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Fashion follows Hollywood. When Lindsay Lohan started trotting around Tinseltown in leggings, suddenly everyone started copying this style, much to the dismay of everyone's favorite fashion critics, and retailers across America struggled to keep an adequate spandex stock. Thankfully, it's not just the ridiculous trends that catch on -- when Ben Affleck gave Jennifer Lopez a 6-ct pink diamond engagement ring, there was a rush on pink diamonds (until the rest of the world realized that they were not movie stars and couldn't actually afford them). So then there was a rush on pink cubic zirconia.

The Bennifer engagement ring really sparked a big trend in Hollywood, and the rest of the world followed. Starlets no longer settled for traditional ring styles like round solitaires in Tiffany settings. Those rings are classic and glamorous indeed, but not unique enough to make a splash on the red carpet. Now we're seeing celebs with every color diamond in the spectrum, like JLo's pink rock, Heidi Klum's huge canary diamond, and Carmen Electra's black diamond ring, to name a few. In addition to the colored diamond trend, solitaires have gone the way of the dinosaur as celebs opt instead for much busier rings with lots of accent stones, and maybe even a non-diamond center stone, like the pink sapphire Nicole Richie received from ex-fiance DJ AM.


We took a peek at super-luxury weddings to create this inspiration board: From record-breaking bouquets to Indian weddings that are truly over the top, we found that you don't have to be an LVMH heiress to add a few luxurious touches to your real life wedding.

However, it doesn't hurt to dream, does it? So let's get to it!

Continue reading Inspiration Board: Super Luxury

Delphine Arnault

Fashion, Celebrity



When the bride is head of Dior shoes and sits on the board of one of the largest luxury conglomerates in the world, you can expect a wedding of phenomenal style. That's what happened when Delphine Arnault, heir to the LVMH empire, which includes the fashion houses Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Pucci, Fendi and Celine, and champagne houses Veuve Clicquot, Dom Perignon and Moët & Chandon, married Alessandro Gancia, heir to Italian wine dynasty Gancia.

With all that high-end fashion (and wine!) goodness in the family, there is no way this wedding could have been anything less than stunning. The bride arrived at the cathedral in a vintage Rolls-Royce. She wore an off-the-shoulder John Galliano gown, and a cathedral-length Stephen Jones veil. The cathedral in which the wedding took place was decorated with thousands of white roses.

Arnault wore a second Galliano dress to the reception. Her mother wore Dior and Jones, while the maid of honor wore a dress from Prada. Guests included John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld and Louis Vuitton designer Marc Jacobs, the French first lady Bernadette Chirac, Elizabeth Hurley and husband Arun Nayar, a few French cabinet members, Nicholas Sarkozy, and dozens more fashion, film, and food notables.

We can only hope the marriage is as spectacular!
Sunglasses can be a fabulous bridesmaid gift for an outdoor or beachy wedding, but if your wedding is nothing but opulence and luxury, get shades that follow suit. After all, if your jewelry is Tiffany & Co. or Bulgari, why should your bridesmaids have anything less?



Tiffany & Co.'s line of sunglasses is relatively new, so in addition to getting the name, you'll also be at the forefront of fashion by choosing these. However, Bulgari is ... well, it's Bulgari, and no girl in her right mind is going to turn her head to that.

However, each brand has it's own stylings -- Tiffany has several glasses with the well-known "Return" tag, while Bulgari is just bling-a-rific. Check out the gallery and let us know if any of these styles would be a satisfactorily luxurious gift for the members of your bridal party.
When an Indian-born billionaire steel tycoon's only daughter marries, you can expect nothing but the best. And then some. Vanisha Mittal, daughter of tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, married Amit Bhatia, an investment banker, in a lavish ceremony in Paris.

Like most Indian weddings, nearly a week of festivities and parties preceded the wedding. A modest thousand guests -- the weddings of Indian mega-rich are usually 10,000 -- were flown in to Paris from India on 12 Boeing jets, where they were put up at a 5-star hotel in Paris. Sources weren't clear on which hotel, but since the George Cinq was one of the party venues, we suspect that's where they were housed. Not too shabby...





Continue reading $78,000,000: The ultimate in OTT


Bulgari is synonymous with Italian luxury. It was started in 1884 by a Greek immigrant named Sotirios Vulgaris (he later changed his name to Bulgari) and the flagship store (pictured above) opened in Rome in 1905. Bulgari jewelry is not for the meek - it's a greco-roman fantasy of precious metals and large stones. They're known for bold designs and old-world decadence, so we thought it would be fitting to highlight them during Aisledash's luxury week.

Long a favorite of movie stars and the jet set, Bulgari has designed a line of engagement and marriage rings perfect for the bride who's not afraid to dazzle.


Luxury is in the details, and what is more luxurious than a perfect flower submerged in champagne?

Wild Hibiscus flowers in syrup are grown and hand-made in Australia, and will add a glamorous touch to the champagne toast. Each flower is hand-selected and preserved in sugar in preparation for the eventual champagne bath. The flower arrives closed, and when dropped in the bottom of a champagne flute slowly "blooms" as the bubbles gently free the petals from their sugar coating. The flowers are fully edible, and taste of raspberry and rhubarb for a tasty finish.

They're a decadent feast for the eyes and palate - and surefire conversation starters.

For most of us, 400-count cotton sheets is decently luxurious. And then there are those who shop at Charlotte Thomas. Bedding of 150's Merino wool, woven with real 22-karat gold thread, and backed with Indian hand-loomed silk jacquard, accompanied, if you wish, by silk or 1,000-count Egyptian cotton sheets. Bedding which can cost up to $2400 per sheet.

But we're wondering: with sheets that expensive, would you -- could you -- actually sleep in them? And risk crumpling them? Or, heaven forbid, sweating? Never mind attempting anything that might actually, ahem, make a mess?
These are shoes fit for a (very rich) fairy-tale princess. Designed by Stuart Weitzmann, these gem-studded confections would make any woman feel like magic.

This first pair, purportedly inspired by Dorothy's ruby-red slippers, are made from platinum thread and hold some 642 rubies. They were stored in a bullet-proof case and sold for a million pounds, about two million dollars. That's a heckuva pair of shoes for a kid from Kansas!



If those are a little too rich, or a little too red, for your taste, how about these?

Continue reading But are they comfortable?


Valentino may have retired in January, but his romantic designs and love for all that is feminine are obvious in his collection for Pronovias. The Metis is a stunner that envelops the bride in in sensuous lace from the sheer 3/4 sleeves to the wide lace hemline. The fitted bodice with a bateau neckline has all the beauty of traditional femininity but with the drama and glamour that modern brides desire.


Your honeymoon is your once in a lifetime chance to escape the world, bond with your sweetie, and celebrate your love. If top quality service and unadulterated luxury are what you're looking for, then look no further than these ultimately soul pampering hotels. Some have the history and charm of another place and time, some have modern flair. Some are big city destinations and some offer the comfort of beach and ocean. Wherever you want to go, look for one of these notorious hotels for your once in a lifetime getaway.

Here's a wedding and a half. Eleven thousand guests (yes, you read that right) were taken on 26 planes to Lucknow, India, to a lakeside venue with replicas of a fairytale castle, a fort, a Greek temple and even the White House on its shoreline. More than 100 different types of cuisine, a 120-piece orchestra flown in from England, four dance troupes, tons of flowers (literally), and a company of acrobats were only part of the entertainment for the guests over six days of celebration leading up to the wedding.

In India, of course. Uttar Pradesh, one of the poorest areas of the world, is also home to billionaire industrialist Subrata Roy, one of the richest men in the world. His two sons, Sushanto and Seemanto, were wed four days apart during this week-long extravaganza. So elite was the guest list that Bollywood shut down filming for the week: all their best stars were attending the wedding!

And as for the starving masses in the dirt-poor province surrounding the revelers? 140,000 of them were fed for a day, and 101 local girls were given $5,000 (an unimaginable sum for people who earn less than a dollar a day) toward their marriages. So there's that.

According to a recent interview with fashion designer Vera Wang, the most expensive wedding dress she's ever created is never going to be worn. In her recent chat with Michael Eisner on CNBC, Wang said she designed an 18-tiered couture fabric wedding gown for Jennifer Lopez when she was engaged to Ben Affleck.

We all know how that ended.

"It was really, probably far and away, the most expensive and time-consuming to sew," Vera Wang said of the dress. She didn't mention what became of the dress -- we hope she didn't get rid of it. Maybe one day we'll see the dress on an auction block somewhere, where we're sure it'll fetch a handsome price -- not just because of its materials, but also its history.
If you are planning your wedding without the restraint of a budget, the sky really is the limit when it comes to what gifts to buy for your bridesmaids. A few things to choose from when it comes to spoiling your favorite women include the dress they will wear in your ceremony, travel accommodations to the wedding (flight, hotel) or a day at a local spa (pedicure, manicure, facial -- the works!).

But if you're looking to splurge on a thank-you gift that not only shows your gratitude but is also original -- something she is sure to get use of and be stunned by, check out the gallery for a handful of lavish gift ideas your bridal party won't soon forget.

If you're going to make sure the flowers, cake and decorations are all the cream of the crop, thank your bridesmaids with the best of the best, as well.


This dress is from the 21st Century Princess collection by Henry Roth, and we have to agree - this is a dress fit for a modern princess. The voluminous skirt and smooth, fitted bodice are connected at the drop waist by three Swarovski crystal and gold beaded "belts."

The gold beading gives this dress a warmth that the more popular platinum simply can't muster. Your waist will be dripping in gold and crystals, the ultimate in luxury and decadence.

Continue reading Dress of the day: Alexandra by Henry Roth

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