Flapper-Style Wedding Dresses

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Since the film “The Great Gatsby” hit movie theaters in 2013, brides in the U.S. have been flocking to the shelves, searching for flapper-style wedding dresses. Brides also search for other types of wedding styles that were popular during the Roaring ‘20s and ‘30s. Brides fell in love with these particular styles after realizing how vintage the dresses were.

A Tallahassee bridal consultant says the flapper-style wedding dress trend has taken off at a very rapid speed. When “The Great Gatsby” was first released, her store saw a steady stream of brides coming in to her store, searching for flapper wedding dresses.

“Yes! Last year, when “The Great Gatsby” first came out, we would get brides looking for flapper-style and other retro-themed dresses at least two times a day," she said.

                                                       Photo Credit: Raihan-wed

Brides are heavily influenced by the dress styles they see on the red carpet. Designers realize this, and duplicate the styles that are worn at award shows and in movies.

 “Bridal is very influenced by celebrities and the red carpet,” said Mark Ingram, the founder of a New York bridal atelier.

Jenny Packman is an evening wear and bridal gown designer in London. She thinks history also had an influence on flapper style wedding dresses making a comeback.

“It was a wonderfully liberated time for women. There’s a strong contemporary relevance,” said Packman.

Ever since the release of “The Great Gatsby,” several websites that sell flapper wedding dresses have been launched. Web searches for these dresses have increased dramatically.

Nicole Sewall is the managing director at BHLDN, a bridal e-commerce website. She says the company’s launch was influenced by the style of the 1920s and ‘30s.

“The 1920s was definitely part of our plan at launch,” she said.

Tasha Walker is currently planning her wedding. Because she is a huge fan of the flapper dress, her plans include getting married in one.

“I am not sure as to what style of dress I want. I do love the regal feel of the ‘20s and ‘30s gowns, and I do want a formal wedding, so that dress would fit perfectly into what I am going for,” said Walker. “The beauty of the ‘20s and ‘30s inspired gowns are the amount of detail, which provides drama as you come down the aisle.

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To keep the dress from seeming too much like a costume, brides should wear accessories. Popular accessories include headpieces and flowers.

 The bridal consultant says brides choosing the flapper-styles, and other styles from the ‘20s and ‘30s, tend to choose accessories also from the ‘20s and ‘30s.The most popular accessories include feathered headbands and pendant necklaces.

Karina Sokolovsky, a senior director of public relations at eBay, says that headbands are also one of the easiest accessories to add to the dress.

“The easiest add is a single vintage-inspired crystal headpiece,” she said.

But like any other trend, the flapper-style dress is a trend that may not be around for much longer. Since “The Great Gatsby” has been out for over a year now, she has seen a slight decrease in the number of brides searching for the vintage dresses.   

       

“Now, we only get one bride looking for those styles only once every four or five days,” she said. 

After the trend ends, brides can still wear their wedding dresses, but as party dresses. That way, brides can still have their dresses, and the dresses are still being put to use. 

By, Naikeema Fields 

With contributions from the New York Times
Photo, Raihan-wed
Video, WKEF and WRGT

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Maintaining Your Wedding Gown

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Long after the big day ends, brides will preserve their wedding dresses by storing them in attics, basements, and in the back of closets. By keeping their wedding gowns, brides are holding on to the memories of their engagement, the planning of the wedding, the choosing of the dress, and the actual wedding ceremony and reception.

However, many brides don’t think about the proper way to care for the wedding dress. Most of the time, a bride will place her dress in a box, and in turn, store the box in a dark closet or attic. Over time, the dress will become wrinkled and discolored. A wedding dress should be kept in a location that is free of light, dust and insects, and not be wrapped in plastic.

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Sarah Scaturro, is the head conservator at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She says wedding dresses should always be stored in a stable environment.

“Garments, like people, need a stable environment with nonfluctuating temperature and humidity in order to avoid damage,” said Scaturro.

If a bride isn’t comfortable with packing away her dress in a box, storing it on a hanger is also an option.

“Some garments may be hung on a padded hanger if not too heavy with embellishments. The garment should be covered with a dust cover made of cotton or muslin,” said Scaturro.

Brides wishing to preserve their dresses also have the option of having their dress maintained by a dry cleaning company.

Photo Credit: Philadelphia Wedding

Brooke Weber is a clerk at Tallahassee’s Blue Ribbon Dry Cleaners. She says her company cleans about three wedding gowns a month. Weber says their busiest months for cleaning wedding dresses spans from February until May. During these months, they clean, on average, four dresses.

Weber also says that cleaning and caring for a wedding dress differs from caring for any other article of clothing.

“They are spotted and cleaned multiple times. We then box and preserve them so they keep shape and stay away from weather,” she said.

But having your gown professionally cleaned may be a little pricey. Blue Ribbon charges around $200 to have a dress cleaned, while Hallak Cleaners, located in New York, charges up to $1500 for their services. According to Francesca Granata, the wedding dress may not have historical value to everyone, but it does hold a symbolic meaning for a bride.

“In contemporary society, the garments we keep are important in terms of rites and passage. The wedding gown is a garment worn when a woman goes from one place in life to another,” said Granata, an assistant professor of fashion studies at Parsons the New School for Design.

Patricia Grunebaum, the mother of two teenage daughters, agrees that it is important to preserve the wedding dress.

“I don’t think a gown is really an heirloom like a ring or a piece of furniture. But it’s a moment to preserve, and a very important memory,” said Grunebaum, a resident of Bedford, N.Y.

If stored properly, you will be able to enjoy your dress for many more years to come.

By, Naikeema Fields
With contributions from the New York Times
Photo, Philadelphia Wedding
Video, philwtv

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Wedding Day Desserts

TALLAHASSEE, FL – In what is becoming a popular trend on wedding days, some couples are deciding to skip the wedding cake. Instead, they are choosing other desserts that are cheaper and more appealing to their budget and guests. Popular items that now take the place of the cake are cookies, donuts, cupcakes and pies.

Kellie Cicconi, a soon-to-be bride chose to skip the wedding cake for her big day. “I don’t like wedding food, and I don’t like cake,” she said.

Yojani Blandino, co-owner of Miami’s Donut Divas, operates a bakery that specializes in foods that are commonly found at fairs, including donuts, candied apples and funnel cakes. But in the six years that her bakery has been open, she has seen a spike in brides seeking the foods her company offers.

 Photo Credit: The Wedding Couple 

“Roughly, we provide the dessert for between 100 and 150 weddings a year. Our most popular items for wedding are our donuts, red velvet deep fried Oreos and churros,” said Blandino.

Wedding planners also have seen an  increase in brides straying away from the wedding cake. Ariel Meadow Stallings , creator of the wedding-themed  blog Offbeat Bride, has  attended weddings where the wedding cake had been  noticeably absent.

“It’s not an anti-cake movement, it’s more like: If you’re going to spend a fortune to feed your guests at your wedding, you might as well feed them something you’re going to really enjoy, and that they’re going to really enjoy,” Stallings said.

Wedding cakes are expensive, extremely fancy and are often left uneaten. Even some grooms realize this, and decide to go for cheaper, lower maintenance desserts.

 Robert Cannon, a soon-to-be groom, says “It gets passed out, and then at the end you find a plate with some old cake and a cigarette butt shoved inside it.”

Couples can also make the foods they choose fit the theme of the wedding. Choosing something other than a cake can also surprise the guests and break tradition.  However, not all guests are fans of an untraditional wedding cake.

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Tracee Lewis recently attended a wedding for a close friend. Instead of dining on a wedding cake, guests were served ice cream. At first, Lewis was skeptical that a cake wasn’t being served, but she eventually embraced the idea of being served ice cream.

“I’m old-fashioned and traditional, and I know in my own wedding the cake was an important psychological and physical presence” said Lewis.

It’s up to the couple to choose if they want a traditional wedding cake, but most couples want a dessert that is cheap, tasty and appealing to everyone.

By, Naikeema Fields

With contributions from the New York Times
Photo, "The Wedding Couple" 
Video, Wedding Cake Alternatives, DexKnowsWeddings

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Robots Attending Weddings

TALLAHASSEE, FL - In a new trend, robots can now serve as guests at wedding ceremonies. The robots step up and take the place of those who were invited to, but unable to make the wedding day festivities. The robots can attend wedding ceremonies anywhere in the world--not just in the U.S. 

Nolan Katter is business development executive at AnyBots, one of the companies’ that rents out robots for weddings. He says renting robots for weddings have become very popular.

“One is that they attract a great deal of attention, and the second is that they offer the freedom for an out of town guest to attend a wedding if they are physically unable to make it,” said Katter.

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Researcher for Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, Brian Coltin, isn’t surprised that robots can now attend weddings. “Laptops have gotten better and cheaper, and for us, a big change in robotics is RGB-D cameras. It’s cheaper than it ever was, and that’s made a big difference,” he said. 

“Our robots start out at $325 a day, and we also have local event packages for around $1,450, particularly for couples in California’s Bay Area. The biggest expense for an out of area wedding would be shipping—roughly $500 to $600 to ship to and from. Generally the guests do not have to pay anything because the wedding party will take care of all costs,” said Katter.

Guests unable to make the big day won’t feel left out. Robots take their place, while the guest watches the robot take their place and interact with the other guests. Katter explains how the robots work.

“The robot serves as an extension of the guest. It can be remotely driven anywhere in the world through a web browser while simultaneously creating a two-way video and audio communication exchange with the robots’ surroundings,” he said.

Many say the robots enhance the personality of the couple, and make the day more special and memorable. They say a robot attending the wedding is unique.

 “It’s a way of saying we’re unique and different and we’re carving ourselves out from all those other people doing the same thing,” said Patricia Arend, a sociology professor at Fitchburg State University.

Russell O’Neill was unable to attend his father’s wedding. So he had a robot go in his place.

“My sister told me ‘Russell it’s not your day, don’t do this,’ but everyone mingled for an hour, so by the time they walked down the aisle, the novelty was over. I was unconsciously turning my head to talk to people and realizing I’m in a cold, dark basement and it’s one in the morning,” said O’Neill.

Robot bearing rings / John Schmig, WeddingBot

The robots show just how much technology has advanced over the decades. The cost is cheap, and the robots steal the day.

                                            AssociatedPress

By, Naikeema Fields
With contributions from the New York Times
Photo credit, The New York Times
Video, AssociatedPress

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