Jorge Manuel New Campaign Ads Will Soon Grace Bridal Magazines

The ROCOCO COLLECTION 2012 newest collection from the designer will have a new face for his campaign ads that will run in national magazines this next season. We hope you enjoy these gorgeous shots from his latest beautiful bridal collection.

The UPON A STAR CONTEST is almost here!

We are all so excited for the kick-off of the UPON A STAR win a couture wedding gown contest on Friday, February 17, 2012.  We will be at HITCHED salon in Washington D.C. this next weekend and during our IRIS COLLECTION 2012 trunk show we will be revealing the dress one very lucky bride will able to win and wear down the aisle on her glorious wedding day.

The gown is a one-of-kind design creation by Jorge Manuel and collaborated by the wonderful staff at HITCHED. This year's "Upon A Star win a couture wedding gown' dress is valued at  $4730 and it could be yours! Plus, what girl wouldn't love to walk down the aisle in a dress designed and custom made just for her! Stay tuned for details on February 17, 2012. This year's contest promises to be bigger with more surprises, including runner-up prizes, a complimentary one-night stay at a beautiful five-star hotel in Washington D.C and a big Celebration party with the wonderful girls and the designer at the UPON A STAR turning over party at Hitched!

Complete contest information, including how you can apply to enter, will post here and on the designer's website (jorgemanuelweddings.com). If you or anybody you know dreams about walking down the aisle in a one-of-a-kind couture wedding gown then check back with us for full contest details. Get those engines running because the 2nd annual Jorge Manuel 'UPON A STAR win a couture wedding gown' contest is about to begin!

The Making of the ROCOCO Collection: The 'MEIER' Gown

One Dress At A Time: The Meier

The road to designing is neither an exact path nor an easy one. There are many obstacles along the way that can make or break the design of a gown. Details that can land you a dress in a magazine, store window or bride, or not.

The Rococo Collection started with the idea of designing architecture into a dress. Jorge Manuel feels that architecture exists in everything since everything in life is designed. This collection had been long time coming as sketches and ideas had steadily been building up 6 months prior to its conception. "There were times where I would be half asleep and I'd bolt out of bed shuffling around in the darkness of my room for a pen, pencil...anything that would write so that I could set the idea in my head unto a piece of paper, corner of a book, or even a piece of mail, "recalls the designer. Ideas spur from anywhere and from anything. The term being creative is simply a person's ability to be opened to these ideas no matter how or where they come from. When one is able to absorb and process their surroundings and translate them from your mind into abstract form then creativity is rooted and established.

This particular dress was born from the ideas of an Architect, Richard Meier, who is known for using white predominantly throughout his designed work. Designing this gown was as different to Jorge Manuel as Richard Meier had been with his "white" inspired work in a world where concrete, grays and blacks dominated the architectural spectrum. " I had never designed a gown with so much coverage and much less covered in lace. This would be a new challenge for me and I was confident that it would turn out beautifully," explains the designer; "the first step was to sketch what I had in mind. I did a couple of renderings and started to form a list of words to describe what emotions I wanted to convey in this gown."

Words like "romantic, timeless, feminine, soft," and "powerful" made the top of the list. Jorge Manuel understands how heavily saturated the market is with gowns made of lace. So how would he put different into what is already "not so different," was truly a big concern for the designer. It would take weeks before the perfect lace would make the cut. Out of endless options, Jorge Manuel settle on his two top favorites. One would have gorgeous repetitive circular details that were smaller and fit the bill with his list of words, but the other choice had giant circles embroidered in organza, cut crystals and seed beads seem to draw his eye more. "I saw it finished in my head before I had even unrolled the fabric. Once I saw the lace on the table, I knew it would make my list of words a reality in fabric form," recalls Jorge Manuel.

Finding the perfect lace sent Jorge Manuel into a whirlwind of fantastic ideas and his sketch began to change from one design to another. The gown started to shape itself and by pairing the gorgeous circular lace with the "white" silk shantung and polka dot sequence lace for the bodice as backing, the MEIER gown took life. The designer knew right away that it would become the crown jewel of the collection. Sewing pieces of lace together in itself is an art form. The process of dress making is as much tedious as it is beautiful. All together a dress can take months to make depending on the style, fabric and detail of the gown.  It would take a team of three specialized seamstresses to assess and make the beautiful hand-made Meier dress. Specifically:

The MEIER took 5 sketches, 1 final sketch, 1 pattern maker, 3 talented seamstresses, 3 weeks to make, 1 muslin, 10 yards of light weight Silk-Shantung, 2 yards of Lace, 7 hours of re-beading, and 36 Satin covered buttons to confect and bring to life.

The Rococo Collection is a collection based on design inspiration. It is project that changed constantly and nothing was as it should be until the end result. It was a journey of self discovery and adventure.

We are so proud to introduce to you THE MEIER from Jorge Manuel's ROCOCO COLLECTION 2012. For more information on the gown and other gowns, you can visit designer's website (jorgemanuelweddings.com). 'Til next time... when we feature another dress from the collection through the designer's perspective.

The day Grows Closer When The UPON A STAR Contest Wedding Gown is Revealed

We are just a little over a week away before Jorge Manuel's 'UPON A STAR Win A Couture Wedding Gown contest' dress is revealed at Hitched Salon in Washington D.C. on February 17. The journey to making the dress has been an exciting one. The project began months ago when the designer sketched various ideas for this special one-of-a-kind gown. The sketches were then submitted to this year's sponsor and incredibly talented group of ladies at Hitched Salon. After several meetings over the phone, sketch design editing, fabric selecting and color choices, the "Eternal Flame" dress came to be.

Owners, Julia Kepniss and Carine Levine, have a very fond childhood memory of the song "Eternal Flame,"and through song they would become best of friends and venture out into the bridal industry as admirable store owners. For this reason, Jorge Manuel found most fitting to name this year's UPON A STAR wedding gown "Eternal Flame."

"I thought it best appropriate to name the contest UPON A STAR because it is a contest of making dreams come true. And that very saying "that when you wish upon a star," anything is possible. The star theme has always been a big thing with me when naming the dresses for this competition. But this particular dress name fit so perfectly into this year's contest for two reasons. The first reason is the story behind the store owners Julia and Carin and their history with the song title "Eternal Flame." I wanted the gown to represent their bride's tastes and style, while representing who they are as a wonderful store. The second reason is that what is a star? just that....an eternal flame...thus the perfect name for this gorgeous dress. It has been fun working hands on in this project. The lucky winner will shine as bright as any star in this gown!" recalls Jorge Manuel.

So there you have it, while brides gear up to get ready for the contest, both Jorge Manuel and this year's sponsor, Hitched Salon, prepare to embark on a wonderful journey of making dreams come true. Stay tuned here and on the designer's website for full contest rules and details. This year's UPON A STAR contest promises to be a dream maker's dream.

Something is Brewing at Studio Jorge Manuel...

and that something is the almost completed gown for the 'Upon A Star'Win A Couture Wedding Gown contest that will soon be revealed. One very lucky bride will have the opportunity to win this gorgeous one-of-a-kind dress by designer Jorge Manuel. Stay tuned as contest details will become available here and on the designer's website on February 17, 2012.

If you look closely you will see the MICHELANGELO dress from Jorge Manuel's latest collection the ROCOCO COLLECTION 2012 that just unveiled on the designer's website. If you haven't seen it yet hop over to his site (jorgemanuelweddings.com) and check out his latest collection of gorgeous bridal dresses!

It Is Finally Here....Jorge Manuel's Newest Collection, the ROCOCO COLLECTION 2012, Makes Its Debut

Jorge Manuel brings to life his newest collection, The ROCOCO Collection, inspired by famous architects and their work. It is the culmination of a six month journey down the sketching, fittings, fabric selecting and editing path. "I am huge fan of architecture and I've been meaning to make a collection inspired by my favorite architects from the past and current. I kept putting off the concept because I felt time would tell me when it would be the right moment to bring it to life. I come from a family that loves to travel, and I've been fortunate enough to have seen many of the places and works these architects designed and made. I thought it proper to name each of the dresses from the collection after each and every one of them respectively," shares the designer.  The ROCOCO collection is a homage to these architects who have one by one contribute so much to the arts and our culture. The idea for naming the collection ROCOCO derives from the diminutive design of the Baroque. At a time when the rebels were considered artist, the Rococo era arose triumphantly and going against the grain became the fad. Jorge Manuel is proud of his latest collection of bridal gowns and invites you to travel with him through each gowns' journey, design idea and the famous architect who inspired it.

Jorge Manuel proudly presents his sixth bridal collection: THE ROCOCO COLLECTION 2012. To view full collection and to learn more about this season's concept visit the designer's website at www.jorgemanuelweddings.com for more information.