iDO Sept 12/letter

Full disclosure: The photos from this issue's bridal gown shoot blew me away. In my opinion, they're the best we've had in iDO. A perfect illustration of what happens when the right models, the right dresses and the right location come together.

And the location? It wasn't part of our plan. You see, we've been planning and dreaming about this shoot for months. We had a vision of fairytale dresses. And we found the perfect location -- only due to circumstances beyond our control, it wasn't available for us this time around.

So, we began looking for somewhere else. But when your heart has been set on one thing, it's hard to find a replacement that will measure up. Turns out the Glenn House, where we shot the photos on a pleasantly cool August evening, was all we could've hoped for. The setting provided an Old South elegance and charm that perfectly suited our modern-day princesses.

Coming up with the vision for these photo shoots is easy. Making them a reality is much harder and requires a lot of help from people who deserve more credit than they get. I'm using this space to rectify that.

First, local bridal store owners have been very generous and gracious to us. We tell them a theme and ask to take their merchandise out of the store. They entrust us with dresses, veils, headpieces, jewelry -- just about anything we ask for. And, let's face it, we can come up with as many ideas as we want, but they're all for naught without bridal dresses.

We've also gotten lots of help from local salons and makeup artists. Each shoot is different, but this time Joleta Ludwig did the makeup and Tabitha Parrott from Belladona Salon & Spa handled the hair. Both women came to our location and stuck around through various wardrobe changes. Tabitha changed the models' hair to suit each dress and Joleta touched up their makeup -- she even let us use her earrings for one of the models!

Speaking of the models, we couldn't have asked for anyone better than Ashley Bess and Bethany McNeely-Graves. They dedicated their Friday night to us. And while it looks glamorous, in actuality, they spent a lot of time standing around in wedding dresses, while women they barely knew held their skirts up off the ground. But when the camera went up, both women were absolutely stunning and far exceeded what we envisioned.

I hope you enjoy this issue of iDO as much as we enjoyed creating it. In addition to the dresses, we've got stories on alternatives to traditional bouquets, the most stylish bridal accessories and, in keeping with our princess theme, how last year's royal wedding has influenced bridal trends.

Happy reading,

Heather Collier

editor