Emerald Fennell’s recent movie adaption of the tragic live story is
influencing bridal trends at the National Wedding Show in London.Designer Josephine Scott says there are key features that her clients are looking for in their dres
“Draping in luscious fabrics, this is a beautiful drape. So it just
looks effortless, it looks like we are just trying to mould the figure
rather than force it into anything and just make it look naturally
beautiful. Also pick ups, one of my favourite trends. This is big time
going to come back around. It just adds a little bit more volume and a
little bit of texture, a little bit of interest rather than just your
typical A-line,” she says.Another striking new trend being shown by designer Alan Hannah on the catwalk is hand painted dresses.Each dress is bespoke and painted in Hannah’s London studio – the
bride can choose the colour or even the design of the fabric paint.A hand painted wedding dress from Alan Hannah costs around £5,000.In this economy, that’s a lot of money for a dress that will probably only ever be worn once.And with global events squeezing even this industry, prices are not likely to drop.The recent outbreak of war between the United States, Israel and Iran
shows no signs of resolution after talks held in Pakistan failed.Oil prices have risen in response and this has had a knock-on effect to the price of fabrics, shipping and transport.Josephine Scott says: “Prices are going up. We always try to keep the
prices fair as low as we can, but it’s just part of the world.
Everything is going up today.”Alan Hannah has been selling wedding dresses for 35 years and he’s seen a lot of global upheaval in this time.He admits fabric prices and shipping is increasing – he has many
clients in Japan, for example – but says he is able to mitigate some of
these additional costs by using recycled fabrics wherever possible.”Well, whenever there’s some kind of crisis the cost of shipping fabrics or even shipping dresses goes up,” he says.”But it’s something we’ve kind of learned to live with. We’ve been in
this for 35 years, so we’ve kind of seen it all before in some ways. So
it does fluctuate.”But dresses are just one example of wedding planning that could be more expensive.The fuel for the gas-guzzling limousine to the venue, the ingredients
for the cake and even the flowers – which have likely been grown abroad
and air-freighted to the UK.But for those planning a wedding or honeymoon abroad the situation is even more complex.Foreign weddings are popular with Brits tying the knot.For 30 years Sharron Masoura and her husband have been planning and hosting weddings in Cyprus.She says that – so far – the conflict hasn’t stopped happy couples from getting married on the island.
Sharron Masoura says: “It’s been a scary time where people have
thought about Iran, Lebanon, Israel which obviously are the closest…
we are one step before that. But it’s not affected us whatsoever.”The main impact of the war has been the rising fuel costs and her yachts – on which she hosts the weddings – are thirsty.”Which our main cost is fuel for the yachts and it’s very expensive.
And also for decorations, we need bands, we need transport, we need
lorries etc, we will absorb that. We have absorbed it. We will absorb
it,” she says.Travel consultant Ligia Schuurman at Not Just Travel is often tasked by couples to help them plan their dream wedding abroad.She says couples are getting more adventurous in their wedding destinations, with Antarctica proving increasingly popular.Ligia certainly specialises in unusual wedding locations – she
married her husband in a chapel beneath the earth in a Polish salt mine.But few destinations will be immune from rising fuel costs, and weddings are no exception.Ligia Schuurman says: “I think the current situation in the Middle
East is having an effect on holidays in general. I’ve personally not
seen it affect the destination wedding market yet because people are
booking in advance, when they’re going away they’re booking it in
advance. So we’re hoping that things will have changed by the time the
weddings come around. But the benefit is when you book it through a
travel agent, you’ve also got a lot more flexibility.”
