Monday, December 12, 2011

Another great treasury!

This wonderful treasury showcases some of our talented group Divas click on the picture and it will send you to the etsy treasury page ! thank you for visiting!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Katjia's Wedding Photos, thank you!

 Photographer Sabrina Geigges
 Photographer Sabrina Geigges
Picture by Viola Ehrig

This wonderful pictures where sent by one of my happy
customer from Germany, Katjia. I made her bridal veil
a chapel length drop veil, no comb attached in an off-white
color, amazingly simple yet looks perfect with almost
every gown out there, she looks beyond words beautiful!

I can't pick a favorite! they are so amazing and they capture
the happiness, love and uniqueness of this couple.
I love weddings!!!! and t his one looks like it was a lot
of fun, Katjia I can't thank you enough for sharing.

If I have made your wedding accessory and you want
to share your pictures please don't forget to add the
name of the photographer when sending in your pics.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Available Laces Catalog

I have created an album of my lace stash on flickr you can access here:
available lace trims
You  can see sizes (each square is one inch) and color/s available too.
It took me a whole day , it was hard work but wellworth it!

French Alencon or not?

One thinks that you can always know the difference between quality and not
so nice quality, but when it comes to laces unless you have seen real French lace
it is not so easy. Some would say that the lashes ( those little
strings hanging from the lace it a most certainty that is French lace.

And you would be wrong, for you see China and perhaps other countries
have already found a way to produce this effect on laces.

And that is all fine and mighty I don't want to get into a debate of what and who should manufacture lace and how, but the only thing that upsets me is the fact that some designers or manufacturers of bridal accessories claim to be selling what they are not and this is not fair for the customers is it?
So, in this pictures you can see the 2 on top are re-embroidered lace trim and the two bottom ones are French Alencon trims, French Alencon lace is mostly made from cotton although it does contain other fibers like acrylic but mostly cotton, Cotton itself it is a matte fiber therefore so will the lace.
In the second picture you can see my hand holding both types of trims and you can see the one on top has a certain shine to it while the second one does not, some people still call it Alecon as it is perhaps the style of the lace itself, but you can no call it French unless the manufacturer's tag says so or you know lace enough to tell the difference.



Unfortunately it is harder and harder to find lace trims in good quality but that is no excuse to defraud a customer and make more money, not only can it get you in  trouble but also get you very bad karma.
As a customer you have the right to ask questions and get what you pay for.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

20-50% OFF DEALS WEDDING DIVAS SHOPS

As you might know I am a member of a wonderful group called
ETSY WEDDING DIVAS
in this group our great leader Glenn comes up with the greatest ideas
and today she came up with this one:

"Take advantage of these huge deals from Your Wedding Divas participating shops. Shops will be periodically added so make sure you check in every now and then. "

So if you or someone you know is getting married and needs wonderful, creative
unique,beautiful stuff for her wedding don't hesitate to send her the following link:
http://www.yourweddingdivas.com/p/function-toggleshowhidediv-img.html

In case you are wondering what kind of stuff we have here are some examples:



 Don't forget to add to your favorites since promotions will be added and changed
you want to stay informed so you can get the best deal and discounts possible
my Etsy store will be participating with a whooping 20% discount on all items
above $45.00 take advantage now there is no word an how long this will last!!!!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

New Mantillas !

This are some of my new works laces are limited!
available in ivory and white only



Monday, September 5, 2011

New Designs I am Working on

Hi there, well I am now working with soem new French lace I got a few months back and had not use them at all, I was lucky enough to get 2 colors ivory and white and the only sad thing is that since they are beaded I am not able to get orders for off white or diamond white since I can't dye the lace, well I can actually but then try and iron the lace fully beaded after that!


It is a little easier to work on the lace with out beading, and I prefer it that way but I could only get this lace beaded and since the Mill in France is closing it's doors (so sad :o() ) I took as much lace as I could afford from them, I will be placing this mantillas on my listings on etsy and on ArtFire very soon along with tulle bridcages, which are perfect for those brides that are not having a church ceremony, or perhaps they just don't like veils.


don't forget to visit my shops ask questions and request more info you might need on either store I love to help!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/XolBridalBoutique
http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/GorgeousComplements

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

When the Perfect Color is not Perfect


When the Perfect Color is not Perfect


Color.- Some Brides know that just because your gown  color is ivory does not mean it's going to match a ivory veil, there are many tones to one color and every supplier and/or designer has his/her own idea of what ivory is, so your best bet is to get samples of tulle when available and compare with your gown.
And unfortunately other brides think that ivory is ivory and that is that.

As I have read from brides sometimes what happens is that when a bride gets her gown, when purchased ready made, it is not exactly the color she had purchased. Here are some reasons why this happens:

1.- Fabric manufacturer comes up with a final product that is not what designers ordered, but in their policies they specify that this might happen so designer is stuck with product in a different color than previous samples.

2.- Human error, well it can not be machine error can it? since machines do what we tell them to do, it has happened to all of us that we think one thing and we type another.

3.- Lost in translation? yes we have to admit most gowns/fabric manufacturers are not with in USA or an English speaking country.

4.-You tried on a sample gown that has changed color with time, specially
 if it was by the window catching UV rays, and when you get the real thing the color is different.

5.- And last but not least, plain meanness. They might have one dress in the color already made or someone cancelled, perhaps they know they wont have that color but will send what they have without previous warning, why? Well, since your wedding is only 6 weeks away what the hell are you going to do? Sue them? Yell and curse at them? Become Bridezilla?  Cry? and after trowing a tantrum will will take what you can have because your wedding date is so close.

You might want to start panicking right now but please don't best solutions are found under pressure but never with out thinking, you have to sit down and see what your options are.

Let's say your gown complements have been bought already in off white, shoes, veil, jewelry,hair accessory etc..
You take your accessories to the bridal salon for your first fitting and it turns out your gown is more of a light ivory that an off white!!!!! You feel your blood pressure hit the floor the moment you realize they don't match at all!!! Then you are in denial for another 5 minutes looking at yourself in the mirror , perhaps it's this freaking lights! so you walk over to a different lighting to no avail, darn it!!!! You then call the attendant and ask,-what color is my dress??" she looks and says "Off WHITE.....?"
You then proceed to educate her and you show her your shoes and say "THIS is OFF WHITE" you point to your marvelous silk flowers on your head and say "THIS is OFF WHITE" ....and at the end you grab the side of your gown and say "this is NOT off white, this is either a diamond white or light ivory but don't you tell me my dress is off white for crying out loud"
Then you tell her this most be some sort of mistake some one mess up and this need to be fixed, with all calmness she looks at the tag on your dress and tells you "it says so right here, off white"
Ok at this point your face starts to feel hot and your hands are in a fist, your stomach -that is empty exept for the coffee you had this morning hoping to fit in your gown- begins to hurt.
After 2 hours of arguing you fix nothing since you have no way of proving that this is the wrong color.....
and if you do prove it they will say "we can not do anything about it it takes 6 months to get another gown"
More than once I have been contacted by an upset bride that just went to her fitting to find out her ivory gown is way too dark or way too light for the veil she just purchase from me. I always try to be as helpfull as possible but in some cases is not so easy as to switch veils, for example:
Custom Mantilla in cathedral length - not easy to say "no problem I will just send you another color", specially if I am out of lace or don't have enough to make that same length.
Or perhaps a costume beaded veil with a color like, gold or champagne on the beads? not easy to say "no problem, I'll for sure re-sell it fast"
In the first case the mantilla can be redone if time allows it but expect to pay extra,sorry I can't offer  free labor or materials.
In the second there is nothing most can do, your best bet is to re-sell it yourself and order a new one.

Because of all the above is the reason I show lots of pictures and send samples, even sometimes as far as to send samples of beading materials not just pictures. I try and do everything with in my power to make sure I send the right veil in the right color, if the gown seller or manufacturer does not do his/her job right I will try to help but expect surcharges to come up, sometimes is just as easy as paying for extra shipping sometimes paying a re-stocking fee other times you might need a whole new custom order.

This kind of stuff does not usually happens when you have your wedding gown made with a dressmaker or designer, they have samples of materials or materials already there and very rarely will you get a surprise when it comes to color, a good dressmaker/designer will go beyond her/his means to get you the right color when fabric supplier fails we are very proud people you see and even though we might not be very concerned with being the nicest girl/guy in the block we are concerned about being the best seamstress/tailor/designer in the city, it is what it is.....if you do know a good dressmaker,designer or tailor set up an appointment get a quote and time frame look at some of their actual work it might be the best option, although I know they are hard to find.

Down below: As you can see in this pictures the first veil matches the dress almost perfect (color wise), and the second one you can clearly see the veil is way too dark, well guess what? wedding gown is a Magui Sottero Ivory Gown, the veil in the first picture is an OFF_WHITE mantilla veil made by me, and the second one is an IVORY Mantilla made by me too. Turns out the Magui Sottero gown is more of a creamy light Ivory or diamond white than an Ivory so there you go...............

53245327by Silvia 



Friday, August 12, 2011

PICTURES ALL RIGHT RESERVED..

I love the fact that some people find my pictures so good
they decided to use them in their blogs or webs, but I hate the fact that they don't think they need permission to use them, even if my flickr account states they my pictures are all rights reserved.  The only time I really don't mind is when they ask for permission, and they agree to add a link to my website and give credit to my work, because say what you want , it takes a lot of my time to take pictures, it's not as easy as it looks and getting the right look right lighting etc... take time and practice so when I find someone using my pictures with out mentioning where they got them from is very upsetting.                                     Please ask before taking otherwise is stealing



Saturday, July 16, 2011

Pictures sell...........


Yes ,and a mannequin makes a difference., it does make a difference, with hair !!!! and the
wedding gown is to arrive soon but for now she has a
nice silk black dress that makes a great contrast with
the veils I think the pictures show now better how the veils
fall on a "person".

The room divider also helps since the walls are light color
and I am planning on getting some big wall decorations
for christmas to make the pictures even prettier.

One of the most important things besides having a well made
product is a good picture, it helps the buyers to imagine how
it would look on them or with their dress.
I can not count how many times I have been interested in buying something and the pictures are terrible or small and you can not really see any details of the product and instead of writing to the seller for more info I close the page and continue to another web
where I can buy with out so much hassle.........



I have now also began making facinators I have had
the materials for years now but always busy making veils, perhaps in the winter I will have more free time to also make some garters, that was one of the things I used to make along with the bride's gown, ring pillows and veil I have plenty of materials for that too !





Sunday, June 5, 2011

TREASURY TREASURY TREASURY TREASURY TREASURY TREASURY TREASURY



.........................BERRIES AND CHERRIES


This in my newest treasury  I really love how it came out
some of my Wedding Divas friends on Etsy
You will be amazed on the talend you find a lot
of them are overwhelmed with so much work they had to take breaks!
CLICK ON THE PICTURE AND IT WILL TAKE YOU STRAIGHT TO ETSY FROM THERE
YOU CAN VISIT ALL FEATURED ETSY WEDDING DIVAS
YOU CAN SEE MORE TREASURIES AT THE END OF THE PAGE