offers more selection in designs and sizes. But finding a dress at a consignment store can still give a bride her “wow moment.” Though Style Exchange only recently started selling wedding dresses, Mazzarini anticipates having anywhere from 10 to 20 dresses at a time. Dresses range from $100 for a less formal dress to $1,300 for a more traditional gown. “You can find so many hidden treasures in little boutiques and especially secondhand consignment stores,” Mazzarini says. And there are other options for brides looking to purchase a dress for less. This Magic Moment Wedding Sale offers sample dresses from local boutiques at much reduced prices.
THIS MAGIC MOMENT WEDDING SALE 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Sun., March 15. Greensburg Ramada, 100 Ramada Inn Drive, Greensburg. www.thismagicmomentweddingsale.com
“When a boutique buys a line of dresses, they have to buy every dress in the line,” says Mashel Rathmell, co-owner of This Magic Moment. “Sometimes they don’t sell because maybe the style isn’t as popular here. So they bring them to us.” Dresses at the This Magic Moment sale aren’t secondhand. They’re sample gowns that have often been tried on in stores. Rathmell says brides can expect to find $2,000 dresses and purchase them for as little as $500. “We really believe in people not living their lives in debt,” Rathmell says. “We often hear stories of people who regret spending so much on their dress. This frees them.” R NUTTA LL@ PGHC ITY PAP ER.CO M
Three Essential Rules for the Cookie Table: Bakers No store-bought cookies •••
Make your fanciest cookie
THE BRIDE WORE GREEN {BY REBECCA NUTTALL} Evites instead of invitations. Napkins made from recycled paper. Locally sourced cuisine. It’s now easier than ever to have a green wedding. And thanks to a growing trend called upcycling, brides and bridesmaids can even extend sustainability to the dresses they wear. “You usually spend a lot of money to wear this dress for only one day,” says Rebekah Joy, a local seamstress. “The main idea of upcycling is to take a garment that would probably not be worn again, remake it and give it new value.” Environmentally or budgetconscious brides and bridesmaids can incorporate upcycling into a wedding in two ways. Either they can choose to craft a new dress from a secondhand garment or, after the wedding, they can take their store-bought dress and have it transformed into a less-formal garment, instead of throwing it away or letting it hang unused in the back of the closet. “The trend means decreasing the amount of garments that end up in a landfill,” says Joy. “It gives a garment a second chance to be useful and beautiful.” Upcycling can also apply to altering an older garment. For a wedding, a bride might update her mother or grandmother’s old wedding dress. Brides without a family heirloom but who are still hoping to upcycle can scour local consignment shops. Even though Joy specializes in upcycling bridesmaid dresses after the wedding, she says it’s become more popular for brides to wear an upcycled dress on their big day. “It’s becoming more popular for brides to upcycle their mother’s gown,” says Joy. “They can even just take a part of it and incorporate it into their gown.”
“IT GIVES A GARMENT A SECOND CHANCE TO BE USEFUL AND BEAUTIFUL.”
say yes.
RNUTTALL@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
•••
Use butter
Three Essential Rules for the Cookie Table: Eaters No raiding the table until the cake has been cut •••
No trash-talking the cookies •••
Look away if granny fills a second — or third — bag
U.S. Median Age at First Marriage, by Year 1890: 23.6, 26.5 1950: 20.5, 24.... 2010: 26.9, 28.4....
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— U.S. CENSUS AND AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY
CP WEDDING ISSUE 2015
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