Last night, one of NYC’s most beloved venues for Italian wine-filled concerts and performances, set itself apart with a different audience in mind: Brides-to-be. Wedding photographers, planners, editors, bloggers and media gathered at City Winery in SoHo for a glimpse at what this large, lodge-like space might feel like as a wedding reception hall. The result? Quite nice, and very out of the box. I took some photos last night, but thought it would be much more useful to show you these beautiful shots from Ruffledblog.com – Renee and John’s “Manhattan Winery Wedding.”

City Winery is one of the city’s most unique establishments: It’s a 21,000 square foot restaurant, bar and event space with a state-of-the-art sound system for their nightly live music performances. Additionally, it’s Manhattan’s first winery in 40 years, harvesting its own wine and barreling it in their on-site wine cellars. Members can even own barrels and make their own private label wines from vineyards all over the world. Wine tastings, seminars and winemaking classes set this venue apart as a cultural and educational experience center.

And – for the right wino couple – the perfect modern wedding venue.

For a seated reception, City Winery can hold from 75-185 guests, or for a more casual cocktail style reception they can hold up to 400. Cocktail hour for a seated reception takes place in Manhattan’s only fully-functioning winery (photo just below, via City Winery). Last night there were large boards of delicious cured meats and cheeses along with savory passed appetizers and fine desserts. For your wedding, Chef Andres Barrera will cater up a customized storm that most importantly, they’ll pair perfectly with selections from their 500-strong wine list.

So, if lots of fine wine, extraordinary sound quality and an industrial yet sophisticated space at a downtown NYC landmark sound like the makings of your dream wedding, I would highly recommend City Winery.

Now, here are some of those photos that I took last night:

Hi Ladies! It’s Sarah Jenks here from Monday’s Lose Weight By Accident column, and I wanted to invite you to a virtual private soiree I have coming up next week.
If you read my column, you know that I am all about spicing up your life as the fastest way to tighten your booty. If diets worked, we’d all be thin. At the Wine & Cheese Weight Loss party I’m going to show you how fun, romance, joie de vivre and of course – WINE! – is the only way to lose weight for your wedding and keep it off.

Your engagement is stressful enough, you don’t need a crazy diet to push you over the edge. Screw your diet, let’s party instead.

To get on the invite-only list, click here.

Sarah Jenks, founder of theBreathtakingBride.com, helps women fall in love with their bodies and lose weight through exploring the emotional reasons of why we eat. Sarah believes that you can talk about the benefits of broccoli until you are blue in the face, but real change won’t happen until we pull back the veil of fad diets and calorie counting to reveal the true cause of our over eating. Feeling lost about weight loss? Visit her website to download her free guide: “What to do if you feel fat, hopeless and ready to give up.”

Congratulations, you’re getting hitched in 2012! It’s hard enough finding balance in every day life, but now that you’re engaged you have a lot more to juggle. Most importantly: finding the right balance between your own personal style and what’s hot and current. This is especially true when it comes to your wedding dress. But don’t stress. Here’s the plan:

First, knead out those knots of stress with a wedding planning massage. (We insist!)

Then, narrow down the gazillion wedding dress options by knowing the top trends of the season, as told by The Knot.

Here’s a glimpse at what’s timeless yet modern – check out the top 10 wedding dress trends for 2012, according to theknot.com.

1. Sheer Lace Capes

Alfred Angelo

Last season it was all about long sleeves a la Kate Middleton, but the latest craze is gracefully draped capes. Try this trend for a modest, traditional look on your big day.

2. A Hint of Tint

Rivini

Peach, champagne, cotton candy, sorbet, lavender and mint – you’ve seen stars like Gwen Stefani and Portia de Rossi rock partially-tinted wedding dresses and brides like Kholé Kardashian and Reese Witherspoon add colorful accents to their gowns in the past, but this year the runway is totally dipped and dyed with a rainbow of feminine and romantic hues.  This trend is definitively not for the faint of heart.

3. Embellished Bodices

Anne Bowen

It’s all eyes on you with a glitzy bodice paired with a soft and simple skirt. This style option is great for pear figures who want to enhance their chest, cinch their waist and hide curvy hips.

4. Illusion Necklines

Ines Di Santo

According to The Knot, “Sheer bateau necklines continue to be all the rage on the bridal runways, and this season, crystal and pearl appliques give these see-through styles a more glamorous vibe.” This style is perfect for showing off toned shoulders, arms and back.

5. Hi-Low Hemlines

Oscar de la Renta

Often refereed to as a “mullet dress,” this style of gown is incredibly fashion-forward and edgy (and all business in the front, party in the back, ha!) ; perfect for a beach or outdoor wedding. Plus, the peekaboo hemline is the chicest way to show off amazing wedding shoes.

6. Romantic Ruffles

Pronovias

Use ruffles and ruching to your advantage! Fluffy fabric and cascading frills – when used properly – can accentuate or diminish curves where needed, in order to create a perfectly flattering shape for your individual body type. Plus, they will add the perfect amount of fairytale drama to your special day.

7. Cap Sleeves

Reem Aarca

By opting for a dress with cap sleeves, the eyes are drawn upwards towards the face, elongating your appearance and creating a flattering balance between the lower and upper halves of the body. Depending on the style, cap sleeves can also mask a bra stap, if you need the extra support.

8. Voluminous Ball Gowns

Maggie Sottero

For a traditional, princess-themed event, the bigger the ballgown skirt the better. This style is great if you’re a confident, all-eyes-on-me bride who wants to accentuate that tiny waist you worked for during your engagement. Show it off, girl!

9. Soaring Slits

Monique Lhuillier

Try this sexy trend if you are on the taller side and/or have great gams. Sky-high slits are great for adding drama to fashion-forward or old-Hollywood themed weddings. Want to try the trend but apprehensive about baring so much skin at the service? Save the slit for your reception dress and dance the night away with the freedom to shake a leg.

10. Cold Shoulders

Marchesa

Off-the-shoulder gowns can help you get the look of a strapless neckline and show off those collarbones without the awkwardness of always having to pull up your top. This style is perfect for larger busted brides.

Images via

We have all seen the viral video of the bride texting down the aisle (well, at least now you have). Classy stuff! But it’s not all bad… really.

We are using social media and tech gadgets in all facets of our lives from guiding us on the road to planning our busy social calendars. Another way technology is helping make our lives a little bit easier: planning what might be the most important day of your life, your wedding day. We aren’t advocating having your phone in hand while walking down the aisle… but going online just makes the headache of wedding planning and coordinating a little more manageable (you can only work so many miracles!). Did you know 1 in 5 couples now use a mobile app to help plan for the big day? A lot more organized than having a Filofax stuffed with Post-its and vendor cards. Brides going viral even made our top 11 moments of 2011 list!

Let’s take a look at how social media is reinventing the wedding game as we enter 2012:

A whopping 65% of couples create a site to manage RSVPs, stream video and keep guests in the loop. That is just one of the staggering statistics about how modern brides are incorporating social media into their big day.

Including out of town guests

Probably one of the greatest things about technology is the ability to connect with loved ones who are long distance. Sometimes we have friends or relatives who are unable to attend the big day. Programs, such as Skype, are helping change that. Now you can Skype in bridesmaids to the ceremony or live stream the big day for those unable to attend. About 10,000 weddings have been broadcast live from the site — Ustreamtv.com — over the last 12 months.

Facebook Page

How many of us liked the Royal Wedding Facebook page? Guilty! You don’t have to be Kate and William to create a Facebook Page for your wedding day. In fact, it is a lot easier than setting up a website. Odds are most of your guests are already on Facebook and Americans spend nearly 11 hours a month on the site so why not be where your guests are? There are tons of widgets and apps to allow for fun interaction on the page as well. They include a wedding day countdown, a map widget that displays the event venue’s locations, an RSVP widget, and we could go on and on. It can be the hub where you update guests on the planning, such as a cake tasting or posting a teaser picture of the centerpieces. They also make those who are unable attend feel part of the big day.

Going paperless

Nearly 1 in 5 couples go paperless for invitations or save-the-dates. Remember this awesome 90s rap music video invite? Going digital allows guests to easily add it to their online calendars. (I’d be lost without my Google Calendar!) You can add QR codes, which allow your guests to scan by phone and automatically be directed to your wedding page. Or you can also conduct the entire ceremony via your iPad with the sermon or the reading of the vows.

Interactive seating charts

Creating an online seating chart allows guests the opportunity to get to know each other before the big day. You can manage RSVPs, meal choices and hopefully prevent awkward conversations. There are many free sites to browse, such as Wedding Mapper.

Let your guests be the photographer

Your wedding photographer can only cover so much ground during the ceremony and reception. Let your guests get involved and share their own pictures. uSnap.us is a mobile app that your guests can download to view a slideshow of the event. They can submit their own pictures, which are then aggregated into one presentation for all your guests to enjoy.

Social media allows for brides and grooms to add personal touches to their ceremony in a way never thought possible. Embrace the opportunities but also remember to keep the phone tucked away while you enjoy your special moment down the aisle. We don’t want to see you on YouTube! Unless you’re these guys.

Image 1, 2, 3, 4

For what’s always one of the most memorable nights of the year, last night the Spa Week team had our annual company holiday dinner party! Our CEO Cheryl Reid always picks a famously delicious restaurant in the touristy midtown area so that we can marvel at the exalted Rockefeller Christmas Tree or some other must-see NYC holiday destination. This year we headed up to The Sea Grill inside Rockefeller Center, with a view right onto that most famous ice skating rink.

We enjoyed an evening filled with crab cakes (the kind with 95% crab!), steaks, decadent desserts and many refills on our bubbly, wine and key lime martinis. It was also an evening filled with girl talk, as we somehow got onto the topic of how the married folks among us got proposed to.

Without naming names, I will tell you what we learned about three our fellow ring-wearing Spa Week colleagues:

PROPOSAL #1: One of us got proposed to on a romantic horse-drawn carriage in New York’s Central Park. But the only problem – this girl happens to be a crime show junkie and kept pointing out the parts of the park where people got raped and murdered. As the ride was coming to an end, her now-hubby finally interjected: Can you PLEASE stop talking about death, I’m trying to propose to you!

PROPOSAL #2: One of us was watching an awards show, gushing over the gorgeous dresses. While sitting on the couch, she saw her boyfriend trying to get her attention out of the corner of her eye. She ignored him (why is he being so weird?) and continued to comment about how stunning one particular celebrity on the red carpet was. Turns out, he was trying to show her that he was holding an engagement ring.

PROPOSAL #3: One of us had been dating her boyfriend for a while, and they suddenly felt it was time they finally make things official. With no formal proposal, the two secretly escaped to Canada… and eloped! And lived happily ever after.

And in the middle of this juicy conversation, we turned to the ice rink and saw PROPOSAL #4… everyone crowded around the middle of the rink – someone was getting proposed to right then and there! And it happened again for ANOTHER couple (PROPOSAL #5?) during dessert too. Now that’s what I call getting ICE!

Even with a dinner table of mostly single women who just work together, it was the most romantic evening we could have hoped for in a holiday party. Check out some pictures from our love-struck evening.

And those 95%-crab crab cakes... YUM.