From intimate $150,000 affairs for 60 close friends and relatives to $15 million extravaganzas for 2,000 guests flown in from around the world, posh weddings are still being held by the rich and famous across the U.S. despite the turbulent economy.
The royal wedding or Chelsea Clinton's marriage vows may have received most of the headlines recently, but there is no shortage of other well known and wealthy couples tying the knot. For high-net-worth families, it is possible for a bride-to-be to have 12 wedding day dresses-one for each wedding day event-ranging in price from $8,000 for the most casual, to $35,000 for the vow-taking ceremony dress. Each dress requires separate shoes, accessories and jewelry.
"Weddings help drive the economy," notes Haley Hughes of En Vogue (www.envogueevents.com) in Houston, where the oil and gas industry keeps the high-end wedding market alive and well.
En Vogue has staged some unusual affairs and no two are alike, notes Hughes. For one, a theater company provided actors who dressed up in table costumes, from which they served appetizers as they mingled in the crowd. They also had actors suspended from the ceiling serving champagne.
"We also have to keep up with the latest in technology," Hughes says. One wedding had glass tabletops that made waves and ripples appear whenever a plate or glass was placed on the surface.
Each detail is designed to reflect the wedding couple's likes and lifestyle, wedding planners say. Robbin Montero, owner of Dream Wedding (www.a-dreamwedding.com) in Sonoma, Calif., staged a ceremony where actors, buglers and bagpipe players dressed up as Renaissance characters and mingled with the guests.
"That was a first for me," says Montero, who stages weddings in California's wine country. Other weddings reflect golf, fishing or other themes, but whatever the theme, the planner wants just enough to make a subtle statement rather than being overwhelming, the planners say.
Carol Marino of A Perfect Wedding (www.aperfectwed.com) in Fairfax, Va., plans affairs that range from six figures to $1 million for Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 company executives, among other wealthy clients.
Tables are sometimes done in themes or 'tablescapes,' she says, and can have layers of colors.
"One client wanted Riedel glasses, an expensive glassware that enhances the depth and flavor of the wine. When you have multiple wines and champagne, the glassware itself can add up in cost," she notes. Some couples place expensive champagne in each guest's room to welcome them, she says.