Star-studded Design

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:57:00 GMT

Star-studded Design

While the marriage of Summer Bay's Leah Poulos and Vinnie Patterson might belong to the realm of soapie fantasy, Leah's gorgeous gown was every bit the real thing. ,Ä®When Home And Away actor Ada Nicodemou discovered that her character Leah was to be married to Vinnie (played by Ryan Kwanten), she knew exactly where she wanted to go for a bridal gown that would make her feel like a "princess".

Ever since she was a young child, Ada had dreamed of wearing a gown from Personalised Weddings Couture, a bridal boutique in Sydney's suburb of Earlwood. The fact that Ada would often drive past the boutique with her mother Jenny served only to fuel her fantasy of some day wearing her idea of the ultimate wedding dress.

When the wedding episode was anticipated, wardrobe mistress Lauryn Jackson warmed to Ada's suggestion that they visit Personalised Weddings Couture. Proprietor Virginia McGregor and designer Suzanna Blazevic collaborated with Ada and Lauryn to create Leah's exceptionally stunning gown.

Ada attended the store as though she were a true bride, enacting the real-life experience of having her dream gown custom-made, from consultation and design through to numerous fittings. First a calico toille was made, then Ada attended four subsequent fittings leading up to the big day. The result was an elegant duchess silk full gown married to a bodice bejewelled with Swarovski crystals and beadwork.

Personalised Weddings Couture also supplied a veil that would complement the gown perfectly.

Being involved in the creation of her gown as though she were a real- life bride helped Ada play her role with true emotion. As she reported in an interview with TV Week, "As soon as they did my hair and makeup and I put the veil on, I started crying. It was a very emotional experience for me."

The most talked-about television wedding of the year was featured over two nights. Who can forget the moment when Leah, abundantly radiant and princess-like in her exquisite gown, walked down the aisle to marry her kilt-clad co-star in a Greek Orthodox ceremony.

"Article by Liani Solari published in Complete Wedding (Sydney)" , February 2002

Brides charged to try on wedding dresses

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:10:33 GMT

By Elle Halliwell
From:
The Daily Telegraph <http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/> June 29, 2008 12:00AM

HIGH-end designers are charging brides-to-be hundreds of dollars to try on wedding dresses _ to deter single women and time-wasters.

They are tired of women wanting to emulate Toni Collette's character in the movie Muriel's Wedding, who tried on dresses for fun and fantasy.

Designers and bridal store owners in the UK and New Zealand routinely charge for first-time visits and now a growing numberof wedding dress businesses in Australia are following suit. They say they are fed up with browsers who are either not getting married or can't afford the dresses they want to try on. Designer Alex Perry already charges $350 for a two-visit consultation with women interested in buying one of his haute couture wedding creations, which are priced from $8000. He said the charge, which was deducted from a purchase, was a good way to determine if they were serious about buying.

"It deters people who just want to come and pick my brain,'' he said. "I'm at that stage in my career when it's fine if you do that, but you're going to have to pay me for it.'' But with the average Australian wedding costing about $35,000, brides believe having to pay to try on or even discuss their wedding dresses is ridiculous.

Bride-to-be Alicia Godoy, of Carlingford, recently bought a wedding gown from Personalised Weddings Couture at Earlwood, which charges no appointment fee. She said the try-on fee could end up adding hundreds of dollars to the price of a wedding dress, which was often expensive enough. 'If I loved the dress and they refunded the money then OK, but if I didn't love the dress I'd be kind of annoyed,'' she said.
"It can be a nuisance if you go from one store to another and spend all that money.''

Dressmakers say some women visit as many as nine stores before deciding on a dress.

The owner of Brides Of Beecroft, Wendy McGregor, said she had spoken with many bridal store owners who wanted to charge women for appointments to try on their off-the-rack designs."You'll have aunties and mothers come in with the bride and, even though they might not have the budget for a gown, they'll tell her, 'Oh, just try it on for fun!''' she said."If we all agreed that we'd charge $50 for trying on, it would cover dry-cleaning and any repairs.''

Neutral Bay bridal couture store Helen Rodrigues recently began charging $75 if a person cancelled within 24 hours of a consultation. Designer Lisa Gowing, who doesn't charge women to make or cancel an appointment, said the policy had merit and could reduce the risk of copying and damage."We've trained for years to get where we are and not everybody providing gowns has the expertise.''