What’s the exact opposite of Super Bowl Sunday? Shopping for wedding ideas, of course.
Wedding planning is the ultimate distraction for brides-to-be in the Northwest, especially in gray January after holiday proposals and before Valentine’s Day betrothals.
Right on time, two wedding shows are coming to Snohomish County to stir up excitement, including the Everett-Lynnwood Wedding Expo Saturday and Sunday at the Quality Inn &Suites in Everett, followed next weekend by the Northwest Bridal Showcase Feb. 4 and 5 at the Everett Events Center.
So what can you expect to see on the wedding landscape as you set out to plan your big day?
Having returned recently from a trend-spotting mission at the Seattle Wedding Show, we found that weddings and receptions in the years ahead will range from classically simple and elegant to wildly whimsical and extravagant.
If you can dream it – and if you have the money – someone can make happen, whether it’s a wedding on the shores of Puget Sound or a formal gala at the Space Needle.
Originality: If there’s one overriding feature of the modern bride, it’s individuality.
Weddings today, even inexpensive ones, are becoming one-of-a-kind events in which brides seek to express their identity.
“Ten years ago, it wasn’t like it is today,” said Brad Buckles, owner of Bellevue-based Brides Club, which hosts 14 wedding expositions every year in the United States, including six in Washington.
Weddings have become “significantly more sophisticated,” Buckles said, adding, “This has become like the decade of the bride.”
Buckles attributes the trend to the increasingly specific demands of couples, not industry influences.
“They don’t want a wedding cake, they want an artistic piece,” Buckles said. “It’s huge because it’s no longer wanting ‘what she had,’ it’s, ‘I’m going to show the world what I can do.’
“Martha Stewart probably had a lot to do with it.”
Destination weddings: Creating a unique experience for many couples means escaping to another country.
More hotels – domestically and abroad – have learned to better market themselves to engaged couples and their families, who spend an average of $20,000 per wedding as part of the $72 billion U.S. wedding industry.
Many resorts give basic wedding packages away for couples willing to stay a full week.
“Where else does a honeymoon include a free wedding?” asks the promotional literature for Sandals, a resort chain with venues in many tropical locales such as the Bahamas and Jamaica.
Such “WeddingMoon” deals have become extremely attractive for couples who want to skip the drama of a traditional wedding and combine their union with an unforgettable trip. When couples return home, some host receptions for family and friends who couldn’t make it to the wedding or who weren’t invited.
“They want to do something that means something,” Buckles said of destination weddings. “They want to celebrate.”
Dress up or down: Clearly, both the rise of beachside weddings in the tropics and the retro dress styles out of New York are influencing wedding apparel.
Slinky sheath gowns make perfect sense for the beach. Mermaid-style dresses that flare dramatically out at the knee are ideal for a chic urban wedding. And stunning strapless ball gowns, with cascades of ballooning organza, are ideal for younger brides intent on more traditional, fairy tale weddings.
Meanwhile, brides hoping to break dramatically from the crowd will be pleased to find a collection of show-stopping dresses, featuring every shade of white interrupted by splashes of unabashed color.
Hot pink bejeweled bodices, pink, peach or red satin sashes at the waist, and black or red accents on gown skirts, hems and trains are all part of the 2006 mix, too.
Bridesmaids dresses seem to become more glamorous every year and this year is no exception. Ultrabright colors – hot pinks, neon-cherry reds and periwinkle blues – are leading the pack, steadily edging out more delicate pastels along with earthy colors accented with hot hues such as chocolate brown touched up with pink or sage green with a fuchsia sash.
Tuxes: High-style hues are following right along for grooms with vests instead of the old-school cummerbunds. With more surface area to show off the wedding party’s colors and styles, anything goes, said Rose Mary Phillips at Brides Outlet and Anthony’s Formalwear in Everett.
“Before vests were always gray and black,” Phillips said. “Now you see more of the color on the front of the tuxedo.”
Grooms this year should be looking sharp in suit jackets cut with attitude (think Andre 3000) for more formal weddings, while more laid back suits look great on the beach (if a suit is required at all).
Flowers: Though tight globes of flowers are gorgeous and organized, many brides – in their efforts to be unique – are going more for chains of orchids of deep purple and light pink, loose collections of calla lilies in black, maroon or yellow, as well as rounder bundles of roses jazzed up with wispy gloriosa, or nerine lilies in white, pink and crimson.
Modern styles also include special touches that go beyond ordinary, such as lush foliage, seed pods, twigs, feathers and sparkly spikes for a decidedly glamorous splash.
If you don’t want a fussy or extravagant spray, however, you’re not alone, said Thelma McGowan of Stadium Flowers in Everett and Lynnwood.
“Simple elegance,” McGowan said, is what many brides are looking for these days.
Gerbera daisies – in quaint clusters and stunning colors in bouquets or square glass vases for centerpieces – look calming and beautiful.
It was an idea that instantly appealed to Jennifer Stevens of Mountlake Terrace as she admired the Stadium Flowers booth at the Seattle Wedding Show and looked forward to her wedding at the Columbia Winery this coming summer.
“It want very simple, very classy, not obnoxious and overdone,” Stevens said, accompanied by her fiance, Chandler Fornia, who smiled sincerely and added: “I want whatever makes her happy.”
Reporter Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037 or sjackson@ heraldnet.com.
Event designers: Wedding planners excel at keeping all the details straight: When will the videographer arrive? Who will pick you up when everything’s over? But event designers – many of them style-conscious florists – take a holistic approach to your wedding’s decor to carry colors, themes and more throughout your wedding and reception so that centerpieces, chair covers, napkins, guest books and favors communicate a consistent and pleasant tone.
Miniature tiered cakes: Order a small cake for you and your honey to cut and eat, but put a quaint and cute cake at every place setting (for a pretty penny) and you’ll be one cutting-edge couple. If that’s too much for you, skip the cake all together and invite your guests to indulge in a dessert buffet with a chocolate fountain, of course. You’ll encourage socializing and schmoozing.
Colors: Chocolate brown and princess pink have been dominating the fashion world this fall, be it in the bedding section of Restoration Hardware or among the fashionable outfits at your favorite department store. Now the feminine-meets-masculine Neapolitan combination is setting the tone at weddings with pink orchids and chocolate-colored satin tablecloths.
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