Weddings are a timeless activity, and wedding gowns are a staple that crosses generations. But that doesn”™t mean they are recession proof. So as the Great Recession drags on into a lingering malaise, those loving couples who are taking the plunge are doing a bit more accounting first.
“Especially since the economy is making it harder on couples to marry, traditions are out the window and price is more the factor,” said Dominique Daniela Pino-Santiago, who designs and creates custom bridal gowns in New York. She said she has begun to offer a 10 percent discount if the bride pays for her gown upfront, as opposed to half on order and half upon delivery.
But economic sensibilities also have an upside. “Bridal gowns have become very non-traditional, and more personal,” Pino-Santiago said.
A 1999 graduate of Marist College, where she remains on the advisory board for the fashion program she studied internationally in Italy and London before starting her business in 2000. In 2004 Dominique Daniela Inc. opened her showroom in Manhattan for private consultations and fittings. She said that those heady times have given way to more personal involvement in every stage of the wedding.
“I have seen ceremonies become more intimate, so there are not as many guests at the wedding,” Pino-Santiago said. “Invitations are creative and often done by the bride, flowers are low budget and more seasonal and bridal parties are smaller.”
A little flair for the holidays
She said weddings at holiday times have a bit of extra flair in any economic climate and said her wedding dresses show that seasonal joy, with velvet and crystal trim, “elements of luxury” she said but low key.
“I have a vintage flare to my gowns, which fortunately is in fashion,” she said. “The old Hollywood look is very in.”
“What we are seeing as the new trend is the whimsical look and almost the vintage look in every gown,” said Paula Diccirillo, store manager at Fontana Bridal Salon in Scarsdale, where she has worked since 1985. “It”™s like a retro-era in a way, the ”™60s coming back, an elegance and sophisticated quiet look that make a statement.”
She said that is what ceremony is for and that in a sense, renders the occasion recession-proof. “Customers are spending a little less, but business is good.”
“A wedding is a wedding,” said Diccirillo. “Obviously the recession does affect everyone one way or another. But it”™s the bride”™s one day and one day only, and she wants to shine through it all. She will do her very best to shine through it.”
It is hard to determine a precise figure for costs of weddings, but on average in 2010 a web consensus puts the cost at about $20,000. But that is actually down from 2003, according to Conde Nast Bridal Infobank, when the average price was $23,200. More than 2 million couples tie the knot each year but whether that number has grown, diminished or remained the same since the meltdown of 2008 is unknown.
Calling the shots on the ceremony
One thing that has changed over time is the person writing the checks. The bride”™s family is the sole party footing the bill in only about a quarter of weddings these days, and the lucky couple itself are paying an increasing share of their own wedding expenses. They are in general staying engaged longer, an average of 16 months, according to Conde Nast, and their average age is more mature, with the bride having an average age of 26 and the groom now 29. Thus, they are more in a position to pay for their ceremony and call the shots.
“When I started making gowns the mothers would come in with their daughters and the mothers would have a lot to say and daughters would listen because their mother was paying,” said Constance Mundie, of Constance Designs in Katonah. “Now, the daughters have a lot more say.”
She said the recession impacted her 22-year-old wedding dress and design business and now she is doing a variety of clothing, including alterations, restorations, redesigns and renovations of fashion once considered passé. “I”˜m finding there is a bigger thing for saving money,” said Mundie. “Even wealthy customers are going through their closets and are having things redesigned, they don”™t have to, but it is the thing to do right now.”
She said she has recently refurbished wedding dresses removed from closets where they had hung since Mom was a bride, and said its partly economics and partly a fashionable choice.
