Priscilla of Boston • A New Bridal Salon at Santana Row

This store will be closing December 31, 2011

Recently Santana Row welcomed the Priscilla of Boston Bridal Salon to their new San Jose location. Crystal Lequang of Amazáe Special Events successfully created another lush and stunning showcase! Yes, that's the same Crystal who (along with Nicole Ha) designs the Una Bella Sera showcase each year.

Click on any photos to view enlargements.

A live model poses in the front display window at the Priscila of Boston Bridal Salon in Santana Row, Santa Clara, CA.

I felt very fortunate to have been invited to experience the new salon.

At street level the salon appears to be a small and cozy space tucked between Anthropologie and Anteo Home. Just inside you'll spot a welcome desk, a flat screen tv running a video of beautiful wedding gowns, sparkling crystal chandeliers, an elevator and a flight of stairs. That's it. No racks of gowns.

When I got to the top of the staircase was when I said "WOW!"

The upstairs space was huge!

I'd imagined the upstairs would be only slightly larger than the downstairs but it actually spans over the top of the entire Anthropologie store! There were so many wedding gowns, rooms and nooks I was quite shocked!

Lines included the Platinum and Jewel Vineyard Collections by Priscilla of Boston, and the Reverie Collection by Melissa Sweet.

The lace, beadwork and embellishments on some of the gowns were exquisite! The beaded bodices in particular were so pretty I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you along with one lace bodice that caught my eye because it was so clean and simple yet delicate.

This was my favorite gown. Of course I could never wear this gown because I'm waaaaaaaaaay too short. But if you're 5'8" or taller, it would probably look incredible on you!

There were also accessories of all types: Bridal Jewelry, hair ornaments, veils and cute and sassy wedding shoes.

Another room held two displays of bridesmaids gowns (that's one pictured above) and flower and some adorable flower girl dresses.

The appetizers were from LB Steak in Santana Row. I loved the cheese and fresh apricot platter and made several visits back for more :) Also my thanks to the Vintage Wine Bar, which has not one but two locations in Santana Row, for the complimentary Pellegrino I enjoyed that evening.

This room was so beautiful! The elegant draping, plush blue velvet furniture and beautiful wedding flowers, both topiaries and cascading centerpieces, of peonies, roses and green hydrangea by Nicole Ha adorned the table top.

This photo doesn't begin to do justice to Nicole's romantic, cascading centerpiece.

The upper photo is the viewing room where brides can step in front of the huge mirror to see the gown they're trying on. Menu card by: Marizette Paperie, bridal bouquet by: Nicole Ha Designs.

It was Crystal's idea to drop fresh peonies on and into the crystal chandelier. What a unique wedding idea! Such a simple idea but I'd never seen it done before.

Crystal Lequang of Amazáe Special Events and Rekha Sachania of My Event Designer. Both are ACPWC Professional Wedding/Event Consultants.

Nicole Ha of Nicole Ha Designs and Jen Kwapinski of Jen's Cakes

Armando Sarabia of Get Your Do Up and I having a great time!

Maria Chang's of PMA styled the models that evening. Here Maria plays photographer catching a snapshot of Priscilla of Boston's San Jose store managers: Krista Neighbours, Salon Manager and Emily Wurtz, Assistant Salon Manager.

Years ago when I first began working in the bridal industry the South Bay had two exceptional couture designers who used to make custom gowns to order. Both have since retired and moved on to other endeavors and options had waned over the years as more of the other small salons had closed. But now there seems to be a resurgence of gowns with the opening of several boutiques in the Greater San Jose area that rival some of them gowns that before, were only offered up the Peninsula and in San Francisco.

And a party isn't a party without fantastic desserts! Jen Kwapinski of Jen's Cakes didn't disappoint with this lavish display of mini-cupcakes, cream puffs and white chocolate raspeberry bars that she continually replenished throughout the evening. Best of all there were two chairs on either side of the display so you could just sit there and eat her treats, one after the other. LOL

Armando enjoying a cream puff.

Hey! Armando what's in the bag?

HA! An impromptu "to-go" bag of Jen's goodies!

For South Bay brides a trip to Santana Row should be on your list of salons to visit when selecting your wedding gown. The salon is so beautiful inside and Armando and I spent the latter part of the evening chatting with some of the women who work there. They were all so nice and fun!

My thanks again to Crystal for the invitation. It was a really fun evening!

I think you'll have a great experience if you go and Santana Row has many great restaurants so you can make a girl's day of it and go grab a bite to eat after at The Left Bank, or Pizza Antiqa or The Counter (a burger bar)...