Bride and joy (From The Oxford Times)

Bride and joy

12:27pm Friday 4th September 2009 in IMAGO / Intuition By Gill Oliver

Brides-to-be may be feeling the pinch like the rest of us, but that hasn’t stopped them from splashing out on their big day. And that applies espeically to the way they look when they walk down the aisle, according to Clare Gee who runs Proposals bridal shop in Witney.

“Brides are certainly not spending any less or compromising at all on their own wedding dresses,” she said.

This sentiment is echoed by designer Adel Kotze who creates bespoke wedding gowns from her studio in Woodstock.

“Girls want what they want. This is their Big Day and they want to look their absolute best,” she pointed out.

Part of the motivation to look fabulous is the wedding photographs, according to Bryony Thompson, who runs Simply Brides in Didcot.

“A bride’s appearance is so important to her on that day, so it is an area they are conscious of not skimping on.

Tying the knot out of season is also becoming more popular as it can result in saving as much as a quarter off the total cost of the wedding

“They will have to look at those wedding pictures for ever more, so they need to be right,” she added.

But with the purse strings tighter, something has to give and, according to Dusanka Vukoman at The Bridal Box in Oxford’s Banbury Road, it is often the accessories.

“We have noticed brides cutting costs by choosing cheaper shoes, borrowing a friend’s tiara or veil or ordering a tiara over the internet where the prices are lower,” she said.

The blushing bride may still be determined to look like a million dollars, but according to Clare Gee, there may be less bridesmaids to carry her train.

“We are finding they tend to be reducing the amount of bridesmaids that they are having because of the cost of their dresses,” she said.

Another money-saving ploy brides-to-be are taking advantage of is to go to high street stores such as Debenhams, BhS and Monsoon to kit out their bridesmaids, rather than buying them at a traditional wedding shop.

“Somewhere like BhS has got a fantastic range and I am not even going to bother to compete. The dresses in Monsoon are just amazing too,” said Bryony Thompson.

Of course, choosing bridesmaids is always tricky matter, recession or no recession, according to Nicky Ward at Sasha Bridal in Wantage.

“A lot of brides don’t want to offend anybody. So they say ‘Right I am not having any’ or ‘I’m just going to have my sister’.

“The whole ‘who do you pick?’ issue has a lot to do with it. If you have a big circle of mates, unless you have one specific best friend you have known since you were three, it can be awkward,” she said.

A bride will scale down her plans for the reception by inviting less guests or opting for a less expensive venue, rather than compromise on her own wedding gown it seems.

At Proposals, Clare Gee said they have noticed it is a case of ‘one extreme to the other’, as she explained: “We have dealt with many a bride over the past three to five months who has come in and announced she is getting married in three or even two months’ time.

“By doing things very much at the last minute they are able to pick up cancellations from wedding venues much, much more cheaply.

“Then, completely the other way, brides are coming in now to find a dress for a wedding that is not taking place until 2011.

“They find the dress they want, put down the deposit then carry on paying off small amounts over a longer period of time to spread the cost,” she explained.

Bridal shops are also seeing a lot of brides choosing to hold their nuptials during the week, rather than on a Saturday, because it is less expensive.

Tying the knot out of season is also becoming more popular as it can result in saving as much as a quarter off the total cost of the wedding.

“Wedding reception venues are offering quite a lot in the way of discounts during the winter months October and November,” pointed out Sasha Bridal’s Nicky Ward.

And it is not just the reception venues that are feeling the effects of the downturn. Proposals’ Clare Gee pointed out: “We are hearing stories from brides about how the caterers they had chosen went bust so they had to find another, that sort of thing”.

Finally, once the ring is on her finger, there is still plenty of time for the canny bride to keep her bank balance in the black by scaling down or even postponing plans for a honeymoon.

“The ladies I speak to don’t tend to be jetting off to as far-flung places as they used to. Instead of the Maldives or Barbados, they might be off to Europe,” said Bryony Thompson.

The Bridal Box’s Dusanka Vukoman added: “Many of the brides we see seem to be just heading somewhere like the Lake District or the south coast for a few days after the wedding.

“Then they plan a big, ‘proper’ honeymoon for the following year. It gives them plenty of time to recover from the expense of the wedding. Rather than skimp on it, they would rather hold off until the following year when they can spend whatever they want.”