Latest Fashion Show: Spring 2012 Bridal Season

This past Sunday was the first show of the Spring 2012 Bridal Season for the production company I've been working with for the past 2 years, Brocade Weddings. As always, there was a lot of changes as far as casting decisions, designer choices, etc.

I helped the model coordinator with casting new faces for the season, which took place about a month ago so I was eager to see who ended up making the cut (I wasn't a part of the selection process...my role was to take the models in small groups, introduce myself and explain what the bridal shows were all about. Then I demonstrated the type of "walk" the casting panel wanted to see, so that the models would know exactly what to expect when they went into the room to audition).

This season, the designer wanted to include more plus size brides (her boutique specializes in plus size fashions), so we had a really great mix of all heights, shapes, sizes, ages and ethnicities. After all, we're marketing the clothes to "real" people and that's what I love about doing these shows in particular.

So fast forward to this past Sunday: the first show of the season took place at one of The Marriott locations in the South Bay Area (that's in Northern California for those of you that aren't from California). Out of the group, there were about 5 female models that were returning from previous seasons and the rest were newbies. Luckily, we managed to keep the majority of our male models from last season but had two new additions to the group (who we welcomed with open arms into our family, btw).

As per the routine, everyone got into the lines for hair and makeup, followed by doing a rehearsal on stage. Then it was back to finish up hair and makeup, as well as check our wardrobe to make sure all of our dresses were there (fittings took place about 2 weeks before the actual show). Unfortunately, my favorite dress out of the bunch wasn't there because it ended up getting sold...I was SO sad because I was really planning to rock that dress on the stage, lol. But I got a replacement so I wasn't short a dress. Below are some fun flicks from the event:

This is during the "Vogue" scene, where the models come out one by one but remain on stage and strike a new pose each time someone else comes out. I'm always the last model, who comes in acting like a total diva. I strut my stuff and then yell out, "Ladies!!! 1, 2, 3, Vogue!" And then they all pose one last time...I wink at the audience, then lead them off stage. This dress was a huge hit with the crowd...I can't even tell you what an adrenaline rush it was to feed off of the crowd's energy during this scene. I got so many compliments about the dress that I was told to wear it again in the second show for this scene--I was originally supposed to wear something else, lol.

Me and one of my fave models to work with, Jennifer. We totally didn't plan to both have a black and white outfit for the finale scene...guess it was meant to be!

Walking out with one of our flower girl models/newbie, Beyonce (yes, that is her name). She was really shy at first but she did her thing!

Part of the opening scene...it was my first time being paired with Les, who is one of the male models from the previous seasons. He's such a doll.

That's right, we dance down the runway for the scene right before the finale. It's nice to let loose on stage!

Showing off a "destination" style wedding dress during the third scene.

The turnout was really great...the place was packed and the first show went well...although the last scene for the finale got a bit bungled because we weren't able to do a full rehearsal of that scene (we got kicked off the stage because the bridal fair was opening the doors to the guests and it would have been tacky for us to be on stage at the same time).

The newbies weren't familiar with the choreography that the rest of us were used to doing, so it didn't go over too well. But the feedback from the crowd was still positive. Many people said they could tell something wasn't right but it didn't make them think negatively about the show's performance overall. To make sure that same thing didn't happen at the end of the second show, the model coordinator ended up having rehearsal for that scene backstage in the hallway near our changing rooms. Thankfully, everyone nailed it during the second show.

Aside from that snafu (and a few wardrobe malfunctions), I was very proud of our new models. Not all the people chosen from the casting were at this first show because we can't use everybody all at the same time, so I'm looking forward to meeting the rest of the new additions at the other shows coming up.

As always, I enjoy participating in the bridal shows and was happy to find out that I will be the finale bride for the next show in late February. I'll be reunited with my partner/groom from last season, Sam, and I can't wait...we totally rock on stage together and he is so much fun to play off of.