After burning ye olde midnight oil for the past few weeks trying to wrap up our Spring 2011 collection for Thread Social (Mission: Accomplished!), we are now focusing 100% of our design energy and inspiration into finishing up our new bridesmaid and bridal collections for bridal market*.

Yes, you heard read us right: Bridal. While we’ve always had a small yet lovely bridal collection here at Thread, we’ve decided to really focus on it this season, and going forward. Why? Because there are just too many fun and dreamy and happy possibilities for us to explore, starting with what will soon be the most to-die-for bridal confection above. ‘Tis still a muslin** at the moment, but you just wait.

(And just in case you have no idea what we are talking about, because we sure as heck didn’t until we were in the biz:

*Bridal market: Essentially bridal fashion week. Takes place twice a year, in mid-October (for the following spring’s collections) and mid-April (for the following fall’s collections).

**Muslin: A type of rough cotton used when cutting the first sample of a newly designed style [so as to not ruin any nice fabric when making any changes to said style]. )

Just perusing brides.com’s blog, Aisle Say (clever name, right?), and came across a posting that made us stop and stare and drool a bit. Turns out a company aptly named The Cake Ball Company bakes these little chocolate-dipped cake and frosting balls thingies, and can deliver just about anywhere in the States. Could be a fun little play on the cupcake-as-wedding-cake trend, no?

We’ve long been pushers of the whole dress-your-bridesmaids-in-different-colors-and-styles thing, but didn’t realize the magical ability doing so had in making a larger bridal party work so beautifully. You see Nicole, whilst planning her wedding, has been fretting over the likelihood that she might have eight bridesmaids, which just seems a wee bit many. (Not that she has anything against a big bridal party, she is just trying to keep the wedding intimate, and wants the whole shebang to be proportional, etc etc etc.) BUT: With a bridal party decked out like this, you could very well have 25 bridesmaids with nary a wedding guest batting a lash.

(Above, a beaming and beautiful Meagan Hsu on her big day, surrounded by her Thread-clad bridesmaids. Go here to browse some of these styles, and more.)

Well, it’s been decided, y’all! Cutie Maxine Orange is the official winner of the rehearsal dinner dress. We promised the prize would go to whichever bride-to-be made us “Aww” the most, and while there was certainly some heavy competition, can you blame us for falling prey to the little love tale of Maxine and Neal?

Wrote Maxine:

We have been together for NINE years. (Yes, you heard it right.) We both grew up in Alabama, in cities 2 hours apart, never knowing each other, attending rival colleges. Right after college I moved to NYC, where I met Neal shortly thereafter through mutual friends. We became fast friends, and soon found out all this weird stuff like 1) our parents went to high school together, 2) our grandfathers played poker together back in the day,  3) our grandmothers currently live one block away from each other. After two years in NY together, we moved to Huntington Beach, where we have lived for the last 7 years. We still love each other just as much as we always have, and always have a good time together. I just can’t wait for all of this planning to be over and to start celebrating! Mostly I just can’t wait to be married to Neal.

All together now: Awwwww.

(Gorgeous photo courtesy of Kristina Lee Photography. Stay tuned for post-nuptial pics of Maxine in her new Thread dress! She & Neal tie the knot in less than 2 months at Carillon Beach in Panama City Beach, Florida!)