Let them eat floor-to-ceiling, Swarovski crystal-encrusted, organic white chocolate wedding cake!
As millions of Americans sweat over their dwindling retirement funds and falling home equity, a bevy of starry-eyed brides-to-be descended on the tony Prince George Ballroom on East 27th Street for the annual Wedding Salon luxury bridal showcase.
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The one-day event – marketed toward the “top 1 percent of spenders” in the $125 billion wedding industry – was a chance for almost-weds with big dreams and bloated bank accounts to peek at $50,000 designer gowns, $2,000 wedding cakes and 5-foot-tall centerpieces.
“It’s a one-time thing,” said soon-to-be-married Jenny Park, 24.
“It doesn’t matter how the economy is doing as long as I can afford it. Who cares how Lehman Brothers are doing? It’s one day of my life.”
She said she’ll likely have 800 guests at her wedding, which will be in either Manhattan or South Korea, and is looking at Vera Wang dresses.
Cheryl Latvala, 25, of Ocean County, NJ, said she came to shop for wedding dresses.
“They have a better quality [of gowns] here, very high-end, very classy,” she said, surveying the dimly lit room where models in floor-length gowns paraded about in designs from the exclusive Bridal Reflections on Fifth Avenue.
Latvala, who was eyeing a $20,000 ruched-bodice dress, said she plans on dropping between $70,000 and $80,000 on her big day – way more than the national average of $28,000.
“You do it once, knock on wood,” she said.
Many of the florists, designers, and event planners said Wall Street’s woes aren’t stopping their clientele, who are firmly ensconced on Easy Street.
“This fall and this winter have been really good,” said upscale florist Golf Srithamrong. “I’m very busy.”
He proudly showed off a huge $2,000 centerpiece – featuring a clear cylinder vase filled with water and submerged Cynibidium orchids, then topped with 220 white roses and elephant’s-ear plant leaves – that he’d just used for a Long Island wedding.
Marc Wilson, an event designer, is constructing a ballroom-sized pool for an upcoming wedding that will be lit, filled with floating, multicolored orchids and topped with Plexiglas so guests can dance on top of the water.
Total cost – $550,000. And that’s not including labor.
Tatiana Byron, whose bridal company, Wedding Salon, held the chi-chi show, said brides are still going all out for their wedding, but many are sticking to a tighter budget and paring down guest lists.
“The new rule of thumb is: Who have we had dinner with in the past year?” she said.
“Six months ago, brides were going through the roof. That has changed. Budgets are tighter.”