Wedding Review
The Girl with the Pearl Necklace
Last modified on 2009-06-03 04:28:36 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
This celebrity wedding review features the nuptials of Australian Model Kristy Hinze, 29, and Netscape founder and Texan billionaire, Jim Clarke, 65.
Date: May 2009
Location: Little Dix Bay Resort, Virgin Gorda, Caribbean
(source: www.thevine.com)
This all white, four day affair, was a beautiful wedding. That being said, there were a few asthetic issues with the event which prove that having an unlimited wedding budget does not always guarantee flawless style. The wedding ceremony took place at Little Dix Bay Resort in Virgin Gorda and the bride, attended by seven bridesmaids, and the groom celebrated their reception with 120 guests on the grooms $100 million yacht, the “Athena”.
The Dress
The brides beautiful dress, from high end designer Oscar De La Renta with diaphanous veil is a fine example of how beading and lace do not need to be used in order to create a detailed dress. Here the ruffles and frills on her silk tulle skirt create a soft and elegant look for the bride and without any actual beading, result in a detailed and intricate dress. The ruching on her bodice, although simple, compliments her skirt and further adds to her sophisticated look.
The Bouquet
Kristy has managed to match her bouquet to her dress perfectly. Her bouquet of Green Calla Lilies emulated exactly the ruffled design of her Oscar De La Renta dress. In doing this she has eskewed the usual choice of roses for an ingenious and and perfect choice. In short, her choice of bouquet was brilliant, albeit different.
Pearl Necklace
Where the beautiful bride has failed is by committing one of the biggest mistakes made by brides around the world, and it has nothing to do with the the age gap between her and her husband. Her mistake is in her choice of necklace. From top designers to humble aspiring fashionistas, the general consensus is for a bride to not wear a necklace, and if she chooses to, to be very careful in how she styles it. The rationale behind this is that wedding dresses, even in their most simple form, are highly detailed, and in combination with a brides veil and earrings, a necklace simply adds to much detail to the bride. Often the necklace looks out of place, especially when the bride is wearing big drop earrings and a veil, as in Kristy’s case. To be frank, a necklace makes a bride look too “busy”. Elegance is in simplicity, if you have a detailed dress with beading or even a detailed veil it is suggested that you steer clear of a necklace.
Kristy makes a mistake in wearing the necklace firstly, as she is wearing drop earrings with the necklace. In the photo above you can see that her earring is almost touching her necklace. There is colloquially put “too much happening”. Wearing the earrings without the necklace or with pearl studs would have been better aesthetic choices.
Secondly the necklace, by its nature has a very “heavy” look. It is an unusually thick pearl necklace, whose “heaviness” distracts from the softness of her dress and flowers. On its own the necklace is beautiful but in combination with the soft flowing style of her dress, the necklace looks stark and out of place.
Another issue with Kristy’s necklace is that its is sitting quite high on her neckline giving her head a “cut off” look. Although wearing no necklace at all would have been ideal, a better choice for Kristy might have been smaller pearls to create a softer look and a necklace which sat lower on the neckline.
The Groom
Dressing a groom in a white suit can turn out disastrously but for Kristy and Jim’s wedding it works. The groom looks relaxed and fresh and his cream tie is well matched to his suit. The light colours also help to make the groom look younger. The only point of contention to be mentioned about the groom is the sloppiness of his tie and colour which makes him look unpolished. It is almost as if he forgot to tighten his tie and tuck in his collar on his rush to the aisle. He does not look bad, on the contrary, he looks great for his age, but this causal undone look compared to the slickness of his bride is mismatched.
Rating: 7/10
Lessons Learnt
- You do not need heavy beading and lace to have an intricate dress. The use of beautiful simple fabrics with ruffles and ruching can still create that detailed look that you are after.
- Be careful when deciding to wear a necklace. If you choose to wear a necklace keep it simple and light looking and DO NOT wear earrings with it unless they are relatively small.
- Don’t forget to match your grooms look to yours. If you have decided on a casual look this should be apparent in your dress as well as the way in which your groom is dressed.
The Trump Dress
Last modified on 2009-06-03 03:54:36 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
The nuptials of businessman Donald Trump, 58 and model Melania Knauss 30, was never going to be a small affair. For a man renowned for extravagance this wedding does not disappoint. With the assistance of celebrity wedding planner Preston Bailey, this was definitely a wedding to remember.
Date: January 22, 2005
Location: Betheseda by the Sea Church and Mar-a-Lago Club, Palm Beach, Florida
(That Dress
Melania’s Christan Dior white duchess satin wedding gown designed by John Galliano cost over $100,000 but in my opinion, it was worth it. Although I am slightly biased because this has to be one of my favourite wedding dresses of all time, when objectively viewed you can see why Melania has chosen this dress. The gown was so special it appeared on the February 2005 cover of Vogue. Correctly, the gown suits the brides figure, it reveals her svelt shape yet still has that “princess” style through its ruffled skirt with over 90 metres of material and over 1,500 crystal rhinestones and pearls (The bride sat on benches during the ceremony as her dress would not fit into a chair!). Rather than covering her bests assets Melania has chosen a gown that highlights her good features. Often brides fall in love with a dress but fail to consider whether the style actually suits their figure. Here, Melania has not made that mistake, it seems as if this dress was made for her (Melania chose the dress after seeing it at the Christian Dior Haute Couture show in Paris). The pleating and shape of the skirt is unique with the circles and beading work making this dress a one of kind and fit for the extravagant occasion. Melania topped her dress off with a sixteen foot diaphanous veil which sat, wrapped around the head. This kind of veil is a new and developing trend that brides have been adopting and can help to modernise a brides look, as it did in Melania’s case.
(source: www.southflorida.com)
The Right Kind of Necklace
I have often remarked that brides should be careful when deciding to wear a necklace. In this wedding, you see an example of a bride wearing a necklace the right way. Melania’s dress is quite simple at the top, and very detailed at the bottom. In order to balance this out she has chosen a diamond necklace, borrowed from jewellery designer Fred Leighton to compensate. The necklace is large, but it works, and it almost appears to be a part of the dress. This is a key factor for a bride when considering to wear a necklace. A necklace should appear as if it comes with the dress, or is a natural part of your look as opposed to seeming as if it has been “added” to the bride. Melania would have looked just as beautiful without the necklace, but at her wedding shows how to wear a necklace correctly.
Bouquet? 
Forgoing the traditional bouquet Melania walked down the aisle with a rosary adorned with a few roses on her hand. It was a unique and beautiful choice. As her dress had a lot of detail a bouquet may have taken the attention away from her dress so her decision to use a rosary was a fantastic idea and one that can easily be emulated by brides to be.
The Cake 
The couple’s five foot high, seven tiered, 200 pound cake with 3000 white iced roses was elegant and well suited to their decor and colour theme. The grand mariner butter cream cake was beautifully crafted and presented well in the reception. Their cake was also missing the traditional bride and groom cake toppers. This was a great choice. Those who have read my top weddings tips will know that most bride and groom toppers make cake a look outdated as the trend in wedding cakes has been to move away from this style.
Change of Dress
(www.melaniatrump.com)
At the reception, Melania changed into a Grecian style tulle gown designed by Vera Wang. This change of dress enabled Melania to party the night away, which would have been difficult in her 50 Pound, 13 foot train Christian Dior gown. Cleverly Melania made sure she still stood out as the bride, despite changing into something casual through the use of a crown of white roses. This helped to distinguish Melania as the bride, from other guests who might have similar long gowns. Making sure that you are distinguished as the bride at your reception is very important and is one of my top wedding tips. The decision to have two dresses should not be taken lightly and is probably preferable for those who have an unlimited budget as most brides fall in love with and spend so much on their dress they probably want to keep it on for as long as possible. Conversely if you cannot choose between dresses you can copy Melania’s style and wear one to the ceremony and one to reception so that you get to experience your wedding in both.
Decor 
(www.instyleweddings.com)
The reception took place at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in the $42 Million Louis XIV style ballroom. With this as their palette, Donald and Melania choose a decor colour theme of white and gold and this has worked very well with the existing design of the room. The centrepieces consisted of 10 foot tall candelabras covered with white flowers and tapers.The decor was ritzy matching the lavishness of the Louis XVI style room. Had they chosen a very colourful or oversimplistic decor it would not have matched the opulence of a Louis XVI design. Matching your decor to your reception is something that all brides must keep in mind. Additionally the flowers decorating the church pews were also used in the centerpieces of the reception. Using the same flowers provided a continuity to the look and style of the wedding, which makes the event seem polished and consistent.
This wedding was all about the glitz and glamour. From the brides dress, to the decor and the cake this wedding managed to be over the top without being tacky. This opulentwedding exemplifies how you can have a lavish wedding without sacrificing style.
Rating: 9/10
What we have learnt
- Pick a dress that shows off your figure. Highlight your best features and disguise your bad ones.
- Change into a more comfortable and causal dress for your reception – Consider this only if you are willing to pay for two dresses and don’t mind wearing each dress for only a few hours.
- Be a bride that stands out- If you are going to change into a more causal dress consider a flower in your hair, or a white fascinator to make sure you still look like the bride.
- Natural Necklaces – If you choose to wear a necklace make sure it fits perfectly with your style of dress. It should seem like the necklace belongs with your dress as opposed to something that you have added to it.
- Match your decor to your reception place. Match your church to your reception.
