Wisconsin Fashion Week

Laura and I are pleased to announce that Premiere Couture is participating in Wisconsin Fashion Week during Style Disctrict on Saturday, May 23, 2009 at the Overture Center with our party dresses on sale all day in our booth and our fashions showcased during the Premium Womenswear Runway Show at 8:30pm. We're excited to be a part of this ground breaking event!

From WFW's website:

Wisconsin Fashion Week, formerly Madison Fashion Week, is a week-long series of fashion-focused functions events running this year from May 19-23, 2009. The events include:

* workshops for both fans and industry professionals;
* runway shows featuring menswear, womenswear and emerging designers;
* shopping experiences; and
* parties.

WFW strives to connect Wisconsin’s fashion fans, designers, retailers, as well as beauty representatives by collaborating in a high-profile event that features the fashion culture that Wisconsin is embracing.

The first Fashion Week was held in 2008, independently produced by Moe Publicity. It started as an example of exploring ways to eliminate barriers toward making fashion accessible to all women. In 2009, a Fashion Council was created to help provide growth and direction for Fashion Week. The positive local and national feedback garnered in 2008 reinforced the desire to continue as an annual event that would broaden in scope to fill a fashion void in the Upper Midwest community.

Laura and I will fill in you in more details, especially those specific to Premiere Couture, in the coming days. We hope to see you there!

Congratulations Julie and Kevin!

I'm going to have to work on developing a better vocabulary. "Smart" and "beautiful" continually pop up when I am describing the women that Laura and I are privileged enough to count among our clients and Julie is no exception. At least with the beautiful part there is no doubt of my accuracy as hers, both outer and inner, shines through. And the Krakora's photography is so spot on that I think the smart part even comes through. Check out a slideshow of their wedding here.

Julie, to you we offer our sincerest congratulations and wish to express to you again how wonderful it was to work with you, your sister Katie (I love the picture of you winking at your sister during the ceremony! So perfect!) and all those in your party that we had the pleasure of meeting. Congratulations and thank you!




**Thank you Heather for allowing me to share these photos of which even more can be seen on the Krakoras blog.

Happy Birthday Howard!

Yesterday was Mother's Day and it's always a great day to share with your mom how much she means to you and if you're a mom to be told you are special, but yesterday was more than that for me. Yesterday was my Grandpa Johnson's 100th birthday. This is a milestone more and more people are meeting, but this was a first for our family. Over the past six months I have been helping my grandpa more and in this time asking him to share stories with me. It's sad that I just thought of asking him for these stories, but I'm so glad I did and I'm so glad he's able to remember!

My Grandpa, Howard Johnson, was born in Sparta, WI just down the road from his future wife, Florence. He lost his mother when he was seven and finished school after the eighth grade. He worked several jobs in the Sparta aread, but moved to Janesville, WI when he was 18 because there were better jobs in Janesville and several of his friends and relatives had already moved there. Florence followed soon after and they were married after a short time. Howard and his older brother, Harry, got jobs at General Motors and were part of the sit down strike in 1937. He had already been at GM for 10 years. After 20 years at GM he left to buy a dairy farm. He and Florence loved the work of the farm. They truly worked together as farmers, with Florence handling the finances and Howard working the land and caring for the animals (although he will give her credit in helping with everything).

After 30 years of farming they decided to retire and buy a small home only a few miles from their farm. I believe this was so they could keep an eye on the new owners. Even today my grandpa drives by every week wondering what's going to become of his old farm. Howard and Florence had three children who gave them 8 grandchildren and countless great-grandchildren and even some great-great grandchildren. In retirement Howard and Florence traveled the country in their motor home seeing all but two states and visiting countless relatives and friends. They even occasionally took along their grandchildren:)!

My Grandpa lost the love of his life seven years ago after a long battle with Alzheimer's. They were married for 72 years! Grandma lived for years in a nursing home with Grandpa at her side nearly every day. Even in her confusion his love made her happy and being with her made him happy. Seeing their dedication to each other through such tough times has shown me what being married is really about.

Today my grandpa still lives in that small home out in the country. He is visited daily by friends and family. He still drives. His drivers license is good till he's 108. He cares for himself, but always loves when someone sends over a home cooked meal. He still shops at grandma's favorite store, Woodman's and follows his Cubs on the radio waiting for a World Series win. Yesterday my family joined him at church and I was blessed to see the love his church has for him. This is yet another reminder to me to be a part of a congregation that shows its love for each other like his does.

I hope you too have someone to look up to and remind you of what's important. Go today and find a parent, aunt, uncle, grandparent and have them share with you about "the good old days." Write down these stories and share them with the next generation!

Laura

Last Chance Harvey and a farewell

We're a little late at announcing our Celebrate Cinema Movie of the Month for May but better late than never!. Last Chance Harvey probably escaped the attention of most of you earlier this year, but it was a satisfying little flick with believable characters that were well acted, excellent dialogue, a beautiful bride, an amazingly touching toast and most important to this month's special, some last minute shopping for a dress to wear to a wedding! In honor of all you faithful and true friends and family attending weddings this year we offer you 10% off of our ever-growing and spectacular collection of party dresses. Not attending a wedding? No problem! Our party dresses are also perfect for honeymoons, summer outings or just looking pretty. And whatever your reason, you get 10% off during the Last Chance Harvey month!



Farewell Kristen!
Laura and I knew this day would come. It's time to say goodbye to Kristen as she graduates from college and pursues her life's dreams out in the real world. Kristen, it's been a pleasure to know you and work with you. We wish you the very best and can't wait to see your future successes. As a fitting homage to Kristen as well as this month's theme, here are a few of my favorite images of Kristen as she helped us and our customers better visualize our fashions - from the party dresses to bridal gowns. Thank you Kristen!

Accessories galore and more

So Laura told me the other day that Premiere Couture was once again nominated for Best Accessories by the readers of Wisconsin Bride. Well, I guess we can't keep our affection for accessories to ourselves! We've just refreshed our costume jewelry collection - especially for you last minute prom shoppers - and added some fantastic new footwear. The best accessory yet? A perfect dress or two or three for your honeymoon! Also, we have some handy new little stickies to help you look your best in those v-neck, backless or strapless numbers, but you'll have to come in to see them for yourself.

Can anyone say "Spring Gala?"

We just received new dresses from Max Studio, also new to Premiere Couture, and they are just calling out to go to the Spring Gala or a party or a wedding or a honeymoon or just out! Teal silk chiffon, burn-out silk and jersey print make up our newest designs. They're easy to wear, easy on the eyes and and easy on the pocket book - a dress shopping trifecta! Of course, you probably recognize some of the dresses in the snapshot from previous posts but they looked so great with our new arrivals that I just couldn't resist! And the little black dress in the center with the feathery hem is one of our new one-of-a-kind designs that's just waiting for that gal with just enough sass to pull it off! Could it be you?!

Premiere Couture and Facebook

So, after years of creating and administering our own website and over a year of blogging I thought it was time to give the Facebook thing a go. I've personally been a part of the Facebook nation for several months but I'm still quite a novice so I approach this with a bit of trepidation. I've been asking each of our amazing customers - bridal, prom, party and otherwise - to remember to send us a pic from their event so that I can include them on our website and more than one has asked me if they could just Facebook me so here we go!

Movies of the Month: Princess Diaries

As you know, our Celebrate Cinema movie of the month is actually two movies: The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. Laura and I wanted April to be all about headpieces and veils and we couldn't think of better tiara movies than these! While Anne Hathaway sports some amazing sparkle in both movies, we know you're a bit more subdued so instead we offer fun, tasteful and elegant designs from Sara Gabriel and Christina Garcia.

Question of the week: What is your favorite movie with a great tiara, headpiece or veil? Post a comment with your answer and Laura and I will choose a winner of a $50 gift certificate toward the headpiece or veil of your choice.

Also, this month's special is the most valuable one yet! When you order your bridal gown during The Princess Diaries month you will receive a gift certificate worth 20% (10% for each movie!) toward your headpiece and/or veil! For example, if you order a Nicole Miller bridal gown for $595, you will receive a gift certificate for $119 toward your veil and/or headpiece. If you order a Premiere Couture gown for $1350 you'll receive a gift certificate for $270, an Amy Kuschel for $2900, you'll receive a gift certificate for $580 - I'm sure you get the picture and the picture is sweet! (In fact, I'm sure I heard a "Shut up!" out there.) It's the perfect time to order your gown and spoil yourself with amazing accessories for your hair but times up on April 30 so don't delay!

New Arrivals

Our beautiful friend and model Erin Nycz stopped by so that we could show you some of our new arrivals! Featured in the slide show and stills are party dresses plus new designs from Nicole Miller and Lynn Lugo. We're expecting fresh designs to contiue arriving for the next couple of months. You'll find something for every occasion from a little black dress ideal for summer parties to a swingy little knit number perfect to keep in your bag to go from the beach to dinner out while on your honeymoon or vacation. They're already getting snapped up so stop in soon!









Spring 2009

Spring has finally sprung!

We have so many great things going on! Sara Gabriel is here with her fresh and clever designs which are all 10% off Friday and Saturday (20% off for Premiere Couture Brides) and her delightful new assistant Ashley. Plus we have received brand new party dresses in fantastic spring colors - so much fun - and they're all steals at just $68 to $84! Also, you'll love our new arrivals from Nicole Miller! Easy to wear and so fashionable bridesmaid dresses and incredible bridal gowns. With so much to see you'll want to visit us this weekend!