Behind The Scenes with Bride Club ME {Rio’s monthly round up}
Written by Adam Hurst on November 3, 2014.
Behind The Scenes With Bride Club ME
Hello bride clubbers, wedding season is well and truly in full swing and last month was a busy one. We have been mingling with representatives from the world’s biggest wedding inspiration website, The Knot. With the help of some of our talented BCME vendors, I co-organised a baby shower for one of my best friends, and put together an awesome wedding planner meet and greet with fashion designer Sohad Acouri.
We were also delighted to support a great cause – breast cancer awareness – via an initiative organised by wedding concierge company Aghareed. Oh, and Bride Club ME was recently featured in The National newspaper, YAY!
Below, I give you the low down on what I have been up to behind the scenes with BCME and bring you a new feature too – a round-up of all my favourite posts from October’s features.
Wedding Planner Meet and Greet – Sohad Acouri
Every now and then, Bride Club ME organises private events for our BCME-listed wedding planners, where we introduce them to new and exciting wedding suppliers in the region. This time, we organised something a little different. Fashion designer Sohad Acouri and I hosted a wedding planner meet and greet, during which selected planners enjoyed a tour of his gorgeous Jumeirah-based boutique and got a sneak peek at some of his White collection bridal designs.
After feasting on a sumptuous range of Arabic canapés and sweet treats, we then sat down to discuss trends in the wedding fashion industry, which will be translated into a full feature later this month, so watch this space! If you are looking for a wedding gown designer, check out Sohad’s BCME profile here.
Mylist.ae Wedding Essentials Workshop
On 20 October, MyList.ae and The White Company hosted an informative workshop for engaged couples in Dubai. The special guest of the evening was Amy Jarczynski, a travel blogger and consultant for The Knot. Amy proved quite a treat for the couples in attendance with her extensive international knowledge and advice (below are some images taken by Daniella Baptista).
In addition to Amy, along with other speakers, I was invited to talk about the local wedding market, offering tips on avoiding wedding disasters (note: it rained on my wedding day – always have a plan B!) and talking about my experience as a real bride in Dubai who used Mylist.ae as our official wedding gift registry.
I LOVE MyList.ae! Why? Well, aside from using them for my own wedding, Founder, Julie, is hands-on, passionate about what she does, and genuinely cares for her clients and partners. We are delighted to welcome Mylist.ae onboard Bride Club ME for another year and we will be bringing you lots more from Julie and Mylist.ae soon. Oh, and if you haven’t sorted yourself out with a wedding gift registry yet, get cracking at www.mylist.ae.
A Very Pretty Baby Shower At The Address Montgomerie
Now this one isn’t exactly wedding related, but I just had to throw it into the mix. The event was just too pretty not to. One of my best buddies, Darine, founder of Mother Baby & Child magazine, is about to give birth to her second child and did not have a baby shower for her firstborn. So three of her closest friends and her beloved sister Hana took the reins and made it our mission to ensure she would have a baby shower to remember.
I called upon the help and creative talents of some of my wedding industry buddies (Creative Box, Maha Ibrahim, Lovely Styling, Nifty Little Things and reMADE DXB), in order to create a day Darine would never forget. It turned out beautifully and the venue, The Address Montgomerie, was amazing to work with. Above are a few images from the day, taken by Enchanté Studios.
Launch of Water’s Edge at the Arabian Ranches Golf Club
A few days ago, I was invited by the Arabian Ranches Golf Club to attend the official launch of their outdoor venue space, Water’s Edge. The relaxed event was held in the evening, which was perfect as the weather is now starting to cool down. Guests were greeted with glasses of bubbly, delicious canapés and funky tunes being played by a live DJ.
The venue space looked gorgeous, lit up with LED furniture and featuring pretty gazebos with flowing white drapes. Scattered candle lanterns added to the ambience. I’m always so excited when I visit a new outdoor venue and this, my dear brides, is a lovely potential wedding venue. More about the Arabian Ranches Golf Club and Water’s Edge coming soon!
Breast Cancer Awareness Month – Aghareed
Wedding concierge company Aghareed contributed to October’s breast cancer awareness campaign by paying special honour to a survivor of the disease. Aghareed recently announced the winner of its luxury Pink Package, a special, tailor-made pampering service the UAE-based bespoke wedding concierge company was offering to a woman who had battled the condition.
Here at Bride Club ME, we were happy to support this initiative. My Aunty was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago and it knocked us for six, so it’s something I am personally aware of and passionate about supporting.
Aileen Ante was named as the lucky winner of the package. The Philippines national was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2013 and fought the condition until she was given the all-clear earlier this year. Her full day of indulgence commenced with a massage, followed by a beauty treatment and professional hair styling at De La Mer Day Spa. She was then driven to Enchanté Studios for a tea party and a photo shoot to capture her glamorous makeover.
Featured In The National
A few weeks ago, a photographer from The National newspaper arrived at my apartment, ready to pap me for their ‘Day in the Life’ feature. The article was basically me running through an average day at www.brideclubme.com. I was very honest, warts and all, and was super shocked to see a huge one-page feature in print.
Image: By The National
I’m usually the one interviewing people, not the other way round! But I really do appreciate all the support The National has given Bride Club ME since its launch. Thanks guys! You can read the full feature here.
The Best of this Month’s BCME Features
It’s a fast-paced life living in Dubai and, while we are sure many of you regularly log on to Bride Club ME every month, in this section I will highlight my personal favourite posts, just in case you missed any.
♡ Tips on avoiding wedding disasters: This is an important one brides! I’ve been helping a few distressed couples this month with their wedding mishaps, so please do take a look.
♡ Gothic Romance – A Bride Club ME styled shoot: I adored working on this shoot, and it’s very different from any of the styled shoots we’ve featured before.
♡ Introducing eventsmania: Looking for a wedding planner? We recently met with the most adorable husband and wife business duo Sally and Zaid, founders of eventsmania. If their stylish office is anything to go by, the weddings they produce will be spectacular.
♡ A sand unity ceremony + a yacht reception = A beautiful wedding in Dubai: I’m in love with this bride’s princess-cut gown and ruby-red bridesmaids’ dresses. Oh, and the yacht isn’t too bad either. Check out our latest real wedding, photographed by JvR Photography.
♡ Save 15% off your wedding photography with Goldfish Photography and video: Who doesn’t love a promotion? A must-see for all brides searching for a wedding photographer in the UAE.
♡ Wedding Colour Scheme pick of the month – Boho Indigo and Pink: Boho indigo and pink – one of my favourite colour mood boards to date.
I’ll be back at the beginning of December to give you more behind-the-scenes gossip from Bride Club ME. In the meantime, I wish you all the best on your wedding planning journey.
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