MEET LISA KRIZNER-GEORGE OF VANILLA PINK

Yes, you wear it for one day only, but that one day says so much.  After all it IS your wedding day!!  Shouldn’t it be handmade and reflect you and be the only one of it’s kind on the planet?  It represents a time period in your life.   Couples put so much time, money and energy into planning the ‘perfect’ wedding, an event that represents them as a couple as they enter into the future as husband and wife.  So many times I feel the dress is a little more than an afterthought just to fit into a budget.  It’s one of the few precious elements you keep and savor from that day along with the rings, photos and each other! 

TBC:  How did you come up with the name ‘Vanilla Pink‘?
 
Lisa:  I didn’t want to state the obvious in the name.  I wanted to pick something a little funky, something that was as different as my dresses are.  I also wanted to evoke a certain feeling, not just state that I do bridal gowns.

TBC:  What makes Vanilla Pink distinctive?
 
Linda:  Our dresses are made in the traditional bespoke manner.  Custom designed to your wishes.  Many bridal salons say they have custom dresses, but what you really do is ‘customize’ a dress out of a catalog choosing your bodice and skirt and having it altered to fit. 

We work from the ground up, so to speak.  Your fabrics are hand chosen, many of them imported from Italy or France.  Draping the design to your measurements, creating the original pattern, fitting the muslin and modifying as we go along.  We use many time honored techniques that ensure an impeccable fit, comfort and style.  I am not a bridal salon with racks of dresses to try on.  The dress happens based on our collaboration.  Handmade with the finest fabrics.  Silk linings.  Personal hand-embroidered messages.  Hand-embroidered labels.   Made one at a time based on YOUR wishes, not the catalog stock.  

We take on only a few clients at a time making each one special, not just a number.  The process and experience is a much more intimate and personal one.  It’s a much more ‘old world’ style (if I can use that phrase) of creating your dress.

TBC:  What are the key trends for the 2009 wedding season?
 
Lisa:  Well, metallics, pleating and changing necklines seem to be the trends for this season.  But I work with my clients and base the design on their wishes.   Not that I’m totally oblivious to what trends are out there, but for example….I don’t believe in wearing a baby doll dress just because it’s ‘so IN right now’ if that style does not compliment you.   On the other hand, if you want a mermaid style gown and it’s made beautifully and looks stunning on you, who’s going to come up to you in the receiving line and say ‘you are SO last season but Best Wishes anyway’?   Probably no one.

TBC:  In your opinion, what should a bride do before her first appointment at Vanilla Pink?
 
Lisa:  She should put some thought into what style or vision she wants to project on her wedding day.  It’s not necessary to show up with a definite idea of the dress, just be able to express to me what she wants to reflect and together we’ll create something that speaks to her.   Flip through magazines if it helps her to express her thoughts, but it’s not necessary.   Does she like details?  Clean lines?  Old Hollywood movies?   Upbeat, trendy styles?  

It also helps to try on dresses at salons if she really can’t decide what style makes her feel comfortable, natural and beautiful on her wedding day.  A bride needs to skim all the information out there and really decide what it is that says YOU.

TBC:  When is a short dress a better choice than a gown? 
 
Lisa:  A short dress traditionally would be worn for a less formal affair, but again, if it’s what you want and it’s an amazing dress and you look fabulous, then a short dress it shall be!