American Idol Contestant: Lauren Alaina

Lauren Alaina, our personal pick for American Idol has looked absolutely STUNNING this season in her Sherri Hill, Jovani, and LaFemme dresses!


This is a beautiful gown by the one and only Sherri Hill! Style #2424 No other designer crafts dresses quite like Sherri. Love the color on Lauren. *GLOWING*



Bold color and shimmer blend to create the Sherri Hill 2545. This aqua gown features a strapless, sweetheart-shaped neckline and a flowy Chiffon skirt. The entire top portion is covered in aqua sequins that cascade onto the skirt and fade out. A belt of chunky clear jewels emphasizes her waist and draws eyes to the smallest part of her body. Great for a pageant, the Sherri Hill 2545 sparkles and flows gracefully across the stage!



Another Sherri Hill, #1403 is a knockout dress fit for a rock princess! The stonework on this one is incredible. Featured in nude/silver, this darlin' dress has been seen on other celebrities too like Selena Gomez and Shea Fisher.



Sexy, cocktail style #B199 by Jovani with a sweetheart, strapless neckline and sequined zebra bodice, dropped waistline. The short skirt is a-line shape in layers of tulle. Precious!



Lauren sparkled in LaFemme 16813, a cute, embellished short dress with a layered chiffon skirt. This dress suits Lauren’s sprightly Southern charm!


Get all of Lauren’s looks at Always & Forever! XOXO

Celebrity Wedding: Miranda Lambert

Miranda Lambert wore her "something old" during her ceremony earlier this month when she married fellow country star, Blake Shelton. She paired custom Casadei cowboy boots and a fabulous, flirty headpiece with her mother's slim,and flowy spaghetti strapped ivory silk gown.



"My parents have been married for 33 years, so this dress is already a good-luck charm," the bride tells the new issue of Us Weekly (on stands now).


In true celebrity fashion, the bride changed into Priscilla of Boston's "Drew" from the Vineyard collection for the reception. The ivory, short strapless has vertical bodice seaming and a draped bust line finished off with a super fun tulle hem. Perfect for a "boot scooting boogie" or two.



Paired with chunkier jewelry and the same headpiece, Miranda took her soft, romantic bridal ceremony style to a swingy, flirty reception feel with a simple wardrobe change.

Here are some other options for a second look for either the reception gown or a get-a-way dress from Always & Forever...



Mori Lee's 6716 with it's vintage feel and fun floral skirt. *SWOON*



Maggie Sottero's "Santorini" could not be more adorable. Lovely!

Time Line: Buying Your Gown

Over the past few weeks, it has become apparent that many of our brides are unaware of the "gown time-line," so we thought we'd take a moment and break it down. This is a rough time-line and will vary by month as well as by designer.



Typically, it takes 4 to 5 months for a gown to ship (not arrive) from the designer. It can take less time but a well planned bride always works off of worst case scenarios.

Once your gown arrives in the boutique, you will need to schedule an appointment to pick up your gown. Then head with it to your seamstress to begin alterations.

Alterations can take anywhere from 1 to 2 months depending on your schedule, their schedule and the amount of work to be done. This process may include multiple visits to the seamstress.

Add all this up and you are looking at approximately 7 months - just to get the dress ready to wear!

Now, factor in bridal portraits since this is the first time you will wear your gown (assuming you are taking bridal portraits). Then, factor in climate. Why climate? Well, we do live in Arkansas. July-September equals dreadfully HOT! December - March equals all things dead (see plants.) If you have your heart on outdoor portraits, and don't want to be miserable... this could drastically change your time-line.

Example: You are getting married in October. You are taking bridal portraits and want them outdoors so you probably want to take them April - June. To have your gown ready in time, you need to have it purchased by November. Amazing how quickly time gets away from you!

From December until the end of February, the time-line gets longer as you have to factor in the holidays. Gown production typically takes three weeks off during this time which means that your time-line needs to expand by three weeks during these months.


Helpful Hints: Start early, be prepared to buy at your first appointment (we didn't say you had to - just be prepared to) and the gown shopping experience will be blissful.

XOXO

BLACK ACCENTS

Need I say more?!




This is a trend that we find quite lovely.

Happy Wedding Planning!

XOXO

What To Wear: MOB

We love moms! We love our mom (that's you LaBeth). We love brides who are already moms, brides who are on their way to becoming moms, and of course the moms and future moms of our brides!

We've got a lot of love going around, but we do not love the STANDARD mother of the bride attire. Those frumpy looking outfits do not do ANY mom justice.

For a look that is youthful, classic, and elegant, we suggest that moms check out our Jade and Jade Couture Collections by Jasmine. In our opinion its the only mother's line on the market that is far from "frumpy." Not sold on any "Mother's" line? Check out bridesmaids attire as an alternative. Wear them with a wrap or order in a matching jacket for a more conservative look.

Here are a couple of our favorite looks, that can be found at Always & Forever, for the stylish MOB to be!





HAPPY EARLY MOTHER'S DAY!

XoXo

Drab to *FaB* Bridesmaids!

You were recently chosen by a friend to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. It is a huge honor, so of course you are super excited for her and you can’t wait to help out! Then it hits you, the bridesmaid dress decision! What will she pick, and the more important question, how will you look in the dress?!

Slowly the images from movies and television start to creep in to your mind filling it with visions of ill-fitting, unflattering, and unexciting bridesmaid dresses. You just can’t shake the pictures from your memory, and the dread begins to overcome the excitement you once had…

Not to worry bridesmaids-to-be! Get those awful images out of your head because the drab dresses of the past are long gone! Trust us when we say bridesmaid dresses are no longer plain and uniform. There is an abundance of fun, exciting, versatile, and flattering dresses to choose from, and brides will have no problem picking a dress that they are in love with, and you will love too!

















In the market for bridesmaid dresses? Come in and see us! Check out a few of the designers Always & Forever offers for some fantastic choices. XoXo

Shelly's Cowgirl Chic Bachelorette Party!

As sister of the bride, I can now say I successfully accomplished my first Maid of Honor gig this past weekend... Shelly's Bachelorette Party! Anybody who knows Shelly, is well aware that she has a special place in her heart for Fort Worth, Texas. So, it was only natural that her last night out as a single lady would be there! We saddled our horses and headed out west to her country chic bachelorette extravaganza that went off without a hitch!

The Invitation:



Bride Shelly & The Maid of Honor Stacey (ME!)



The Entourage - Eleven of Shelly's closest friends traveled from Austin, Little Rock, Fort Smith, and Phoenix! Neeley from Phoenix was a complete suprise to Shelly. SHOCK AND AWE!



I was determined to make the "Cowgirl Chic" bachelorette party ultra fabulous- never to be mistaken with an 8 year old western birthday party. So I began googling old western stuff and low and behold found a Western Pinup Girl page! PERFECT! I then came across a tone of images when I googled western pinup girls. These images offered great options for printing pictures to turn into fun cupcake toppers and to use on my DIY invitation (see first image). Print on cardstock for professional looking quality and cut with pinking sheers :)


Red and white polka dots set the tone — I found the napkins and paper plates at Paper Source and Walmart.



Transform bottles and containers by adding fun paper straws (which I found on Etsy) and by adding ribbon edging details. Serve up some "Poinsetta" deliciousness and voila! The beginning of what was a fabulous cowgirl chic party!


XOXO