January 14, 2004
Nuptial agreements
Couples make wedding plans at Downtown Bridal Show
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Before a bride can be a queen for a day, she must first be a shopper for a year.
At least.
Making all the decisions large and small that go into a modern wedding was made a little bit easier Sunday afternoon at the 10th Annual Downtown Bridal Show. For four hours, 130 brides and their helpers - ranging from fianc‚s and mothers to sisters and friends - sampled cake, met photographers and videographers, pondered honeymoon destinations and sniffed flowers.
Many stayed for the fashion show, a hallmark of the event, that featured dream dresses, stylish tuxes, slinky gowns and sensibly elegant mother-of-the-bride ensembles.
Searching for the perfect bouquet was one of three items left on Jennifer Gregory's to-do list, as she browsed through the show with friend Jessica Deak.
"I'm actually here to look for the flowers, a photographer and cake," said Gregory, whose nuptials are scheduled for October. "It is helpful to have everything here, I have a lot of details to figure out."
"It is really easy to plan a spring or summer wedding, a fall wedding is so different," she added.
Spending an afternoon eating wedding cake samples of all flavors and styles was fun for Victoria Mitchell of Benzie County and Christopher Mekas of Interlochen. The couple attended the Bridal Show to finalize details for their September 25 wedding.
"We need a cake today," noted Mekas, while his betrothed discussed details with the owner of Kingsley Cakes.
Mekas is pleased to participate in the wedding planning - he was not a reluctant fianc‚ pining to escape what was traditionally a female endeavor.
"I want to be involved, I like details," he said. "It is better than her doing it all and my not liking something."
"We both have a lot of the same interests and likes, so what could be better than doing this together?" he asked rhetorically.
The enterprising couple has handled most of the wedding details themselves: Mitchell owns a flower shop and will be doing all floral arrangements. Other relatives are helping with the catering and decorations.
"Within in the first two weeks, we had the caterer, the theme and where the ceremony would be held," Mekas said. "There's a lot of details but it has gone more smoothly than I thought."
An all-time high of 32 vendors were on hand at the Bridal Show to help with questions and pitch their services.
In one case, a vendor planned to a little shopping herself.
Jessica Pociask is the co-owner of Take 1 Video Productions, along with her fianc‚, Mark Oldenburg. The Traverse City couple is planning a July 31 wedding and, although they are getting married downstate, Pociask spent part of the show checking out other booths.
"We're going to try to use as many local vendors as we can," she said, adding that her two years working other people's weddings has been helpful in planing her own. "We've shot enough weddings that we definitely know what we do want and what we don't want."
Video is no longer a high-tech option but a wedding must have, Pociask added. She and Oldenburg typically spend a whole day capturing wedding images, a marathon session starting on the bridal morning and ending with the couple leaving after the reception.
They also meet multiple times with the couple before the ceremony and spend 50-60 hours editing tapes shot from two cameras. Special songs or moments, stories and photos become part of the ongoing wedding narrative.
Pociask is honored to be involved with families at such a memorable occasion.
"The cool thing with our videos is that 25 years from now they can bring it out for a silver anniversary for everyone to watch," Pociask said.
"Some people have jobs that they like, we have found jobs that we love," she added.