Meet & Greet: Jamie, owner of Las Vegas

Jamie in LulaKate, Christy dress at Bella Grand Opening

In “Sin City", where Elvis themed nuptials, outrageous bachelor & bachelorette parties, along with endless bright lights seem to encompass everyday life, Jamie Johnson introduced Las Vegas to the world of fabulous bridesmaid dresses. Jamie opened the doors of Bella Bridesmaid in March of 2009 and has since come away with some fun memories! While keeping up with the Vegas pace and wearing her signature cowboy boots along the way, Jamie has kept on her toes! We asked Jamie to take a break to answer a few questions for us…


BB: What were you doing before becoming a Bella Bridesmaid owner?

Jamie wearing Amsale, her sister in Swoon

J: Prior to opening Bella I opened the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas in April 2005. I started out as an Assistant Wedding Consultant learning the world of weddings, etiquette, and design. I was then the Manager of the Wedding Salons from the Fall of 2005-February of 2009. Working in such a luxurious environment and having amazing management training truly allowed for me to better understand running a business.

BB: Why did you want to become part of the Bella franchise?

J: I knew I wanted to stay in the world of weddings but needed a change. I was in a wedding for a dear friend on 7/7/7 and we purchased our dresses from the Bella in San Francisco. I had a great experience and when I was searching for what my next move would be Bella Bridesmaid came up in conversation. From that minute on I could not stop thinking about opening a Bella here in Vegas, you could say I became obsessed. In talking with franchise owner, Bridget Brown and the other owners I knew it was a great fit for me, a lot of work, but also very rewarding. A year later we opened our doors and it has been an amazing adventure.

BB: What is the most memorable moment so far in your boutique?

J: There are too many to list... but I remember my first bride she emailed me every week to see if we were open yet and was so eager to see our boutique and what we had to offer. I contacted her when the doors opened and set up the appointment. She was the nicest and most organized bride. We had so much fun selecting her dresses, and remain in contact to this day. When she left the boutique I felt such a sense of accomplishment and joy all the hard work the year of pre-opening had paid off and the result was positive and a blast!

BB: What are your favorite bridesmaid dresses that are hanging in your personal closet?

Jamie in TwoBirds Mini Rosette

J: I have a million LulaKate Christy's they are my absolute favorite. I am also obsessed with Amsale Chiffon I have G425C and G462C they are light and comfortable for this Vegas heat. I get a ton of use out of my TwoBirds dresses- my favorite is the mini rosette but it is a little too mini now that I am pregnant.

BB: Tell us about a favorite recent bride that has an interesting story/wedding

J: My baby sister is getting married so I am now Maid of Honor, Wedding Planner, and in charge of her bridesmaids apparel. It is such a great experience planning something so monumental with her and seeing the wedding through her eyes (but with my vision as well). I often work with the best vendors in town for all of our weddings but it is exciting to be on the other side again and help her wedding day dreams come true.





BB: What is your fave celebrity wedding dress?

Image by Thomas Rabsch/Wire Image via Style News 

J: Gwen Stefani’s Christian Dior, I loved the pink ombre on her dress, and I also loved Jessica Simpson's dress by Vera Wang when she married Nick Lachey.


BB: What is your go to dress for a busy Saturday in the shop?

J: Right now I am eagerly awaiting some new frocks from Carol Hannah in Jersey. Since I am pregnant my closet of Bella dresses are not fitting but prior to the baby bump I rocked a Christy all the time almost every Saturday. I also love my Simple Silhouettes Aster. I wear my cowboy boots on the weekends they are the only shoe that is comfy all day when you are on your feet.




BB: What is the best wedding trend you've seen recently?

Jamie pictured with her sister (in TwoBirds) and mom (in Alfred Sung)

J: I am really into the mix and match of designers with the use of the same fabric. I recently had a bride do pink chiffon and had dresses from Amsale, Jenny Yoo, Jim Hjelm, Dessy, and Lela Rose. She had a great eye and sense of style. I also love the incorporation of the Junior Bridesmaid that is a young teenager (12-14) she is so excited to participate, wants to look older but still feels self conscious in anything too revealing or mature she is a fun customer to dress.


Thanks so much Jamie!

Our Interview with Ariane of TwoBirds

We used to think that a dress is limited to one look (ok, maybe you can throw a cardigan over it, or pair it with flats instead of heels) until Ariane Goldman turned our world upside down! Ariane, the founder and creator of twobirds, designed a phenomenal dress that comes in two sizes, four different lengths, 20 colors and over 15 ways to wrap! It's the ultimate dress for women of all shapes and sizes. As a bride, you can give your maids a choice in whether they would like to tie their dress in a Grecian twist, one shoulder, or even wear the fabulous frock as a strapless gown. Ariane has graciously given us some of her time so we could hear how she developed such an amazing dress and to learn a little more about this talented woman!

BB: What do you think has been the most important factor in the success of your business?

A: I believe in designing a product that women of all shapes and sizes can relate to. The fact that twobirds dresses can be wrapped to flatter various sizes and shaped women is a key attribute... it seems to make sense for women everywhere.

BB: When designing for women, specifically bridesmaids, what are your inspirations?

A: I always think comfort is the greatest inspiration so draping and flowing silhouettes inspire me.

BB: How did you come up with the amazing idea for the twobirds signature dress?

A: As I was planning my wedding four years ago I was shocked to find that there was nothing out there for my bridesmaids to wear that made them feel beautiful and that they could wear again. I had a vintage Norma Kamali dress that wrapped various ways and it dawned on me that that's what I wanted my bridesmaids to have, similar shape and fabric but different styles as they all had different body types. I bought fabric and started working with a draper and the twobirds dress was born! The reaction at the wedding was so strong I quit my corporate job and started twobirds bridesmaid three months later.

BB: Where do you see the future of the dress evolving?

A: Since the dress is really so versatile I don't want to change the essence of the dress but would love to evolve the fabrics and adornments. We've recently added rosettes to the collection and they are a hit for the maid of honor to stand out a bit, or the entire bridal party so I think I'm going to look to more trimmings. We're also going to launch a chiffon collection too. The dress will be chiffon on the bottom, which flows amazingly and adds such elegance.



BB: Was there a specific event or person in your life that led you to begin designing bridesmaid dresses?

A: My wedding and the desperate search for my own bridesmaids!


BB: What high school trend are you embarrassed to admit you followed?

A: Z Cavaricci pleated pants. I wore them in EVERY color!





BB: If you weren't a designer, what career path would you have chosen?

A: Well since I was on Wall Street for 8 years before I changed paths, I've been able to make that decision once which has been SO rewarding. If I did it again perhaps an interior designer as I love to scour flea markets and to create spaces for every occasion!

BB: What's your favorite dress in your collection?

A: The twobirds ball gown length with the rosette bottom, I feel like a princess in it!

BB: Any hints to what is in store for this Fall?

A: Chiffon and Ombre.

BB: Advice for certain styles for different body shapes?

A: I think strapless is great for busty as is sleeves so you can wear a bra. The one shoulder is wonderful for larger women as the asymmetry draws attention and attracts the eye.


BB: What's in your purse?

A: My wallet, sunglasses, Carmex, travel size “Issey Miyake” perfume, picture book of my 8-month daughter Charlie, Altoids, and keys!


                                                                                   Thank you Ariane!

Meet & Greet: Christa, owner of Orlando Bella Bridesmaid

We love, love, love our Bella girls! That’s why we couldn’t wait to chitchat with Christa Edgar of the Orlando Bella Bridesmaid. Christa eagerly joined the Bella team in January 2010, while we happily accepted her with open arms. We were itching to know a little more about Christa, so she eased our curiosity by revealing some of her experiences before and after she became a fabulous Bella gal!








BB: What were you doing before becoming a Bella Bridesmaid owner?

C: I worked at Delta Airlines from 1998 - 2007 as a flight attendant for 2 years and then as a Learning Facilitator in Flight Attendant Training for 7 years in Atlanta, GA.

Allison and Christa

BB: Why did you want to become part of the Bella franchise?

C: I saw how great of an opportunity it would be to own a Bella franchise after seeing my friend, Allison Long (co-owner of Charleston and Jacksonville), in love with owning and operating her stores. She inspired and encouraged me to move forward with the opportunity to be able to open my own Bella boutique. Even though I had to leave my hometown of Atlanta for the first time in my life, I knew this was an opportunity I could not pass up to open the boutique in Orlando!

BB: What is the most memorable moment so far in your boutique?

C: A mother and daughter were in my store to see the Saja wedding gowns. When the daughter put on one gown in particular, tears came to her eyes as well as her mom's and saw a moment between the two of them that was very special. It is not often that I get to experience the
"wedding gown moment", so this was memorable.

Christa attending a wedding in Charleston

BB: What are your favorite bridesmaid dresses that are hanging in your personal closet?


C: Out of eight weddings that I have been in as a bridesmaid, I only have 1 in my closet because most of them were so long ago I do not have them any longer. The one I do have is the LulaKate "Christy" I wore for a best friend's wedding in October 2010 in Charleston.

Image by Getty Images via Real Simple

BB: What is your fave celebrity wedding dress?

C: I loved Jenna Bush's Oscar de la Renta wedding gown!




BB: What's your go to dress for a busy Saturday in the shop?

C: Any Amsale chiffon or LulaKate silk shantung.

Christa (far right) with owners of NYC, NJ, Atlanta, Jacksonville and Charleston

BB: What is the best wedding trend you've seen recently?

C: The mix and match of complimentary colors in different styles but from the same designer!


Thanks so much Christa!





                                                                                                  

Our Interview with Amy of Swoon

It is not difficult to fall for Amy Wong Micucci’s gorgeous line of bridesmaid dresses. We here at Bella have been under a Swoon love spell since being introduced to Amy’s creation of modern dresses. Her visions of fabulous destinations in mind… the Hamptons, beautiful Barbados and Florence are just some places that have inspired her flawless and flattering frocks. We got the opportunity chat with Amy and get to know her a little more...

BB: What do you think has been the most important factor in the success of your business?

A: I've learned throughout my career that you're only as good as the people you surround yourself with, so I would say that the most important factor in the success of my business has been the partnerships I've formed - in retail (LOVE those Bella ladies!), in production, product development, marketing, etc…

BB: When designing for women, specifically bridesmaids, what are your inspirations?

A: As you can tell by the names of the dresses in my line, a lot of my inspiration from the places I've traveled to (or hope to travel to!). The idea of "vacation" also inspires me quite a bit - everyone feels a little more relaxed & beautiful when they're away on holiday and that's how I want women to feel when they wear my dresses. I hate the idea of anything constricting or overly fussy.



BB: Was there a specific event or person in your life that led you to begin designing bridesmaid dresses?

A: Yes - I was over at my best friend's house and she showed me a closet that literally looked like Katherine Heigl’s in the movie “27 Dresses” with dozens of bridesmaids dresses that she only wore once… but felt too guilty to get rid of. We started talking about creating a bridesmaid line that was influenced by contemporary fashion with dresses that girls would actually want to wear post-wedding and Swoon was born!

BB: If you could give any famous woman (current or historical) a makeover, who would it be and how would you style them?

A: Not sure about a make-over, but there are plenty of famous women that I'd love to make-under & I'd start with the "Real Housewives" on Bravo!

BB: What high school trend are you embarrassed to admit you followed?

A: Pegged jeans, scrunchies, floral print baby doll dresses with bike shorts underneath! Anything you see on a Beverly Hills 90210 re-runs, I probably wore it!

BB: If you weren't a designer, what career path would you have chosen?

A: If I wasn't designing, I would definitely still be doing something else in the fashion world... most likely continuing my former career in merchandising & buying. I honestly can't imagine being in any other industry.

BB: What would you change about your wedding, whether that is the dress, the decor, the venue, etc...?

A: I loved absolutely everything about my wedding,  so the only thing I would have done differently would have been to convince the owners of the property where my wedding was held to let us extend the celebration a few hours longer!

Thank you Amy!