January 15, 2003
Bridal show provides solutions for nuptial necessities
Annual Downtown Bridal Show features flowers, favors, photos and food for couples preparing for wedding day
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Flowers and favors, photos and food.
These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many decisions facing a future bride. Navigating the maze to a successful, meaningful and memorable wedding can be daunting, but vendors at the 9th Annual Downtown Bridal Show hoped to make the task a little bit easier.
Held Sunday afternoon at the Holiday Inn, the show featured 30 area businesses and a fashion show for the bridal party. Businesses attending ranged from reception halls and bridal shoes (including swank white tennies) to disc jockeys and cake makers, who offered samples of their confections.
Sonya Davis of Traverse City was attending her first wedding show, pulling together the final details before her March 29 wedding. With her mother, Toni Clous, in tow, the two had a goal of finalizing music for the ceremony.
Davis has been working on her wedding since June, when she found her dress. She noted the seven-month quest has been stressful but exciting and that she was surprised by how much there is to do.
"The biggest challenge has been staying sane," she joked, adding that she and her fianc‚ are also building a house. "There at times when it was, 'Oh, gosh, I thought that was going to be harder,' and other times when something was much harder than I thought."
Lovebirds Tim Groesser of Cedar and Rachel Brackette of Lake Ann made it look easy as they worked their way through the show, stopping often for an affianced kiss. The two will be wed on August 31 and are involving both families in their large wedding, which will feature seven bridesmaids and nearly 300 guests. The couple are still searching for a church and reception hall, but have a pastor lined up and hope to finalize the other details soon.
"Everybody in the family is pitching in, cousins, aunts, everyone," said Brackette, who was checking out dress styles that she and her mother could use when making her wedding dress. "We are doing everything on a small budget and would save up to do it ourselves, but this way brings the family together."
Making decisions in time is key as the wedding industry is booming. Getting the all-important location is one of the biggies, said Larry Brown, food and beverage director of High Pointe Golf Club. Brown, who was already talking to prospective brides about dates in 2004, said his organization hosted weddings every Saturday from the first of May through October last year.
"The hardest thing is finding a church and a reception site available on the same day," Brown said. "Once they do that, they can relax."
Preservationists also weighed in at the show, focusing on making the memories last. There was a dry cleaner promising to save the gown for future generations, a florist noting that freeze dried flowers would last a lifetime and a framer displaying unique visual compilations of wedding memories.
"They come up with a lot of ideas to remember the event: flowers, bow ties, handkerchiefs," said Jeff Needham, owner of Bay Shore Framing, who offers specialty framing services for weddings. "We create a unique design and make it personal to the client."
Elaine Sadler, co-owner of Modern Cleaners, glided through the show in full bride regalia - minus the cowboy boots she was tempted to wear. Wearing her own gown from her June wedding, she was a walking demonstration of the merits of gown preservation versus a pillowcase in the attic.
"I just took my dress out of the box to wear today," she noted. "It is fun to be a bride again."