January 11, 2006
Bridal Show brings together 34 vendors for couples making plans for the big day
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Four members of the U-19 Northstars hockey team missed a game Sunday afternoon to model bridal gowns at the 12th Annual Downtown Bridal Show.
The hard-charging hockey players turned into Cinderellas for a seminar on gowns put on by Fashion Formals, trading body padding and blades for tulle, sandals and silk.
"It's every little girl's dream," said Kira Slosser of Suttons Bay about wearing bridal gowns.
During the seminar, which was held at the Park Place Hotel, these teens also got to test drive styles and materials for a number of gowns. They gathered information that may come in handy later.
"Some are really comfortable and others are really itchy," said Allyson Henning, a senior at Traverse City West High School, adding: "It's kind of like going to prom but you're all in white and beads."
Upstairs in the Park Place Dome, nearly 200 brides and an accompanying 600 family members checked out 34 wedding vendors offering everything from clothing and cakes to destinations and disc jockeys. The Downtown Traverse City Association sponsored the show, giving prospective brides a chance to gather ideas while comparing prices and vendors. A fashion show featuring bridal gowns, tuxes and other wedding party wear was a highlight of the show.
"We have a lot out of the way, I'm here to look at flowers and catering," said Ashley Blaum, a senior at the University of Michigan planning an August wedding. "It's fun to go around and look at all the stuff, things you never thought of. This place puts it all together for you."
Best friends Kristi Long and Nicki Lawrence were browsing the bridal show in anticipation of their weddings next year.
"I've got all my ideas picked out, I just need to fill in," said Lawrence.
Despite the new year being barely two weeks old, vendors found that many brides were planning for the 2007 season.
"They're already thinking that far ahead," said Terri Javin, co-owner of To Have and To Hold Bridal Boutique and Formal Wear.
The gown session was one of a number of seminars that brought together experts from a consortium of area wedding vendors known as Traverse City Weddings. Topics included creative centerpieces, themes, cakes and planning.
During one seminar, Lori Dawson, co-owner of the Underground Cheesecake Company, noted that brides could coordinate decorations, cakes and centerpieces to pull together a memorable - and personalized - theme. Themes are limited only by the bride's imagination and ingenuity. Dawson recalled a beach theme that used upside-down sand buckets for centerpieces and Frisbees for cake plates while another couple had a martini wedding featuring a gaudy colored cake and martini accessories everywhere.
"You're spending an incredible amount of money on this day and you want it to be memorable," she said. "The design of the room makes all the difference in the world and if it's all pulled together, you will remember it and so will they."
Ice cream cakes in August? How does it stay frozen? Those were questions Nancy Plummer and her son, Jon, fielded with aplomb during the show as many attendees stopped by for a sample. The owners of Moomer's in Long Lake Township expanded into the highly-competitive field of wedding cakes in 2004. They now create a frozen cake for about 15 weddings a year. The operation makes cakes from among their 80 flavors of ice cream, or a couple can request a custom flavor, so the sky's the limit
Keeping the confection - which can be all ice cream or ice cream and cake - cold is simply a matter of planning and logistics. Even outdoor beach weddings at the height of summer are not out of the question.
"The guests just marvel at the cake because they've never seen anything like it before at a wedding," said Plummer. "It's something different, something fun. And we can do sundae bars, too."
"You cut an ice cream cake different than a regular wedding cake - we learned that by trial and error," she added.