Email
Print
FeedAisle Style--Fashion
From boleros to custom-made jewelry, there are lots of ways to style yourself pretty for your wedding day.
after the party
What do you do with your gown after the night is over?
So you’ve shelled out hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars for your dress. What do you do with it after the wedding? Some brides preserve it. But others have bigger—sometimes trashy, sometimes charitable—ideas in mind.
Photographer Rob Nicholson of Humbled Eyes Photography has not only seen the latest in what brides do to their gown post-wedding, he’s documented it. Couples from across Delaware have turned to him for what Nicholson calls a “Trash the Dress” shoot. It’s a chance for the newlyweds to take somwwe daring shots that they wouldn’t ever consider before the ceremony. One bride took the opportunity to wear her dress into the ocean for a va-va-voom photo shoot. “A lot of brides say this is the last time I’m going to wear the dress,” Nicholson explains, which makes it a great time to take the picture that you couldn’t get without getting a little messy.
Other brides are looking to not just make memories in their gowns, but to make memories by selling gowns. For them, there is Making Memories. This group collects dresses and sells them at rotating locations across the country. The profits are used to grant a wish for metastastic breast cancer patients. Dates for 2008 sales are still being set, but the sales came through Drexelhill, Pennsylvania in 2007. If you’re looking to donate, send your dress to Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation, 12708 SE Stephens St., Portland, OR 97233.
And as always, Goodwill accepts bridal gowns, too. The sale of dresses, and all other donations, goes toward helping area residents find and train for jobs. There are 11 donation centers throughout Delaware.
Visit www.goodwillde.org/Donate_Find_Center.asp to find one near you.
One-of-a-kind love
There’s nothing standard about your fiancé or the wedding you’re planning, so choose a wedding band that’s as unique as the two of you. To find such a distinctive ring, consider custom-made jewelry. Stores across the area work with jewelers to cast molds for original designs. And why not? As
Paul Cohen, president of Continental Jewelers in
The process is a hands-on one, starting with a collaborative effort between the client (that’s you), the jeweler and the designer. The trio discusses options before a to-scale drawing is created. From that either a wax carving or a metal fabrication is created, which is used to shape the setting. Once the setting is formed, it’s polished, the prongs are finished, and then the stone is soldered. The whole process takes between four and eight weeks.
The customized ring comes with a steeper price tag—10 to 30 percent more—than the mass-produced versions. But that’s not an unbearable amount for many couples. “After all, you spend thousands to wear a dress for one night,” Cohen points out. “But you can spend less than that on a mounting and wear that for 50 years.”
If you know you want salon-ready hair and makeup on your wedding day, but you’re not necessarily up for the drive there, have no fear. Hair and makeup stylists are more than willing to come to your house to make their magic happen.
Of course, you’ll need a few things to make the process go smoothly. The most important thing to have is a place with good, natural lighting. Otherwise you and your bridal party might come out looking like a Delaware Theatre Company extra. A tall stool will keep your makeup artist from throwing out her back while she makes everyone pretty. And whatever you do, don’t forget the time element: You’ll need a half hour for each person’s makeup, and more if you’re having hair done, too. A good way to ensure that things move smoothly is to have a consultation with any stylists before the big day. “If not, it’s like playing a guessing game the day of,” says Jenna Patti, a makeup artist available through MAC cosmetics.
Of course, doing hair and makeup at home isn’t just a matter of saving a little time. They’re more intimate, too.
“I think it’s more personal,” Patti says. “If you go to a salon, there are other people there and it doesn’t feel like it’s your day. But if you get everyone at your house it feels more special.”
