Diamonds Bridal Exhibition & Fashion Show has been showcasing gowns that are modern and high-end fashion for traditional and non-traditional brides since last year.
Husband and wife team Lee and Danielle Ford, coordinate the event that happens twice a year in September and January to show Lethbridge the outstanding quality of what the bridal industry has to offer local brides.
“We really wanted to step it up and offer an excellent show to Lethbridge in hopes that we’ll have all of what the brides are looking for here locally,” said Lee Ford.
Stepping into the Diamonds Bridal Show brides are presented with a passport checklist that is checked off when they visit each vendor.
With more than 50 exhibitors the
passports are then entered into a draw to win over $15,000 worth of prizes to choose from.
It also gives brides a chance to see what each vendor has to offer and makes for a bigger traffic flow to businesses.
Companies such as caterers, cake decorators, photographers, hair salons, florists, limousines and dance studios are just some vendors in the fashion show.
Urban Beat Dance Studio was honoured to be a part of the fashion show for the first time giving free ballroom dance lessons to the bride, groom or anyone that wanted to learn how to dance.
Owned by dance instructor Brittany Thompson-Deines and helping assist her is Alex Doran, Urban Beat is offered to any- one of all levels and ages by a professional teacher specializing in ballroom, hip-hop, jazz, salsa and ballet among others.
“Usually the groom will be nervous when they first start out, but by the end
they enjoy learning the dance moves since they’re fun and challenging,” said Thompson-Deines.
Aside from showcasing vendors, the purpose of bringing Diamonds Bridal to Lethbridge was to help keep the spark in the bridal fashion industry close to home.
“Lethbridge was lacking in style of fashion (for dresses) at a classy location, so we wanted to give brides a lot of variety and for them to see as many dresses as they could in a short amount of time,” said Danielle Ford.
During the fashion show 100 dresses are marked with a number and if the brides like the dresses they can mark down which ones they like by their number. They can then bring their pamphlet to Once Upon a Bride to begin picking out their dream dress.
Specific trends seen this year were the mermaid style, heavier lace from applique? to a softer net embroidered lace and pops of colour that exude individuality.
This year a special assortment of gowns were released for a limited time only, the Cinderella Diamond Collection was cre- ated by Alfred Angelo from his Fairy Tale Weddings collection.
Five dresses were made in honour of the release of the Disney Cinderella Diamond Edition DVD and three were showcased in the fashion show.
All of the dresses displayed in the fashion show are from Once Upon a Bride along with sister store Belle Fiore both owned by Danielle Ford. She has been in the bridal business for 13 years and finds making brides happy a very rewarding experience.
“I love interacting with the customers, meeting new ones and getting feedback. Shopping for a wedding dress will be one of the biggest and most expensive dresses you’ll wear so it’s important to find the right one for you,” she said.