Designer- Winifred Bean

By: Jessica Robinson

Winifred Bean is one of the newest designers to hit the market.  We asked the designer (Angela) a few questions about her gowns and what inspires her designs.  See her thoughts below.  Her gowns are simplistic and really pretty!  You'll find all of her gowns available on Etsy.com

what inspired you to launch a new line of gowns?

  I've worked in the fashion industry for 10 years (DKNY, Michael Kors, Rebecca Taylor),  most recently for smaller business and start-ups, and always knew I wanted to start my own business.  But I got the idea to do wedding dresses while looking for my own wedding dress last year. I felt there was a lack of places and designers who offered elegant, simple wedding looks for brides with creativity, taste and style - and most importantly, on a budget!  

what inspires your designs?

  The designs are inspired by current fashion trends and couture runway styles.  Designs you see on the runway or on the red carpet and think "that would make a great wedding dress if it only came in white".  They are simple, relevant to current fashion trends, yet vintage in a classic way.  Modern vintage I like to call it...

what is the price range of your designs?

Currently all styles are around $2000 - as the line progresses I plan on introducing styles as low as $700 and maybe as high as $3000 if I get really creative.  

how will a bride be able to get her hands on your gowns?

Currently dresses can be purchased at the Winifred Bean Etsy shop - www.etsy.com/shop/winifredbean.  If brides live in the NYC area I can schedule private fittings.  Soon we will be partnering with boutiques to sell the dresses and will sell the styles on-line on the Winifred Bean website later in the fall.   

what is your goal with your design line?

Ultimately I want to help brides find the perfect dress (and look) for their wedding day at a reasonable price.  Not only do I hope to do that stylistically with the designs offered but by also giving brides the opportunity to mix and match tops and bottoms to certain styles if they'd like.  

anything else that you think our readers would be interested to know....

As a bride, I scoured endless blogs and magazines for inspiration.  In addition to offering a customizable dress experience with the Winifred Bean line, I also plan to offer editorials to help the brides style their dresses and find items to compliment their look.  I want to make the "wedding look" experience as seamless as possible..

And stay tuned, I hope to launch a few new dresses and a small bridesmaid collection next year! 

Back from vacation

By: Jessica Robinson

We're back from our much needed vacation and rested up a bit.  We're working on a few styled shoots for this fall and winter.  I'm dying to see the new copy of Well Wed magazine that is set to come out any day now. 

The garden did me good while we were away.  I got back to lots of ripe corn ready to harvest, juicy heirloom tomatoes and crisp cucumbers.  Summer salads are on our table this week, with some fresh mozzarella pieces.  Summer brings us lots to look forward to in the fall.  Days are warm and start to get cool as we stretch into autumn.  Oh and the kids go back to school.  Most moms are jumping for joy at this time of year!  So I'm now thinking I'll start jotting down a few notes and possibly write a children's book or two.  I do most of my writing during the winter, with my toes toasty warm next to our fireplace and a big cup of hot chocolate.  The snow that falls from the sky inspires me.  I take an occasional break to shovel the sidewalks and bring in some more firewood.

Real wedding @ Webb Barn

By: Jessica Robinson
This very pretty wedding was featured recently on Style Me Pretty blog.  We LOVE every little detail.  We worked along side Sixpence For Your Shoe and Ryan Designs to design this one!  Be sure and check out the full feature on Style Me Pretty!

 The ever talented Justin & Mary Marantz.... every little detail is captured in their absolutely gorgeous shots.

Vermont wedding

By: Jessica Robinson

Back in July, our team of designers headed to The West Monitor Barn in Richmond, Vermont to design this incredible wedding.  Our idea (along with Ryan Designs) was to suspend centerpieces from the rafters, bringing the attention up into the barn, rather than completely on the table.  OH, and what a dramatic statement!

The couple's flowers were simple, yet so very dramatic.  Lots of locally grown mint and dusty miller along with a ton of gorgeous garden roses.  I LOVE garden roses!  Not only do they have a beautiful light floral scent, they look incredible.  Tons of petals surround into this flat, yet completely fluffy round shape and create a garden rose (which some refer to as a "cabbage" rose).