wedding star - Whirlingturban

I've been keeping quiet so far about the finer details of my upcoming wedding. But I really want to showcase the fabulous people & vendors that I've worked with over the past year. I've been lucky enough to discover some dizzyingly talented people out there that have played a major role in creating what will be the funnest & most glamorous day of my life.

The first vendor that I have to share with the world is the vintage genius, bombshell dress-making extraordinaire that is Whirlingturban & its glamorous mastermind, the great Katherine Robinson - the wonderful gal responsible for the fantabulous dress I will walk - no float! - down the aisle in.

I could spend days going on & on about all the amazing vintage designs that Whirlingturban create with the apparent ease & confidence of Alfred Shaheen himself. But I'd like to highlight their fast-growing wedding dress department. Not only can you get completely custom made beauties at a fraction of the price of other custom designers (especially compared to the plethora of new designers out there that focus on the beloved "poufy tea length" '50s style), but they've recently launched a ready-to-wear bridal boutique.

Check it out here & see why I'm secretly wishing that I could get married ten times over (to the same fella of course;)

Over a year ago, an innocent Google search at the start of my engagement (seems so long ago now) led me to the Whirlingturban website. And there, the course of my wedding (and life) was changed forever! I found so much vintage eye candy to feast upon, my orbs almost popped right outta my head & bounced off the laptop. Katherine is a design wizard & true vintage loyalist, who has channeled her expertise gained by working as a Hollywood fashion & costuming insider into one fantastic business concept - create gorgeous, perfectly tailored dresses, using the exacting standards of classic 1950s/60s design, to give customers a "movie star fit" at a not so movie star price.

To me, it all sounds like a dream. Having picked up her business from west coast USA & dropped into tropical Bali, Indonesia, Katherine employs local artisans to create unbelievably pretty & WT exclusive prints & fabrics. I can just see Katherine & her fantastic team of pretty seamstresses hand-creating these amazing, one-of-a-kind Shaheen-inspired Hawaiian dresses & jaw-dropping wedding gowns, using classic techniques, all a-buzz in a little studio in paradise, in soft-focus technicolor with a Henry Mancini soundtrack of course (with little chihuahuas chup-chupping around their dainty feet). Doesn't it sound like heaven?

My adventure with Katherine & Honey & Mindra has spanned the full length of my engagement - over a year of emails & Skype chats, shared inspiration photos, changed ideas & my many questions always swiftly answered. Planning a destination wedding is one thing, but custom designing a wedding dress from several time zones away? I knew from the moment we started communicating that I was lucky to have stumbled upon something really special.

I can't post about the particulars of my dress. (Sometimes I actually force the H2B to look at this blog so I can't spoil the surprise!) But after changing my mind a million times, I ended up going with a custom made WT gown. And let me tell you, the attention to detail & dedication these gals put into each & every one of their beauties really does make you feel like you are the most important bride on earth. Or like one of those demanding Hollywood divas from the golden era, having our dreams handwoven into cotton ikat & perfectly brought to life in one very special dress.

I have certainly become a WT devotee. In fact, I'm in the process of ordering yet another Whirlingturban to wear to my tiki bachelorette bash. Fun.

I can't wait to be free to post the photos!

For gorgeous gowns in true vintage style, from figure-hugging, dig the headlights, va va va voom to classic tea length skirts with that impossibly nipped New Look waist, Whirlingturban is where it's at. If you want to feel like Audrey Hepburn on your big day or simply live out your Blue Hawaiian fantasies, go here now.

*All photos courtesy of http://whirlingturban.com*