I wanted to define the vocabulary of a wedding both visually and intellectually. The book is about more than weddings or wedding dresses. It's a metaphor for women's lives, their creativity.

Success isn't about the end result; it's about what you learn along the way.

A woman is never sexier than when she is comfortable in her clothes.

When I design a wedding dress with a bustle, it has to be one the bride can dance in. I love the idea that something is practical and still looks great.

I was stigmatized by being a bridal designer for a long time. I am amazed I have been able to move beyond it. I had really all but given up trying, but I did it because it was my lifelong dream.

Don't be afraid to take time to learn. It's good to work for other people. I worked for others for 20 years. They paid me to learn.

I want people to see the dress, but focus on the woman.

Fashion offers no greater challenge than finding what works for night without looking like you are wearing a costume.

Even the most understated ceremony involves a certain respect for ritual and pageantry. No one plays more of a significant role than the bride's attendants.

When you have a passion for something then you tend not only to be better at it, but you work harder at it too.

Design is about point of view, and there should be some sort of woman or lifestyle or attitude in one's head as a designer.

Its not what the universe gives us that matters, but what we give the universe

My idea of Christmas is love.

Commitment = Destiny

Never take yourself too seriously.

There's a magical layer of love that's laced, designed to take us to a higher place.

The measure of happiness is merely the difference between expectations and outcomes. It is not concerned with what one possesses – it is concerned with how content one is with what one possesses.

Marriage. Isn't it great? Each time you fall back in love with your [spouse] it gets better and better.

We should often feel ashamed of our best actions if the world could see all the motives which produced them.

If you are hardworking and determined, you will make it and that's the bottom line. I don't believe in an easy way through.

A poet trains himself to stand out in a storm and be struck by lightning. If he is lucky enough to be struck six times, he becomes immortal. Randall Jarrell said it and he's right.