Amsale scores big brownie points with me because their dresses are elegant, sophisticated and timeless. “Twenty years after the wedding, I want a bride to be able to look at her pictures and be as happy with the way she looked as she was on her wedding day,” says designer Amsale Aberra.

It was a cold Thursday night when I was lucky enough to see the Amsale (pronounced Ahm-sah’-leh) collection at Angela Wilson’s New York Bridal Gala. These beautiful bridal gowns, little white dresses and bridesmaid dresses are now available to Aussie brides thanks to Angela.  It was a fun night – sipping on bubbles, eating polka dot cake (a stunner by Faye Cahill) and looking at a bridal collection that really has something to offer everyone. What a tough job!

As the models paraded down the catwalk, it was obvious that these dresses are comfortable to wear. Most of the designs are floaty and feminine, but even the more-fitted of the collection don’t cling to the body – they skim and give shape. While I was watching them go by, I could imagine most of the bridal gowns and bridesmaids dresses working in a variety of different weddings: from formal church ceremonies, to an informal garden wedding or a laid-back beach affair.

First up were the bridesmaids, featuring a palette of Amsale’s favourite colours: deep reds and greens, violets and soft pinks. Perfect for Spring and Summer weddings, especially with the chiffon material and the oh-so-pretty floral detail that features on some of the designs. The majority were floor-length numbers (with a slight Romanesque feel) which some bridesmaids might have trouble wearing again. However, the short styles were gems and could fast become their new cocktail or even out-to-dinner favourite.

The little white dresses were next up. They are perfect for the anti-brides out there or for those brides who simply don’t want to wear a more traditional gown. Again, there was a range of styles here – from the more corporate, courthouse look to softer designs with lace, bows and A-line skirts.

The real stars of the show though were the bridal gowns.  They truly encapsulate Amsale’s understated and classic style.  What’s great about these gowns is that they will most likely look amazing on any body type and also with or without a veil. This collection also offers more than strapless gowns and has a variety of strappy dresses (ruffle halter-necks, spaghetti and one-shoulder). Another plus is that the hems on the bridal gowns glide nicely just above the ground and the skirts didn’t appear to be heavy as the models were able to pose and move swiftly with ease.

After eating my last piece of polka dot cake (yum!), I hurried home to type up all my thoughts for you, dear readers, because I think lots of you will appreciate the beautiful simplicity of this collection.

Note from Ms Polka Dot : Ms Floral has come on board as our Sydney features editor, what do you think? Can we convince her to cover more fantastic events for us? On that note, we’re opening up our guest contributors feature soon so stay tuned and get your words ready!

Photos by gm photographics

It’s been a big month on Polka Dot Bride! We are still working feverishly behind the scenes to finish off the touches of our brand new website, and will be opening up guest contributions in a few weeks when our heads stop spinning!

But launch day? Well we celebrated with you! We indludgled ina few bubbles and had our very own virtual launch party! (have pics? Send them in!)

First up, we were celebrated at the Eiffel Tower by the lovely Frog Princess (aka Nicky) of Chasing Rainbows, Kissing Frogs who managed to not only find pink champagne (our favourite kind) but also found polka dot straws in the middle of Paris!

Bonnie of Amour Amour celebrated all day with live tweets of the celebration- that’s the coverage we love! Wedding Style Guide shared a lollipop with us and Prue of Gigi & Lulu got ready to party beside her keyboard!

The Polka Dot Bride team chilled the bubbles from some of our lovely friends in anticipation, Polly from Tea Cup Brides couldn’t decide which bubbles to drink (we voted pink for the record!) Suzi from Alannah Rose Stationery broke out her wedding flutes (polka dot of course!) and Sarah from Girl Friday Weddings chose the perfect drop!

Nicky from Chasing Rainbows Kissing Frogs continued her Paris celebrations, Prue from Gigi and Lulu got her party started- wee! Ms Floral drank bubbles, Reader Meg blew bubbles, Mel from The Crafty DIY Bride accessorised her pink celebratory drink with our signature Polka Dot Bride drinking straw while Bonnie continued the party at her desk!

Jessica of Oscar & Ruby had a little help from her friends and Jen from Anna Rose Photography was romanced by our love notes.

A big, grateful thankyou to all those that joined us on Twitter and via email for our launch party celebrations and to those that blogged about our launch (including Karen Willis Holmes, Alannah Rose Stationery, Australia Entertains, Oscar Loves Ruby, Gigi & Lulu, Wedding Style Guide, Ava Madison, Be Imbued,

We have so much to do and so much yet to come and we are so excited to have you on our journey!

We like to think wedding vendors can be pretty wise creatures and created Polka Dot Wisdom just  for them!

As a vendor, you can write about your tips & tricks, what inspires you, show off your workspace or latest project, tell us why you were inspired to launch your latest collection. You can even connect with other vendors- have you got an networking night coming up? Have some wise words to share?

As a bride, you can get an inside peek into the life of a wedding vendor and get to know some new ones and more about your old favourites.

Need some help? Some inspiration?  Download our Polka Dot Wisdom Guidelines PDF (right click to save as)

Rosanna at Alexis George shared a little about how it works behind the scenes at their Adelaide design studio…

“So Polka Dot Bride wants to know the behind the scenes of a bridal couture store like Alexis George? It’s about Service, Service, Service, and providing those extra special touches that mass produced (cheap imported) bridal gown shops can’t possibly compare with.

Consulting with brides is the most satisfying part as we like to solve their concerns. It’s about listening to the bride-to-be’s needs and sometimes combining styles. We like to advise brides to look at magazines first, and work out the elements they love prior to an appointment with us, then we can work from there. We are conscious that not all dresses suit all figures, so we assist them to work out the ideal silhouette that suits first, and then we go ahead incorporating the features such as beading or lace etc. Brides need to understand that only certain fabrics can achieve a certain look, and can’t be translated easily between styles.

We love showing customers our gorgeous treasure trove of the latest laces and innovative fabrics that we source from overseas. We always get excited when our Italian representative rolls in with bulging designer suitcase filled with the latest fabrics. Sometimes, brides fall in love with a fabric first, like ostrich feathers, the new textured fabrics or an exquisite lace.

Our designer, Pat Georgiou has always been inspired by the fabrics first, and then our couture designs are developed from her vision. We regularly hold fashion parades and we like to draw inspiration from our runway collection and make them up in bridal colours. It makes our designs feel modern, but as most of our garments are boned, the fit and styling always remains classic and timeless.

While our new styles are initially modeled on Pat’s figure (which is a size 10), a little known fact is that we offer styles up to size 18 in store. While federal MP Kate Elllis’s recent campaign was to promote diverse body shapes and called for realistic sizes from Australian designers, we have been proudly catering for all women for a long time now, and thoroughly understand the needs of this market

One piece of advice that most brides aren’t aware, is the importance of fit. It’s sad that brides-to-be are put off strapless dresses because they never forget the look of a badly fitting strapless dresses that brides battle to keep up all day. It’s such a pity, because strapless gowns are so special and suit most shapes, but only if they are fitted correctly!

We don’t rely on a big bust to hold up a dress, we rely on the waist. It’s as simple as that. A well-fitted bridal gown must be anchored tightly at the waistline, which is naturally the smallest part of the female form. It can’t possibly go up or down from that point. The bustline is adjusted accordingly. A too tight bustline for a busty bride is most unflattering. It should be ever so slightly looser than the waist to avoid the unsightly pinched in soft flesh look. For brides who are not so endowed, we advise ruching in some form in the bustline, or sewn in padded bra pads to help fill out the dress for a flattering and balanced silhouette.

Our bridal range always amazes people because we like to create couture art. One dress in particular, the ‘Briar Rose’ captured hearts and minds. It was our most talked about dress. We would continually get visitors who came specifically just to visit the “Gone-With-The-Wind-Grace-Kelly-Dress”. To this day, it still remains my favourite wedding gown with masses of frothy tulle and hand painted Japanese rose print chiffon overlay… Alas, I was sad to see it go (sigh!).”

Photo by Alexis George