous designers wandering about, along with an international crowd that always comes out for events like this.

We saw Elizabeth Banks, Amanda Setton, and artist David Foote and designer Philip Lim in the crowd, all having a great time in this spactacular space! I can't begin to count the designers who attended to see all of the crystal-studded wedding gowns an accessories.

Even the paparazzi were there!! The venue, 620 Loft & Garden, in the British Empire Building at Rockefeller Center is a New York gem. You may have seen Spiderman scaling the walls of this building in his last movie, but it is more spectacular in person.

You could actually have a wedding reception there, I'm told it can accommodate as many as 150 guests. We had a great time, this brand introduction was an event I won't soon forget. ciao!

omg, what a day to be on tv

It's scary to watch all these crazy things going on, wall street rescues, credit crunches, and my own bank is now owned by some other bank. The stock market was up, but now it's down, everybody seems confused. But, today was HSN day for me, with two shows featuring some new designs. Of all days, so much news made it hard to concentrate. It is hard not to love the incredible earrings, customers were so positive it made me feel great My journey to HSN studios in Florida featured an uneventful flight compared to my last one. The studios are upgrading to HDTV, and for the first time I wore the special makeup that is used for the high definition cameras. There are some talented makeup artists there, and lots of airbrushing! I was amazed that they apply colors and textures that we would never use to go out on the street, but with these lights and cameras the makeup comes out just right. The people who work with the on-air talent and us vendors are all a pleasure to work with, and lots of viewers and callers liked the products I brought to show. I am thrilled to be able to have my designs available in the HSN marketplace.

We had the baroque ruffle earring featured, this is a creation that I worked on for Swarovski. The people at Swarovski commisioned a select few designers from around the world to create something special to kick off the Crystallized Swarovski Elements brand. My Baroque Ruffle was chosen, and will be part of this promotion that will be unveiled in New York soon. It was just unbelievable to be able to offer this on HSN, and the viewers loved the piece.

You can see this one and the whole jewelry collection on the hsn.com website. With all that has been going on, I am so glad that I decided to work with HSN, doing so makes my stuff available to more people at a better price than at some retail stores. Take a look at a couple of the clips that HSN posted on Youtube, hope you like them.