Here at Thread, we love a challenge.  So when our friend Allison Regas approached us to individually style each of her fourteen bridesmaids that’s exactly what we got.  She wanted each girl to look and feel beautiful (in their own chosen style, color, fabric, print, length, etc, etc), yet the whole group needed to look cohesive and chic.  An out of the box wedding party is basically what we live for.  But it’s easier said than done…

Basically the world was their oyster and it was our job to make it work.  Over the next 8 months (yes, we began this venture back in October of 2011 at our Wedding Weekend Pop Up Shop) we worked closely with each girl to determine the best silhouette for her frame and fabric and color that best suited her taste and personality.

Allison wanted her three sisters to shine a little brighter so we sourced 3 gorgeous lurex chiffons and layered them over a light coral, grey and mauve to give them a soft dusky feel.  Some other final choices were the Michelle, Shiloh, Breck, Alessandra, Marilyn and Evelyn.  All in soft silvery, champagne, apricot and peach silks (a mix of matte silk, crinkled chiffon and chiffon charmeuse).  One girl even nabbed a peach one shoulder Thread Social dress from our holiday sample sale!

Oh, and did we mention after the first fitting the Mother of the Bride also decided she would like a dress too??  The pressure was on…  Luckily she was as easy as they come (not to mention looked fantastic in just about everything!) and quickly decided on our Whitney dress in layered chiffon.

Through it all Allison kept her cool and let it all play out.  She even let each girl accessorize her dress as she saw fit, including hair and makeup (we’re talking the Anti Brideszilla here!).  And the end result could not have been more gorgeous.  Set against the warm glow of Jacksonville, FL the final look was soft, romantic and hopelessly chic.  A cool, breathe of fresh air in our book.

You all remember our dear pal Meredith of Regas New York, don’t you? We sat her down a year or two back to discuss the world of wedding invitation etiquette, and she has since been Thread’s go-to for anything and everything paper-related: event invitations, holiday cards, stationary, baby announcements and–most recently–Nicole‘s wedding invitations. Well, given the sheer amount of praise bestowed upon Nicole for said invitations, we think it our duty to remind our lovely Thread brides-to-be to check out the newly launched Regas New York site stat.  Because if there is anything a bride absolutely adores, it’s praise in regards to her wedding. Are we right, or are we right?

(Above Regas Collection invitation suite available for order at Regas. Fun fact: These ones just so happen to be the ones inspired by Nicole’s invitations. Can you see why we are obsessed here?)

When our pal Meredith (of Regas New York –and Thread Said–fame) told us about her friends’ company Navy & Lavender, we just had to share with you. Why, you ask? Well, you know how, when attending an out-of-town wedding, by the time you finally arrive at the hotel, you are a bit tired, a bit hungry, a bit disoriented? And you know how there is but one thing that can put you fully back on the excited-for-the-wedding track? Yes, folks, we are taking about The Welcome Bag here. We know we aren’t the only ones who immediately tear into the bag to see what kind of goodies lay ahead for us, both in the bag itself and the weekend ahead.

That said, we always wondered how, with everything else going on, the bride and groom manage to throw this bag together. It is probably one of the more fun things on the wedding to-do list, but definitely not as important or necessary as, say, choosing your flowers or finding the perfect band. And that, my friends, is why we needed to share Navy & Lavender with you: The girls over there will not only put together these bags for you, but they will do it well, customizing each and every ‘Welcome Tote‘ to fit the wedding locale, theme and guest.

So, brides-to-be, we think you should consider this as one thing checked off that long to-do list of yours.

(Above, Navy and Lavender’s Winter Romance Welcome Tote. Peppermints, hot cocoa and a pashmina? Oh my. Sold. FYI: The Welcome Totes are just the tip of the gift-y iceberg the site offers; we strongly suggest taking a peek and checking out all the goods for yourself.)

Last Thursday: to say it was a rainy day would be a gross understatement. The sky was black, the rain was sideways, the wind was a-blowin’.  The kind of day everyone looks out the window, shudders, and dreams of the moment they can sprint home for the night, throw on PJs and cozy up on the couch with a good book.

Well. As luck would have it, last Thursday happened to be the day of Thread’s little soiree in honor of our ten year anniversary. Needless to say, the weather stressed us out just a wee. (Brides-to-be out there, you can feel our pain, non?) We worried. We fretted. Would no one come to the party? Was all our hard work and planning for naught? The custom letterpress invites by Regas? The yummy bites from Callahan Catering? The wines we painstakingly picked out ourselves (on one particularly fun day at the office)? The perfect, twinkly, exposed brick-y space we found for the event, complete with dahlias, snowberries and lowlit candles everywhere? The five new bridesmaid collections we worked on day and night just for the occasion??!!

Well. It turns out we totally underestimated the friends, family, editors, buyers, vendors, brides, event planners and photographers who have supported us over the past ten years. (Never again!) Not only did all these lovely people trek out in the wind and rain to celebrate with us, but they stayed, and chatted, and drank, and ate, and laughed, and mingled, and ogled the new collections.

All in all? It was a near-perfect night, joyous and celebratory and exactly what we hoped it would be. Made us want to do this for another ten (or twenty or thirty) years.

(Above, two of the new collections we debuted at our event: at left, our Blossom collection; at right, our Ethereal collection. All five new collections will be up on our site in the next month, promise!)

Weddings come with a lot of unwritten rules about etiquette, tradition and protocol. So do wedding invitations: who gets them, what to send, when to send, how to send. It’s all enough to send any bride-to-be running for the hills.

As such, we cornered Meredith Kurosko, founder and designer of chic Brooklyn-based stationary line Regas, and asked her to shed some light on the issue. Lucky for us, she obliged.

Choosing invitations can be a daunting task. How should a bride approach this process? For starters, don’t overlook the invitation as an important part of your event. Remember that it is the first glimpse of your big day that the guests will see. Think about the kind of wedding you’d like to have, and do your best to represent the feel of the wedding with your invitations. My favorite invitations are the ones that have the element of personality. And don’t forget: Details matter.

Something to keep in mind throughout the process: Save the date cards should be mailed six to eight months prior to the wedding, and invitations six to eight weeks prior.

Invitations can be expensive. What are some ways to cut costs without sacrificing style or substance? If you include the rehearsal dinner invitation and any other weekend event invitations in the wedding set, both families can contribute to the cost. Furthermore, the guest will appreciate receiving one mailing with a complete idea of what to expect for the weekend so that he/she can plan accordingly.

Another way to save is to be prepared with all the pieces you will need for your wedding weekend, including menus, ceremony programs, table numbers, escort cards, favor tags, welcome notes and personal stationery. Discounts are often available on the printing of certain pieces if all printed at the same time.

Is there any one thing a bride should NOT do when it comes to invitations? I’m still amazed when I see the registry information included in the invitation. There is a place for everything, and the registry is happiest on your website.

Anything else a bride should keep in mind during this process? Details, details, details. A few specific pointers:

Don’t forget the envelope. You’ve put time into selecting the perfect EVERYTHING, then the invitation arrives in your guests’ hands with thick black tracks across the envelope. To avoid this, have your invitations hand-canceled at the post office; for a nominal fee, each one is stamped individually with the date of your mailing.

Also, stamps. Vintage stamps, particularly, make a lasting impression. (Keep in mind you’ll need to buy more of them to total the current postage rate.) One of my clients personally selected the various stamps for each guest’s envelope. A St. Louis-born friend that attended a NYC art school received an envelope with stamps featuring a foundation for the arts, the famous St. Louis arch, and the flower from her birth year.  Needless to say, she saved the envelope!

(Above, a sampling of Regas invitations. Prices start at $13 each for 100 sets [invitation, reply card, reply envelope and outer envelope]. For more information, visit regasny.com or email Meredith at meredith@regasny.com.)