Barcelona Bridal Week: A Wedding Blogger's Diary

Hello, I do hope you're having a lovely Sunday.

Elizabeth here stopping by to share a behind the scenes snapshot of my time in Barcelona. If you missed the beautiful backstage photos then I highly recommend hopping over to take a peek. It's a total and utter wedding dress fest.

So, as you may remember, I was part of a group of wedding bloggers who were invited to Barcelona to document the 25th anniversary of Barcelona Bridal Week and it was wonderful meeting and hanging out with such an inspiring group of women.

This is how we spent most of our time…

(Julia, Yolande, Jen, Ally, me and Lindsay on the front row)

There was (Left – Right) Julia from Brides Up North, Yolande of Yolande De Vries Photography, representing So You're Getting Married, Jen from Green Wedding Shoes, Ally from Inspired By This (me, obviously) and Lindsay from Fly Away Bride. You should totally check out their blogs if you haven't discovered them yet.

Here's a short and sweet video featuring our ‘blogger's perspective' of Barcelona Bridal Week. And ps. I think it's hilarious that the featured thumbnail on the video features a shot of us coiffing champagne.

It's a tough job but someone's gotta do it *winks*.

My Barcelona Bridal Week Diary

Each day began with a delicious a'la carte breakfast at the Hotel Catedral – a modern boutique hotel located in the heart of the Gothic quarter. I had a wonderful stay there and highly recommend it for a romantic city break.

After breakfast, we'd head to the Fira De Barcelona which is huge exhibition center, where we'd watch collection after gorgeous wedding dress collection showcased on the ever changing catwalk.

Some Of My Fave Shots From The Catwalk

If you follow Bridal Musings on social media then you'll probably have seen a flurry of excitable #BarcelonaBridalWeek Tweets and Instagram posts. There was just so much beauty to share!

Here's a few of my favourite shots from the week. Apologies in advance that they're not half as pretty as the work of the incredible photographers we usually feature on Bridal Musings.

Dress designers from Top – Bottom: Yolan Cris, M&M, Yolan Cris, M&M, Yolan Cris, Cristina Tamborero, Houghton, Pronovias and Yolan Cris…again.

Glam Barcelona Evenings

On our first evening in Barcelona we enjoyed a delicious meal at Bistreaux in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. From the rooftop swimming pool to the lavender scented Mimosa Garden, this hotel is so stylish it hurts. I loved the dimly lit Banker's Bar adorned with security deposit boxes (in homage to the venue's past life as a bank) where certain drinks are served up with a key to unlock your drink from one of the boxes.

Sadly we weren't there long enough to enjoy the delights of their award winning spa but it gives me a good excuse to go back soon.

(The rooftop pool bar and Bistreaux restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental.)

A Party In A Palace

On our second evening in Barcelona we went to Palau Reial de Pedralbes for a very special catwalk show. 25 designers showcasing 25 different looks from the past 25 years of Barcelona Bridal Week in a palace, no less.

(Check out some of the photos, and dresses here.)

I thoroughly enjoyed saying to a friend who asked me what I was up to that night, “Oh you know, I'm just off to a party in a palace.”

On our third evening we attended a party thrown by the ever so chic Novias De Espana magazine where we enjoyed some traditional Spanish paella. Yum.

The Gothic Quarter

As my days were mostly spent amidst a sea of tulle and lace, I didn't have much time to explore Barcelona city. But, on our last afternoon, I spent a blissful few hours wandering around the cobbled streets of the Gothic Quarter, gargoyle spotting and nibbling on delicious serrano ham from a paper cone as I basked in the Spanish sunshine.

All Dressed Up

I wore something very special on my last night in Barcelona – a black, lace midi dress from Katya Katya Shehurina‘s latest AW2016 collection which the wonderful team at the London flagship boutique in Soho kindly lent me. I felt like an absolute princess! The eyelash lace on the neckline, sleeves and hem is TDF.

Here's a shot of the light and airy London boutique.

And a shot of me trying (and failing) to channel my inner fashion blogger.

Apologies for the dodgy photo, it really doesn't do the dress justice.

But fear not, we'll be featuring the full Katya Katya Shehurina bridal collection – including the same gorgeous gown in wedding-worthy white – on Bridal Musings very, very soon.

A Magical Last Evening in Barcelona

This is the stunning view from the Catalan National Art Museum where we watched Pronovias' catwalk show (aka the catwalk show of the year).

We arrived at dusk to see the museum bathed in a warm glow while over two thousand glamourous fashion/wedding lovers and celebs dressed up to the nines made their way inside the palatial museum.

Once inside, we were all dumbstruck by the beauty of the Oval room. I can't tell you how many times I pinched myself as I looked around the grand, high ceilinged ballroom with sparkling chandeliers lighting the catwalk.

Supermodel Irina Shayk opened and closed the show with a breath-taking bang.

Here's just a tiny little glimpse into how magical those first few moments of the catwalk show were…

Amazing right? That train was something else.

It was clear to see that an incredible amount of hard work went into each and every collection, catwalk show and the whole Barcelona Bridal Week event. It really was such an honour to be there.

Thank you to everyone who made my stay in Barcelona so special, including my fellow bloggers, Claudia and co. from XXL Communication and the wonderful team behind Barcelona Bridal Week.