Catherine Middleton's wedding dress set a new style standard for future brides walking down the aisle. Suddenly, long-sleeved wedding gowns, tiaras and veils are in vogue again. The Westminster Abbey spectacular also showed the world it's OK for bridesmaids to wear ivory (always has been in Great Britain).
But are brides-to-be in the Edmonton area caught up in afterglow of the royal wedding?
According to research in the August edition of Brides magazine, 52 per cent of American brides are more likely to wear a veil because of "The Kate Effect." One store has seen a 25-per-cent increase in orders for red aisle runners like the one Kate and William walked down in Westminster Abbey. And a California company reports a 200-per-cent increase in inquiries about horseand-carriage rentals.
Closer to home, brides seem slow to copy Kate, or are adding only touches of Kate to their big day.
For example, a replica of the Duchess of Cambridge's engagement ring, the same 18-carat sapphire ringed with diamonds that Prince Charles gave Diana, will be the "something blue" Megan Kempel wears when she marries Tyler Barbeau in October.
"I want the wedding to be about Tyler and I more than anything, but I am a fanatic, I love the royals," says the 26-year-old administrative assistant, who met Prince William and Catherine in Slave Lake, where Kempel lives, during their recent tour of Canada.
"I think it's really neat that we're getting married the same year, and now especially, having met them, it will be really cool (to wear the same ring as Kate)." Even though her friends goodnaturedly call her "a dork" for planning to do so, Kempel says, laughing.
Crystal's Bridal boutique has been fielding calls since the day of the wedding from women wanting to know if and or what Kate-related wedding things they carry. A lot of questions are about tiaras and veils, but most are about fascinators, those fanciful headpieces seen perched on the heads of most of the female royal wedding guests.
Some brides are trying to work fascinators into their own weddings, says Crystal's senior bridal consultant, Corinne Giduk.
The fancy English toppers are popular with bridesmaids and mothers of the bride and groom, although one bride, Ashley Ramey, plans to take off her veil after the ceremony in August and wear her wedding dress with a tiny top hat/fascinator with a little black net over the face at the reception.
"I just love Kate Middleton. I think she's a wonderful person and I like the (fascinator) style. I think it's so chic and cool," says the 23-year-old nursing student. "I like the way it looks on me. People say it's me when they see it because I like fashion."
The hat is fuchsia pink, in keeping with her wedding colours - fuchsia and orange.
"I wanted the bridesmaids to wear fascinators too, but honestly, my wedding is getting kind of expensive, so I can't," she explains. Besides, "some of them might have put the stinkeye to (the idea)," she says laughing.
Ramey is also copying the way Catherine and William held hands as they walked down the aisle after the ceremony.
"Her hand was cupped over his. That's how I want my fiancé (high school sweetheart Owen Brook) to hold my hand. I showed him. We've practised," she says laughing.
Two weeks ago, Crystal's Bridal, which promotes itself as the place for a "Princess on a Budget," received an ivory satin and lace clone of Kate's dress it had ordered from Bridalane International . It sells for $1,399.
The royal dress was made of higher-grade fabric, "but from a distance you wouldn't be able to tell the difference," Giduk says.
"We've had a few people try it on and they're pretty wowed," but no takers yet, which is understandable, she says.
Strapless gowns have been in so long, but long sleeves (last popular 30 to 35 years ago when Giduk herself was married) are breaking new ground, she explains.
The dress also has a full skirt with box pleats "so it's not a dress that a lot of bodies can wear successfully. It has a very fitted waist, so if you've got a lot of weight around your middle, it won't be your best style."
That's probably why no one is asking "do you have one like Kate's," Giduk says. They are asking about younger sister Pippa's ivory and satin crepe form-hugging bridesmaid's dress, which would make a very elegant evening gown, even though it also accents every figure flaw.
Pippa's dress is also drawing more interest than Kate's at Bridal Debut in Sherwood Park .
"We are of course bringing in dresses like (Kate's and Pippa's)," says owner Heather Dymchuk, but it will be September before they arrive.
"As far as I'm concerned, Kate's dress hasn't had a huge influence on the market," she says. That could change once the copies by Allure Bridals and Alfred Sung are available.
The Kate Middleton dress by designer Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen has traditional styling, reminiscent of the gown worn by actress Grace Kelly when she married Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956.
Brides today tend to favour a more modern look, Dymchuk notes. The royal dress is also very pointy in the bust "and lots of people didn't like that."
"There is so much out there to choose from. It's not like the old days when you had 100 dresses to choose from. Now you have a thousand different styles, so people can be very particular and wear what suits them," Dymchuk explains.
"I think (Kate's dress) missed its moment," she adds, speculating it was overtaken by Pippa's dress and those darn fascinators. News of terrorist Osama bin Laden's death two days after the wedding also cut short the wedding hype. Giduk thinks the interest in Kate's dress will be short-lived. It gives brides another option, she says, but fascinators will be around longer, well into summer 2012.
