Benjamin Walk

Which brand of wedding shoes should you select for your wedding day shoes? Well that is a difficult one to be honest as there are quite a few fabulous brands of wedding shoes around but here is an overview of them.

The Pink By Paradox wedding shoes by Paradox London were the first brand we approved to sell via our store and certainly take centre stage in terms of popularity, we believe that this is due to the chic city styling, fabulous prices and with no fewer than 50 styles to choose from, they clearly are the leader in terms of assisting brides with the purchase of their wedding shoes.
Pink By Paradox wedding shoes offer the bride a fabulous range of styles including slingback, closed toe, closed back, vintage styles, peep toe, bows, flat shoes, mid heel, low heel right through to high heel wedding shoes.

The Pink By Paradox brand is young, fun and trendy offering a broad range of styles to suit the bride, bridesmaid & mother of the bride.

Pink styling is influenced very much by catwalk fashion trends, which are then translated into elegant and comfortable satin bridal shoes at a cost effective price for all.

Belle wedding shoes by Paradox London were introduced several years ago as an addition to their already successful collections, this mid budget range of wedding shoes are perfect for those wanting a silk wedding shoe but without the couture or boutique pricing.

This brand of wedding shoes is made from the finest ivory or white dyeable silk and has a fabulous range of fashionable styles to choose from. We feel the Belle By Paradox London collection is just perfect for those having silk bridal gowns. Peep toe wedding shoe styles certainly appears frequently throughout this wedding shoe brand.

Belle by Paradox London is a luxury handcrafted footwear collection that captures prevailing catwalk trends and unique crystal pieces to create a collection which is fundamentally unique. Belle by Paradox London encompasses lavish silk and alluring crystals which is combined with unique in-built comfort gel pads and soft leather lining to create a shoe which is not only chic but also comfortable.

Designed and created with beautiful crystals and embellishments along with the Belle By Paradox signature insoles, soft leather lining, shoe sizing from 2 – 10 and of course a few styles available in wide fitting, we can see why this award was given. Personally our sweetheart long bridesmaid dress seems to be very popular to compliment the range.

The Benjamin Adams wedding shoe collection never fails to excite us here at Girls Of Elegance Limited, admittedly they are probably one of our favourite collections that we sell but there are many reason why. The first being swarovski, who doesn’t adore the ultimate sparkly that these crystals create?, teamed perfectly with both classic simple wedding dresses and of course those with plenty of sparkles to compliment. Let us tell you a little about them.

Benjamin Adams footwear was born to create luxurious and unique bridal footwear. They are glamorous, alluring and each piece has been created with a signature brand identity which is recognised fully as Benjamin Adams. Each design is striking, different and the luxury achieved through the intricate detailing and research into the ultimate of wedding shoe trends and trims. The head designer for the collection Alessandro Pavan who has worked with many leading italian brands has set out and succeeded in creating a luxury footwear range with using only the very finest chosen materials and stunning duchesse silk available.

The Benjamin Adams Wedding Shoes collection of which Girls Of Elegance Limited are an official platinum stockist are certainly worthy of A-list status and we are thrilled and proud that we as a company were awarded within the first two years this status as a leading seller of the brand for them.

The collection consists of approx 25 different wedding shoe styles with many strong influences year on year on various trends particularly vintage trims, platforms and elegant peep toes. The styles feature beautiful swarovski embellishments, brooch frontage designs and a fabulous range of comfortable heel heights.

In particular the Benjamin Adams wedding shoes collections feature a signature crystal adjustable buckle for those shoes requiring it, no stone was left unturned when this collection is revamped year after year. Soft cushioned insoles, leather linings and beautiful design and trims, what more could a bride ask for.

For Rainbow Club, their collections are so much more than just a wedding shoe. In their words it’s about a passion to provide beautiful, aspirational designs that are comfortable and really fit like a glove. Rainbow Club have been providing beautiful wedding shoes since 1986 and are completely dedicated to producing the best and are one of the most trusted wedding shoe companies in the industry.

All of the Rainbow Club wedding shoes are exclusively designed in house and then handmade using the very best components from guaranteed dyeable satins and swarovski buckles and embellishments. They also offer a very favourable price bracket of normally no more than £79.00. The pure ivory collection features a stunning small collection with fashion forward designs and flamboyant finishes. Imagine vintage chic and the pure ivory collection is probably for you.

One thing that really captures our eye with the Rainbow Club brand is their dedication to shoe photography, we love that they not only focus on close up detailing of the shoes themselves but their lifestyle photography really is beautiful and we love to showcase this via the Girls Of Elegance website wherever we can.

The +fit collection is perfect for those brides or any member of the bridal party who requires a shoe which is in the wider fitting, there are a beautiful collection of wedding shoes available in the wide fitting. The bliss collection combines classic styles with a generous fit, padded linings and spongey latex underfoot, which gives the guarantee of extreme comfort.

The Rainbow Club wedding handbags work perfectly for all of their bridal shoes.

Else wedding shoes are a gorgeous collection that showcases everything from fashionable short points to platforms and t-bar sandals.

All of the Else wedding shoes including the Miss Else collection not only look beautiful but have soft linings to ensure extreme comfort for precious feet. We are thrilled also to promote that every Else and Miss Else styles are hand coloured free of charge to your own unique shade making Else wedding shoes the perfect choice for weddings, proms or indeed any special occasion.

The Else wedding shoe collections are available in Ivory Satin or indeed can be dyed from jelly bean green to sugar almond pink, either way you the bride can choose. Whether it’s a formal wedding, glamorous evening or summer garden party your shoes can be expertly hand dyed free of charge by the dedicated studio artists.

Girls Of Elegance Limited can always arrange this on our brides behalf meaning you can tick another something off your to do list.
We showcase the capabilites of the Else wedding shoes via our website as much as we can and we are truly dedicated to the brand as much as the creators, beautifully stylish, affordable and comfortable, the perfect combination we feel.

Our short bridesmaids dresses would certainly compliment this inexpensive range perfectly. We are dedicated in ensuring we are a one stop shop for all of your wedding accessory needs, our customer service team is always here to listen and assist with any enquiry that you have.

Rainbow Club in 2011 awarded Girls Of Elegance Limited and our sister companies 1st For Wedding Shoes & 1st For Bridal Shoes due to their dedication to the brand the Rainbow Couture Wedding Shoes collection and we are thrilled.

Rainbow Couture wedding shoes are the designer element to the Rainbow club brand of which also features Else Wedding Shoes and the simplicity of Rainbow Club wedding shoes. The Rainbow Couture collections are made from the finest silk fabrics and the swarovski detailing provides the ultimate in classy and chic shoe styling for the bride to be.

For Rainbow Couture, the collection offers so much more than a wedding shoe. It’s about a passion to provide beautiful, aspirational designs that are comfortable and really fit like a glove. Rainbow Couture provide the bride with the perfect shoe for their vision. Rainbow Couture is all about providing simple yet beautifully elegant wedding shoes with the most stunning trims made from the finest materials, in this case a lot of swarovski crystal is featured.

This collection of wedding shoes is small yet effective, ensuring the focus is purely on around 15 styles and getting those styles just perfect.

Complimented by a large variety of heel heights and wedding shoe styles ensuring that every potential bridal shoe requirement is taken into account making your purchase easy and simple we feel that the Rainbow Couture collection is just perfect.

We would also recommend for those wanting to dye the Rainbow Couture shoes after the wedding using our dyeing services that you compliment the shoes with one of our beautiful formal dresses, of which our sweetheart dress would compliment the trims of the shoes perfectly.

You can view the Rainbow Couture Wedding Shoes via our south west showroom, beautifully positioned on a huge velvet centrepiece with over 200 swarovski buttons.

The Meadows Wedding Shoes collection offer comfort, a very affordable price bracket and a stunning range of simple styles to suit every bride and their bridal party.

All of the Meadows brand of wedding shoes can be dyed to co-ordinate with the colours on your dress, bouquet, bridesmaid’s dress, husband-to be’s cravat, flowers, almost anything. So, when the big day arrives, you can step out in style, knowing that you have found your perfect match.

We were very pleased to launch the favourable diamond white collection of wedding shoes by Benjamin Walk. This enables us to cover every aspect of the brides needs as so many of you require diamond white wedding shoes to match your diamond white Maggie Sotterio or other famous designer you have chosen to make your gown, we are now able to provide these with this wedding shoe brand.

They offer a stunning range of designs for white, silver and gold shoes and we are having continued success with this fantastic wedding shoe brand.

We are able to deliver all of our wedding shoes within 3 working days ensuring that we are providing the fastest turnaround on the net for all our customers. We also offer a FREE UK DELIVERY service too.

All of these fabulous brands of wedding shoes are available to purchase from any of our websites including 1st For Wedding Shoes & 1st For Bridal Shoes.

We very much look forward to assisting you and hope this has given you a big insight into the wedding shoe brands available.

So thats the big question I suppose, I mean we all as brides want to have the prettiest and perfect dress of our dreams but where do we fare when it comes to shoes? Ok so I was a bride in 2004 and married my wonderful husband in Cyprus but rather than worrying about comfort, I suppose all I cared about was how pretty my shoes were but it does appear that more and more feel that comfort is the key what with most brides wearing them in total for over 8 hours during the course of their wedding day. Heres our top 10 key tips for choosing your Wedding Footwear.

1 – Choose a brand that has is renowned in the field, why? because they have the experience of creating timeless classics incorporating glamour, comfort and almost all popular brands will have a range of shoes suitable for your budget. Our personal favourite is the Paradox London range featuring Pink By Paradox, Belle and Benjamin Adams and the Rainbow Club range also incorporating Else, leaders in the bridal shoe industry can mean only one thing, comfort, affordability and expertise in creating beautiful bridal shoes for the industry. In fact Paradox is a 2011 award winner.

2 – Wear a heel height and style that you are used to, if you’re comfortable in 3 inch heels normally why go and kill you calves and leg muscles not to mention your feet by trying 5 inch. You’ll find them unbearable to wear meaning you’ll spend the best day of your life worrying about blisters and you’ll end up walking around bear foot, cue beautiful ivory or white dress, black feet ! a very big no no. If you wear a wedding shoe that is on par with your normal fashion shoe then you should be fine.

3 – Pick the right colour, Almost all of us want shoes that compliment the dress perfectly which poses a problem on occasions for those with diamond white dresses, 95% of shoes can be bleached however the bleaching process does not guarantee a diamond white effect, thankfully brands such as Benjamin Walk based in the US offer a vast amount of styles, well in fact hundreds that are available in Diamond White therefore saving you the cost of bleaching/dyeing and meaning hopefully you can get the perfect match. My dress was a Maggie Diamond White and I ended up wearing silver shoes with complimented my pretty swarovski embellishments anyway.

4 – Pick a style that you can wear again! – Why would you want to buy a wedding shoe that you wear for one day and then it goes in a box in the roof to collect dust? choose a shoe that you would wear with jeans or another outfit on a special occasion, have them dyed to match and bobs your uncle you can wear them again and again.

5 – Skintone – Pick a shoe that compliments your skin tone, this creates added leg length and makes you look taller.

6 – Material – If your dress is silk we would recommend you choose a silk shoe thus complimenting the material of the dress, likewise with Satin, Lace etc. Theres no end of selection nowadays when it comes to shoes and their fabrics, even if it comes down to the detailing of the shoe, if your dress features pearls, why not choose a shoe that incorporates pearls into the design?

7 – Buy in advance!, we know only to well that alot of brides tend to purchase their shoes a day before the wedding and then end up in a complete panic when they don’t fit, they’re not the right style and then comes the bridezilla moment “we’ve all had them” Purchase your shoes at least 3 months in advance so you can ensure you have the pair of your dreams and wear them around the house to stretch them slightly for the big day. A bride with a plaster on her heels is not a good look

8 – Location, Consider where the ceremony is taking place, if you are getting married say on a beach the last thing you want to do is be sinking unelegantly into the sand so “think” about the whole day, where you will be wearing them and are they suitable.

9 – READ the terms and conditions of shoe purchases and consider how long for delivery whether this be in store on on-line, many high street shops do not offer a returns policy as most shoes are purchased to order meaning that if they don’t have your size in store and you have to order them you’ll have to keep them which I suppose is why many customers use the internet nowadays for this purchase as we are bound to offering a returns / exchange policy.

10 – Finally, browse the web fully, with no fewer than 200 styles on our own website alone (sorry for the shameless plug) you can spend hours looking and considering the perfect shoe for your day. If you’re stuck between 4 pairs why not order all 4 so you have them there in front of you, do look at the returns policy from the site you are ordering from as many sites do not allow more than 2 pairs for sampling.

Well i hope that kind of gave you a mini insight into what is to be considered, we’ll be back soon with our new blogs for our bridesmaid dress photoshoot happening the end of the month, our new showroom and our Benjamin Adams shoe videos, yes you heard it right videos, we were the original company to introduce 360 degree rotational imagery for the shoes but it seems others have got onto that trend so it was time for the change although an expensive one, we can showcase every fine detailing in real life providing you the bride with lots of various viewing components, we are very excited about this and don’t worry we’re already planning our next shoe move before everyone else jumps on the bandwagon !!!!!

We were thrilled when Sarah asked to work with us with creating this blog for you guys.

Maybe you’re in the beginning stages of dress shopping or maybe you’ve already narrowed it down to a certain cut or style. There’s a lot to think about when it comes to picking a dress that fits your style- not to mention your body. Let’s make it easy by breaking down the general shapes that most wedding gowns fall under, which body types they flatter the most, and how to tailor your workout routine to make sure you look your best in the dress that you’ve already bought. Here are some common wedding dress styles and appropriate exercises that target the areas of your body that will be most prominent according to the style of wedding dress you have selected!

style: Ballgown- necklines/sleeves vary
accencuates: core
exercise: Abdominal crunches
how to:

1. Lie on your back and place your feet on a wall so that your knees and hips are bent at  90-degree angles. Tighten your abdominal muscles.

2. Raise your head and shoulders off the floor. To avoid straining your neck, cross your arms on your chest rather than locking them behind your head. Hold for three deep breaths.

3. Return to the start position and repeat.

style: Trumpet/Mermaid-
accencuates: butt, thighs, and hips
exercise: Squats
how to:

1. Stand with feet hip-width apart and, for added intensity, hold weights at shoulder level or at your sides.
2. Bend the knees, and lower into a squat, keeping the knees behind the toes.  Imagine that you’re sticking your butt out behind you, but keep the torso upright and contracted.
3. Press into the heels to stand up.
4. Repeat for 2-3 sets of 8-16 reps

style: Midcalf/Ballerina- forgiving on thighs and hips
accencuates: legs/calves.
exercise: chair squat
how to:
This is a great exercises for toning legs and calves. It is easy to do and it is not necessary to purchase expensive equipment, all you need is a chair! 1. Place a chair just behind you and stand in front of it with feet about hip- or shoulder-width apart.

2. Contract the abs and keep them tight as you bend the knees and slowly squat towards the chair.

3. Keep the knees behind the toes as you sit down on the chair for a few seconds.

4. Contract the glutes and hamstrings to lift up out of the chair and begin extending the legs.

5. Fully extend the legs until you’re back to standing position.

6. Repeat this for 1-3 sets of 10-16 repetitions.

7. To progress, squat down until you’re just hovering over the chair, but not sitting all the way down.

8. Make sure to keep your knees in line with your toes.
A-line/Princess-forgiving on bottom half
accentuates: bodice and core
exercise: the bicycle
how to:
1. Lie flat on the floor with your lower back pressed to the ground. Put your hands beside your head.
2. Bring knees to a 45- degree angle and slowly mimic a bicycle pedal motion.
3. Touch your left elbow to your right knee and your right elbow to your left knee.
4. Lie on the floor interlock your fingers and place your hands behind your head.
5. Bring knees towards the chest and lift the shoulder blades off the floor while neck remains flat on the floor.
6. Straighten the left leg while simultaneously turn the upper body to the left, taking the right elbow towards the left knee.
7. Switch sides, bringing the right elbow towards the right knee.
8. Continue alternating sides for 1-4 sets of 14-16 repetitions.

Empire-forgiving on abs
accentuates: chest and shoulders
exercise: chest and shoulders
how to:
1.lie on your back and hold the weights (between 5 and 8 lbs) with your palms facing upward, and your arms outstretched to each side.
2. With your elbows bent, lift your arms above chest until your hands are almost touching. And repeat 10-12 repetitions.

Strapless/low back-
accentuates: chest and shoulders
exercises: Lateral pull downs
how to:
Although the lateral pull down requires a specific machine which can be found at any gym.  “Lat” pull downs are great for working out the upper back muscle like the posterior deltoid.
1. Sit straight on a bench facing the tower and hold the bar with a broad, overhand grip. Keeping your back straight, pull the lat to your chest.
2. Touch the lat to your chest and hold it for two seconds while pinching your shoulder blades together.
3. Keep the tension, move the bar back to the original position. Do three sets of eight to twelve repetitions.

By Sasha Britton for Girls of Elegance Limited,  Gym Source, your source for treadmills, ellipticals, home gyms and so much more.

We all know how important it is getting your wedding bag just right, the colour, style, size and shape are all vital for getting your perfect day, well…perfect!

At Girls of Elegance we have several brands, and many styles of wedding handbags available, the brands we stock include:-

Pink By Paradox
Else
Belle By Paradox
Benjamin Adams
Meadows
Benjamin Walk

We have chosen just a few bags from the collections available from Girls of Elegance, from Belle & Benjamin Adams, Pink by Paradox, and Benjamin Walk that are in stock and available to order from Girls of Elegance today!

The first of our selection is a gorgeous example from Belle & Benjamin Adams…

Stone Wedding Handbag – Belle & Benjamin Adams

This clutch bag features an elegant and sophisticated diamante brooch with an asymmetrical flap to the front of the bag. The wedding bag also comes with a silver chain strap inside the bag if required, to change the bag from a carry clutch to a handled silk bag.  The bag is made from finest ivory duchesse silk and measures 22 cm x 11 cm. Girls of Elegance can also offer a dye service on this bag, to match it to almost any colour you may need it in!

The second in our selection is a classic, yet modern design from Belle & Benjamin Adams…

Benjamin Walk Touch Ups

Benjamin Walk White Wedding Shoes

We are very pleased to be able to offer a stunning collection of Wedding Shoes by Benjamin Walk incorporating brilliant white into our fold.

Our exciting collection features Touch Ups – Dyeable Bridal shoes and handbags, plus our Evening & Prom collection.

In 2003 they introduced the Liz René Couture Collection of elegant bridal shoes crafted with fine dyeable Italian silk.

We are proud to introduce the Johnathan Kayne Collection, designed by the award winning fashion designer and Project Runway Star, Johnathan Kayne Gillaspie.

Benjamin Walk have been creating fashion footwear since 1896 – the oldest operating bridal shoe distributor in the US.

Benjamin Walk Corporation Awards 2008:

* DEBI – Award Nominee
* North American Bridal Association – The Desert Rose Award
* Top 10 Prom – Best Selling Shoe Award
* International Prom Association – Shoe and Accessory Manufacturer of the Year Award
* International Prom Association – Shoe Designer of the Year Award (Johnathan Kayne)

They offer a stunning range of designs for white, silver and gold shoes and we are having continued success with this fantastic brand.

Featuring silk and satin fabrics and with them all being fully dyeable what more could a bride require?

We offer delivery within 3 working days (subject to availability).