A fairy-tale wedding never took a recession into consideration.

“We started planning our wedding a year ago,” said Lori Sabatello, 27, of Mount Sinai. “If we were doing it now, and this is how the economy was, we would have invited less people or had it at a less expensive place.”

Businesses catering to Long Island weddings – events frequently considered to be models of extravagance – are feeling the pinch as more and more couples worried about the souring economy scale back their festivities.

“I would say it’s the slowest it’s been in 15 years,” said Victoria Buckwald, co-owner of Angel Bridals, a bridal shop in East Islip.

“More girls have a specific budget in mind, and it’s down from the budget that they would have had a year ago,” said Buckwald, who said she began noticing changes in brides’ spending habits about a year and a half ago.

Buckwald said she’s noticed women borrowing headpieces and other accessories from their friends, or buying wedding dresses off the rack and having alterations made instead of custom-ordering a gown.

“You look to save money in any way that you can,” said Sabatello, whose wedding to her high school sweetheart is Nov. 7 at Infant Jesus Roman Catholic Church in Port Jefferson. “It’s a lot of money when you start adding everything up.”

Gary Cress, fourth-generation owner of James Cress Florists in Smithtown and Port Jefferson, feels the impact of price-conscious brides on his cash register.

For one recent wedding, Cress’ shop crafted the table arrangements – but that was all.

“The bride went to Stop & Shop for her bouquets,” he said. “I was absolutely floored.”

In years past, Cress said, it wasn’t unusual for brides to come to him and say they had consulted with two other florists. Now, it’s more like seven or 10. “The competition is much more prevalent,” he said.

To stay afloat, Cress finds himself changing his sales tactics. He hasn’t lowered prices generally but he is negotiating more with brides on the cost.

“I don’t let any brides walk,” he said. “If they come in with a certain amount of money to spend, I give them their flowers. You can’t let some supermarket do your wedding. It needs to be done correctly.”

Guest lists also are taking a hit. Michael Burbage, banquet coordinator for Beckwith Pointe Catering in New Rochelle, said Friday that many guests are not attending his clients’ weddings because they can’t afford the travel and hotel costs, or even an adequate gift.

“I have a couple getting married this weekend and almost 35 percent of guests said no,” said Burbage, whose clientele is about 10 percent Long Islanders. Couples have resorted to “going to their C and D lists” to maintain the minimum number of guests needed to keep their room, he said.

Sabatello said that out of 180 guests she and her fiance invited, 120 responded with one week left to go until the RSVP date. So far, 21 guests – mostly from out of state – declined the invitation.

Debbie Golden, 26, of Coram, has a guest list of 125 and is counting on 100 showing up at her wedding in May. “We didn’t invite a lot of out-of-towners,” she said, so there’s no need to worry about long-distance cancellations.

But one of the out-of-towners is her sister – who’s in the wedding.

“She’ll show up. Well, hopefully,” she said with a laugh.

Many Long Island catering halls haven’t noticed a big change since the economic slump. Bruce Cocchi, banquet director of Watermill Caterers in Smithtown, said he’s noticed a slight decrease, “but nothing dramatic,” in guest attendance.

“Maybe some people are concerned about their jobs and giving gifts,” Cocchi said, “but I think most people, when it comes to a wedding, realize that the importance of the date has to supersede something as superficial as money.”

source content: http://www.newsday.com

Frugal is the new frilly when it comes to matrimonial chic. The shaky economy has brides and grooms feeling the wedding squeeze. The bride usually wears something borrowed, not everything borrowed.

“they use their mother’s veil, their sister’s head piece, the slip from the friend who just got married,” said rosemary marsh of angel bridal.

And these days, what’s not borrowed is tightly budgeted. Brides like Kristy Kulynch, whose fiance had his overtime slashed, are scaling back their big day. She’s making her own invitations and centerpieces and moved the honeymoon from the south pacific to the south.

“Instead of doing Bora Bora like we wanted to do, we are going to Mexico,” said bride to be Kristy Kulynch.

Wedding industry vendors say brides are planning their dream day with sobering realism, comparison shopping more than ever.

Caterers say couples are still booking, but cutting frills.

“If they were doing Viennese they would probably hold back on that. If they are doing gala stations and food stations,” said Kumar Anne of Venetian Yacht Club.

“They know what they want and they want to know what we can do for them, so it’s pretty much like car shopping,” said florist Gary Cress.

But Stu Freeman, publisher of Long Island Bride and Groom magazine says there is a danger in cutting back too much. He says you can’t have a do over, the wedding is usually a one shot deal.

“You buy a pot online, you don’t buy your wedding dress online, you will buy the size you think you are and it just doesn’t work,” said Marsh.

Freeman also says more grooms’ parents are chipping in on wedding expenses. For Kristy and Richard the wedding will go on, but their focus, she says, is more on the dream marriage than the dream party.

“It is the biggest day of your life but we have to cut corners so we are not in the hole when we are done,” said Kulynch.

source content: NBC

Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony renewed their wedding vows “on the spur of the moment” yesterday morning .

The singer-and-actress and her singer spouse decided to reaffirm their love for each other following a night out with friends New York Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran and his wife Jessica, who also renewed their vows at Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace’s Forum Tower Penthouse.

A source revealed: “It was totally a spur of the moment thing. They decided around 12.30 in the morning that they wanted to do it and started calling for ministers. “Carlos gave his wife a specially engraved ring and gave Marc and Jennifer special rings as gifts.

Carlos and Jessica renewed their vows first, then Jennifer and Marc went.” The decision came after the foursome enjoyed a private dinner at Bradley Ogden followed by some time in the casino.

The source added to People magazine: “They were both winning at the craps table and Marc kept saying that it was going to be a lucky night. It was nearly flawless. “Initially, they were supposed to do the ceremony outside on the suite’s balcony but it was too cold, so they had to move it inside.

That was the only thing that didn’t go according to plan. “Marc actually said the suite was so beautiful that it deserved it’s own zip code. He thought it was perfect.” Wearing a black dress,

Jennifer – who has been married to Marc for four years – looked “beautiful” for the ceremony which was conducted in front of 12 witnesses.

However, Jennifer – who gave birth to twins Max and Emme in January – was not joined by her close family. The source explained: “Her parents didn’t even see it because they were with the babies.” Following the ceremony, which took place at around 3.15am, the couples celebrated with a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne.

By JILL MCNEAL
6 News Anchor/Reporter

SEYMOUR (WATE) — A Sevier County woman is preparing to celebrate her 51st wedding anniversary without her wedding rings.

Mary Lou Haynes believes they slipped off her finger when she was running errands in Seymour, either at the Kroger shopping center on Chapman Highway or at the McDonald’s a few blocks down the road.

“Both of us went to Park Lowry Elementary School and we’d walk to school together,” says Mary Lou.

Since then, she and her husband Bob have not been apart.

“I never did date anyone else and he didn’t either,” she says.

At ages 17 and 18, they got married. ”I just wanted to be with him and I loved him.”

They sealed their vows with a simple wedding ring set.

“He told me it was just a little ring and he told me he’d buy me some new ones sometime,” she says.

Bob kept his promise, with a new set on their 25th anniversary.

“It was a white gold band with five or six diamonds in the band and then the ring guard has three at top and three at bottom,” Mary Lou says.

It was Friday, September 19, when Mary Lou realized she had lost them.

“When I went to get my rings out of that little box, it was gone. I know I had to lose it in that parking lot or at McDonald’s. We looked everywhere for them,” she says.

Now, Mary Lou is hoping someone found her rings and can find it in their heart to return them.

“They mean everything to me. They’re sentimental to me. They wouldn’t mean that much to somebody else,” she says.

If you’ve found Mary Lou’s wedding rings, please email 6 News at newsroom@wate.com

Washington, Oct 4 : Bristol Palin, the 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and her boyfriend are considering a summer wedding.

Bristol’s 18-year-old fiance Levi Johnston’s mother, Sherry, has told Associated Press that the couple is considering next summer for marriage.

“But that could change,” Us magazine quoted her, as saying during a short interview outside her home in Wasilla, Alaska. The baby is due in late December.

It was on September 1 that Palin announced her unwed daughter was pregnant.

In a short statement, the McCain campaign later announced: “Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family.”

Levi’s mother, Sherry, later disclosed that her son, a former high school hockey player, was the father.

— ANI