Event Recap: The White Dress by the shore 10th Anniversary Party

{ A note from Beth}:  It is almost impossible to believe that 10 years has passed since The White Dress by the shore was launched.  I founded the boutique out of a desire to provide brides with a unique and memorable bridal shopping experience.  When shopping for my own gown 16 years ago, I was disappointed in the lack of quality customer service and intimacy when gown shopping.  My desire was to take the 'customer first' philosophy that I had learned at Ann Taylor and translate it into a bridal environment filled with beautiful gowns that were timeless, classic and unforgettable.  Several weeks ago we had the opportunity to celebrate our milestone with brides, both past and present, and our dear friends and supporters in the industry.  The event was magical, but the best part for me was hearing stories from brides about how they have loved every minute of shopping with us.  Whether the bride purchased her gown in 2004 or 2014, the stories and experiences were consistent.  They were ones of emotion, joy and gratitude.  That tells me that we have achieved our goal of making my vision for the business a reality!  I never tire of dressing beautiful brides!  Here is to many, many more years of doing what I love!

This amazing sketch was a gift from one of our sweet designers, Amy Kuschel.

We were honored to have the lovely ladies of  True Event plan the party for us.  They pulled together some of the most incredible talents in the industry to create a memorable evening filled with Glamour, Glitz and Gowns! The invitations were designed by the uber talented, Nichole Michel of Coral Pheasant Stationary. We were treated to delicious confections by two incredible culinary artists!  The Essex Cake Company set up a display of sweets that was almost too lovely to eat (we said almost) and our friends at A Thyme to Cook, in their true creative fashion, dreamed up exquisite deserts that were passed amongst the guests. The highlight of the evening was a retrospective of gowns  on display in 'Versailles', our largest fitting room on the second floor of the boutique. Many of our brides allowed us to borrow their gowns for the evening. We displayed one gown per year for the past decade.  It was wonderful to see how the styles changed over the years. There was however,  one consistent thread through each lovely gown-each was timeless and elegant.

We hung photos of each bride wearing the gowns in the retrospective

Designer Callie Tein of Modern Trousseau posing with two of her gowns, both of which happened to be worn byour sales associates, Holly (on left) and Shana (on right)

The 'Loan' gown by Anne Barge was representing the year that we opened, 2004

The White Dress in Color, the inspirational coffee table book co-authored by owner, Beth Chapman, was proudly on display during the event

We were fortunate enough to have many wonderful sponsors for our event.  You can see the full list below. One of them was Juliska.  They provided the absolutely most breathtaking champagne glasses that we sipped Chamard Vineyard 's  Stone Cold Sparkling White from.

The White Dress by the shore lovelies posing on the front porch

The incredible talents that made this evening possible from left: (back row: Jessica of The Confetti Bar, Catilin from True Event, Yumiko of Hana Floral Design, Nichole of Coral Pheasant, owner, Beth Chapman, Sarah True of True Event, Jennie Fresa, front row: Geoff  of Photo Booth Planet, Mike of Buzz Media)

Jennie Fresa put together a sparkly lip station where she first applied one of her luscious shades of lipstick, topped with guest's choice of sparkly color!  It was such fun!

We were so honored to be surrounded by so many industry friends who have supported us through the years!

Our friends at Elan Artists sent a few of their talented acoustic musicians to entertain us for the evening- violinist, Maria Manousaki  and guitarist, Petro Klampanis. And what is a party without a fabulous photo booth?  We were thrilled to have the best of the best in the house with Photobooth Planet! In keeping with the wedding gown theme, Beth wore the Modern Trousseau dress that she recently  renewed her vows in and paired it with a custom tulle skirt that she designed with Modern Trousseau.  Her original wedding gown was also on display as part of the retrospective, seen below. Following through with our 'Glitz' theme we had a fabulous Confetti Bar on display from the one and only company of the same name! Jessica put together a custom concoction for us complete with metallic paper, gold 10's and W's and of course, little white dresses! What a fun-filled evening!  Thank you for a great party and for a fabulous 10 years.  Cheers to 10 years and Cheers to many, many more!   A list  of our event sponsors is below. A very special thank you to Laura DeCarlo of Laura Dee Photography for capturing these stunning images and preserving the memory of this special evening for us!

White Dress By The Shore - Cheers to Ten Years! from Buzz Media Company on Vimeo.

 

xoxo, TWD