Our new Flagship!

We’re thrilled to announce our new Orange County Flagship in partnership with Orange County’s gem of a bridal boutique – MARIPOSA BOUTIQUE!

The Flagship will showcase the entire Justine M Couture range of products including: veils, headpieces, jewelry, bridesmaids jewelry, purses (coming Spring 2012), shoe clips and sashes from our current collections. In addition to this, the boutique will showcase one of a kind and limited edition VINTAGE jewelry and headpieces from our VINTAGE collection.

The "stage" inside Mariposa bride offers a fun way to share the shopping experience with bridal parties.

We will also be hosting “Designer Present” trunk shows on a regular basis so that brides can have their accessories tailor made by Justine herself!!

To kick off the Flagship, Mariposa will have designer present Trunk Shows with Justine starting February 4th!

Another unique service that we offer is veil restoration and headpiece rework. Bring your family heirlooms in to one of our Designer Present trunk shows at Mariposa and we will rework it into more wearable headpieces/jewelry for your big day!

Justine can restore your family heirlooms for your big day

Brides love Mariposa’s down to earth and friendly approach for brides to select accessories and gowns in a relaxed yet elegant environment. The store is beautifully designed and has a fabulous selection of gowns including Paloma Blanca, Mikaella, Enzoani, Pronovias and Watters to name a few. The team at Mariposa is as sweet as can be & go the extra mile to make your shopping experience a memorable event.

Our first trunk show to celebrate our Flagship at Mariposa is Saturday, February 4th 2012. For appointments contact Mariposa at (714) 776-6881.

Our dear friend Gene

A friend to all of us at JMC will be greatly missed.

Our dear friend and Photographer Gene Nocon passed away at his home a few days ago.  Gene will be missed by everyone at Justine M Couture, but especially by myself and my husband Stephen.  Gene was a friend, a mentor and a creative spirit and I loved him dearly. 

I had the pleasure of knowing Gene for 8 years. We worked together on many projects and he helped launch my jewelry line by providing the most exquisite and flawless graphics and photography, second to none.  I will miss his stories about his time working with Prince Andrew and the Royal Family and our conversations about what food we miss from England.  I will miss our dinners at The Cheesecake Factory and I am thankful that he introduced me to “Chicken Parminara”, which was one of Gene’s favorites and now one of my own to.  But I will especially miss his clear vision of the world, people and relationships.  Gene taught me not to fear anything, to embrace life and all that comes your way, to strive to always be a fair and level headed business person, to see the good in people and the world, to communicate to solve problems and to believe in myself and my artistic ability.  I will miss his advice, he was a good listener, he told great stories, he was my friend.

Gene worked with many renowned artists including Norman Parkinson, Henry Ford, Paul and Linda McCartney and Zandra Rhodes to name a few.  If you would like to know more about Gene and appreciate his body of work, please visit his website at genenocon.com. 

My heart goes out to Gene 2 daughers Summer and Olivia and to his family. 

New Bridesmaids Boutique in San Diego

The White Flower in Downtown San Diego is adding a whole store dedicated to dressing the bridal party!

We are very excited to report that The White Flower Bridal Boutique in San Diego  is launching a bridesmaids boutique neighboring their downtown location. The new addition will be called Bridal Boutique and will offer a fabulous collection of  the hottest styles for the bridal party. The good news doesn’t stop there….We’ll be showcasing our line of new Bridesmaids Accessories at the boutique! 

We'll be introducing lots of great bridesmaids gifts like these pretty vintage inspired bracelets.

This is an exciting opportunity for us to showcase our rare and one of kind creations, including limited edition vintage Swarovski headpieces, lucite glass delicacies from the 60′s and 70′s that are not available anywhere else in the country at present! 

The Bridal Boutique will feature the Monique Lhuillier Bridesmaids Collection

The new Bridal Boutique will carry the Alvina Valenta bridesmaids collection!

The Grand Opening of San Diego’s Bridal Boutique is scheduled for November 15th! San Diego Brides be sure to check it out!

On the runway at The Wedding Party Bridal Show

Hey San Diego Brides! Look out for Justine M. Couture Veils & Accessories on the runway of The Wedding Party Bridal Show Fashion Shows next Sunday, October 2nd! Here’s a sneak peak of what we’ll be showing:

Peek-a-boo Veil

Grace Veil

Octavia Headband & Brielle Earrings

Venice Flower & London Earrings

Visit www.sandiegoweddingparty.com for tickets, flash mob choreography & more!

The Wedding Party Bridal Show on October 2nd at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay is the hottest bridal show in San Diego! I always get inspired by all the talented vendors & wedding artists that showcase their talents at this event. There is no shortage of excitement either! This event will feature a DIY wedding favors station, DJ’s spinning the best music, 2 fashion shows, gourmet cocktails and to top it all off a full scale FLASH MOB!

Celebrity Wedding Day Dress Up

Recently, I’ve been on the road connecting with many a bride-to-be during my “summer tour” of  Justine M. Couture Trunk Shows.

Justine M. Couture Trunk Show at The White Flower Bridal Boutique this summer

Trunk Shows are great because they give my team and I the opportunity to talk directly with brides and stay in touch with what brides really want in accessories & veiling.  Another cool element to Trunk Shows is that I am able to spend quality time with some of the most talented and professional bridal store owners & stylists in the land.

Having fun styling a bride

Now that my summer whirl-wind tour is over I feel refreshed, reconnected and so lucky to work with such great people in the bridal industry! Which brings me to something new (and I’ll admit a bit nerdy) that I’m going to start here on the Justine M. Couture Blog today….

Celebrity Wedding Day Dress Up

I try to keep track of what brides & bridal stylists ask about during Trunk Shows and this summer the most frequently asked the question of the summer was “What hairstyles go with what accessories”?

So in order to illustrate “what goes with what” I started playing a bit of what I’m going to call Celebrity Wedding Day Dress Up.

Today I’m in the mood for some glamour! Next time I’ll show off what would go well with a Bohemian Chic look then maybe a Classic Beauty look.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Glamour Girl Look #1

Scar-Jo's vintage glam look would go great with a bold chandelier earring, a striking cuff bracelet and a bird-cage veil. Depending on the style of dress she could also wear a broach or a jewel encrusted belt.

The Claudia Cuff

The Twilight Chandelier Earring

The Vera Broach

The Clementine Bird-Cage Veil

Glamour Girl Look #2

Jennifer Love-Hewitt's up-do could kick it up a notch with a bold hairpin or a sparkly headband, a dainty earring, a pendant necklace and a blinged-out cathedral length veil that sits under the up-do.

The Monsoon Hair Ornament

The Octavia Headband & the Brielle Earrings

The Michelle Necklace

The Camilla Veil

Featured Retailer- Mariposa Boutique

On any given Saturday afternoon, in an upbeat wedding boutique in Orange County, bridal parties sit and enjoy cute little bottles of water while they have a shopping experience that they will never forget.

The "stage" inside Mariposa Bride offers a fun way to share the shopping experience with bridal parties.

This is Mariposa Boutique in the heart of Orange County where brides are given a their very own bridal stylist for their shopping experience. Mariposa’s owner & founder Casey, set out to create a boutique that offers a stress-free experience in a glamorous setting.

Check out these photos of the store and see for yourself how inviting and glamorous this bridal store is.

Mariposa Bride

Better yet, stop on by Mariposa’s website to make an appointment next time you need anything bridal related from a bridesmaids dress, accessories & veiling, mother-of -the-bride dress or even a flower girl dress.

Mariposa Boutique: 316 N. Anaheim Blvd.  Anaheim, CA 92805  714-776-6881

www.mariposabride.com

Auntie Amanda!

I wanted to introduce you to my aunt- Amanda!  She such a dynamic woman. I wanted to share her talents with you all because she is a well known photographer based in the British Virgin Islands.

My beautiful Auntie Amanda

Stephen and I were able to spend time with Aunt Amanda during our recent vacation to the Tortola in the British Virgin Islands and had the pleasure of seeing her work at her studio, The Alamanda Gallery. We couldn’t resist taking home a few of her beautiful island photographs that I can’t wait to get framed and up on my walls!

Amanda's work is showcased at her studio, The Allamanda Gallery in Road Town, Tortola

Check our her images at VirginPortraits.com and if you are planning a wedding in the British Virgin Islands you should certainly consider contacting “Auntie Amanda” as she is a world-class wedding photographer and a wealth of knowledge about all things bridal on the islands.

The White Flower Bridal Boutique

The White Flower Bridal Boutique in San Diego (photo by Elle G)

Enjoy this little Q&A session with bridal boutique owner, Courtney K. Cole

of The White Flower in San Diego!

What do you like best about your job?

Everything.  Seriously.  I absolutely LOVE what I do and cannot see myself doing anything else right now.  I get to paid to play dress up with amazing women all day long.  Plus this is really one of the most incredible shopping experiences a woman can have and I get to share in the excitement and experience all the time.  It is especially exciting when a bride finds her gown here but regardless I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.

When did you realize that you wanted to own your own bridal store?

I started working in bridal in 2002 and when I graduated from college and moved down to San Diego I was completely heartbroken that I wasn’t able to work in this fabulous industry anymore.  So after working at Banana Republic and thinking that I don’t havethe patience to listen to someone tell me when to be at work, how to fold t-shirts, that hangers have to point a certain way, I decided to write my business plan for the boutique.  I started my business plan in 2005.  So really, it was shortly after college when I decided that I wanted to do this, I just needed to gather more information about how to do it properly.

Courtney K. Cole, Owner of The White Flower

What is it about San Diego brides that makes them so unique?

That the San Diego bride doesn’t have the restriction on time of year or location because San Diego is beautiful all year-round.  That she has the flexibility of having a very traditional church wedding, to a gorgeous sunset beach wedding, to something in thebeautiful mountains to downtown!  We are so lucky to live here!!!

We all know what a great reputation you and your store have earned in the San Diego bridal scene. So tell us what makes The White Flower stand apart from the rest?

To me, the most important thing is to give the bride and her family an amazing experience.  From when they enter the boutique for the first appointment to the joy of picking up your gown the day before your wedding, everything should be fun, relaxing and enjoyable.  By having a relaxing environment and a seasoned bridal consultant, thebride can get the most out of her experience and actually find THE right gown for her versus A right gown.  Brides who make appointments here really want to find their gown here because they know from looking at our reviews that this is going to be the best bridal shopping experience they can find.

The beautiful showroom at The White Flower

What would you wear to your wedding if you and your hubby got married today?

Oh, that’s a hard one.  I really do love the gown I got married in and would probably wear it again however, if I didn’t have the one I got married in I would certainly end up in a design by Lea Ann Belter.  Her collection is amazing and I only wish I had heard of her in 2006 when I was shopping for my gown.

What trends are you seeing in 2011 for bridal fashion?

Ruffles and textured skirts are going to be big this season.  We are also going to see a shift in neckline from sweetheart to more of a pointy sweetheart like the Vivienne Westwood gown in Sex in the City. 

Meet Bride-to-be Melissa

Meet Melissa. This lovely bride-to-be will wed her Scottish fiance, Blair, in a couple of weeks but we thought it would be fun to share a little bit about how she teamed up with JMC to help accessorize her for the best day of her life!

Melissa knew that she needed to create a wedding ensemble that could stand up to her fiance’s traditional wedding attire (Kilt and all) so she went for a vintage glam look.  The details of her wedding gown will remain a secret until the big day but here is what she plans to accessorize with.

Starlett- Sterling Silver Headband

First she chose the “Starlet” headband to wear in her gorgeous chestnut locks. This piece compliments her art- deco inspired engagement ring perfectly! Next, her jewel encrusted earrings will be her “something borrowed”.

Love the shoes!

And last but not least she chose some show-stopping shoes that will help her look even more gorgeous as she dances the night away with her Ceilidh (Scottish folk dancing) moves!

Oh and by the way here are some other JMC Sterling Silver accessories that also compliment her look:

We’ll check back with Melissa after the big day and share the details (and pictures) with you all!

Paris, Iron Gates & The Camilla Veil

Wrought iron gates and filigree encrusted bridal veils- there is a connection!

It may sound cliché but I find France a wonderful inspiration for design. From the vibrant city life to the romantic countryside, France is one of my favorite places on Earth!

One thing I am always drawn to is the cast iron work throughout the country. The intricate iron gates and fences translate into fascinating patterns which I usually end up incorporating into veiling.

The Camilla Veil

The Camilla Veil - Inspired by Parisian gates

For example The Camilla Veil was inspired by a rather interesting Parisian experience I had a few years back while traveling with dear friends. We were frantically searching for a tiny, hidden vineyard in the center of Paris (yes, I swear it’s true, there is an actual vineyard in the center of the city of lights…you can read about it here).

Montmartre Vineyard - the proceeds the wine that they sell go to charity!

Anyway, once we finally found our destination I was awestruck by the beautiful iron gates that we saw along the way to the vineyard. I took a moment to sketch my version of the unique pattern of the gates then moved on buying a few bottles of wine and having a picnic in a nearby park. Once I got back to the states I got to work on creating The Camilla Veil- one of my favorite pieces from the JMC collection as it brings back such fond memories.

I wish I had a picture of my friends and I or the gates that I drew inspiration from but sadly I am the worst when it comes to documenting memories- something I am working on! So instead here is a picture of me during my first visit to France at age 4 outside the Palace of Versailles-almost as good, right?Next trip I promise to take more pictures!

Justine, age 4