NEW YORK (AP) - The dresses are still white, feminine and romantic. But the details in the latest collections of bridal gowns look new.

Noticed: More ethereal Grecian silhouettes, slender waist lines, bubble hems, mermaid hems, metallics and Chantilly lace.

“Dresses used to be more similar from season to season, but now they’re taking inspiration from ready-to-wear,” said Theresa DiMasi, editor in chief of Brides.com, after attending a week of bridal collection shows here earlier this month.

The metallic accents, along with attention to the waistline, are straight from the high-fashion runways. It’s worth noting that the line between fashion designer and bridal designer is blurring – Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera and Badgley Mischka all present separate wedding collections, and Vera Wang and Monique Lhuillier, who both have their roots in bridal, are full-fledged fashion players.

Brides who like these au courant looks will have to be patient, and hope the fashion details have some staying power. The collections are aimed for release this fall, and most gowns purchased won’t be worn until a wedding next spring.

In keeping with spring thinking, many of the dresses were floaty and dreamy, DiMasi said, but there also was an effort to make them body conscious.

“Designers know that brides are in great shape, whether they’re 20 or 40, so all the silhouettes aimed to show that off. Mermaid hems, trumpets, fluted gowns – they all have elongated waists and there were not nearly as many ballgowns,” she said.

De la Renta said he tried to take into consideration that brides are getting married in a variety of places and destinations.

“For this collection, I designed something for every kind of bride. Flowing silk chiffon draped gowns for an island destination wedding, silk brocade cocktail dresses for the fashion-forward city bride, to romantic embroidered ball gowns for a classic countryside wedding,” de la Renta.

Overall, the gowns also weren’t heavy on beading or embellishment, instead opting for bows, ribbons or even colored flowers as trim.

Sequins were more popular for cocktail-length dresses, which DiMasi presumes to play into another trend – the trend of two wedding dresses. One is grand and traditional for the ceremony, and the other is shorter for the reception and possibly even an after-party.

If you’ve always dreamed of a wedding at sunset on a beach in the Caribbean or in a small chapel amidst the wine fields of France, it’s nice to know that this fantasy destination wedding can become a reality — and for a lot less hassle and expense than you may have thought. More and more couples today are heading to exotic locales to be married because a resort wedding is intimate, easy, and often less expensive.Today’s society is mobile. With friends and family scattered all over, guests often have to travel long distances to a wedding. Couples are opting for a destination wedding where their guests get a mini-vacation and are able to enjoy several relaxed days with one another — a lot more quality time than a typically short domestic wedding.Many resorts offer free weddings and provide on-site wedding coordinators who can organize the ceremony, entertainment, photographers, and more. These wedding planning packages mean that the details are taken care of for you. So, instead of spending the day before the wedding running hundreds of errands, you are relaxing on the beach, no frenzy taking care of last-minute preparations. And, an all-inclusive resort provides the food and beverage as part of the vacation package. So, for couples looking to create a really memorable occasion without breaking the bank, destination weddings are a perfect option.Many of the same tips for honeymoons apply for destination weddings, such as planning your budget, obtaining the correct documents (and knowing the legalities of marrying in your chosen destination), honeymoon registries, and learning about the area and sharing that with your guests.There are, however, specific things you need to keep in mind when planning a destination wedding. Your guest list and the budgets of those on it are important when determining a location. The timing of the wedding — so guests can afford the time away from home — is also critical. Be sure to let them know about your plans as far in advance as possible. Also, you might want to add a personal touch to your ceremony by bringing special decorations and favors from home to make your wedding truly your own.A local contact at your wedding location, and a knowledgeable travel consultant, are essential to ensure that your destination wedding is a success. The on-site planner can coordinate the specifics of your wedding details, and a travel consultant with expertise in planning destination weddings can provide your guests with all the information they need to plan their trip - and even book them through group promotions and special packages.A destination wedding can be a very romantic way to say “I do.” Above all else, remember to HAVE FUN — the wedding is one small part of the occasion –- the fond memories and the enduring marriage is most important.

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 03/16/07

So we’ve been engaged for six weeks, and so far nothing at all is different about our lives.

Except it’s slightly more miserable.

I’ve already written about the confusion of the wedding registry and the stress of The List. This prompted unsolicited advice from assorted men about how to handle the misery that is wedding planning.

Male opinions about wedding planning are apparently universal. I’ll let my bitter divorced friend Jim sum them up for us.

“Appear interested, but let her have her way in absolutely everything,” he told me.

“It’s a wedding, which means you are an appendage — you are an accessory in the way that her bouquet is an accessory.”

The fiancee wants her future hubby to be, uh, engaged in the process, so I shouldn’t agree with her on everything.

“Pick your spots,” Jim said. “Disagree, and then give in, or have an opinion that will match up to hers.”

I’m good at both having opinions and giving in to Deb, so I could do this. The first major decision of planning a wedding is picking a reception hall — a process that has proved stressful to Deb and, therefore, really stressful for me.

We (Deb) are looking for a place that is slightly less traditional. So far, we have checked out a flower shop turned party space with a 10-foot working marionette. The marionette is truly one of the most awesome things I have ever seen, but perhaps it’s a little too shocking for guests (our parents) who are more accustomed to balloons rather than a moving metal thing at the entrance to a wedding.

We visited the nightclub downstairs from our apartment, which I used to hate because drunken meatheads wake us up at 4 a.m. when they leave the place. But for a wedding, the club would be very sleek and cool — except the larger-than-life half-naked pictures on the walls might upset some of our more traditional guests. Like our parents.

We checked out a former MTV “Real World” house, which is now an art gallery. It’s a beautiful space, but somehow beginning our marriage at the former home of the most morally repugnant people on earth seems like bad karma.

Two weeks ago we went to a bridal show at a fancy establishment with our friends Sam and Sarah, who got engaged a few days after us (they totally copied us). Bridal shows, for those who like to scam free food and booze, are amazing: You attend a mini-cocktail hour and all you have to do is shoot the breeze with the people who work there.

Deb and I will take off our rings and go to bridal shows long after we get married. I can’t believe I just now found out about this.

Unfortunately, Deb thought the food tasted like it was leftover from a wedding last year. But Sam and I didn’t care, so while the ladies toured the place we had some roast beef and ginger ale until the hall manager stopped by our table. He thought Sam and I were the ones getting married (or having a commitment ceremony).

That was awkward.

It’s not over, of course. After we pick a place, there are other decisions I will have to (pretend) to make with Deb:

Whether to have groomsmen, and if so, whether to give them one of four sanctioned groomsmen gifts: Money-related (money clip, combination watch-money clip), time-related (pocketwatch, pocketwatch keychain), alcohol-related (beer mug, shot glass, flask) or cuff-related (930 kinds of cuff links, most of which are golf-related).

Whether to allow rice to be thrown, despite the urban myths that rice kills birds and makes Grandma slip. Birdseed, seriously, is apparently an alternative, as are bubbles. But if you go with the bubbles, should you buy bubble boxes in the shape of a married couple for $4.95 each? Or will the cheesiness of that sentiment drip on the ground in a big Velveeta mess, making Grandma slip and the birds die anyway?

The bride should wear “something blue,” according to an old English tradition, but does the white thong with a blue “I do” written in cursive qualify, even if that is definitely NOT in the spirit of the tradition?

So far, I’m leaning toward money clips and birdseed and blue underwear.

At least that’s what I’ve been told.

By ERIN EDGEMON Business Editor

Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of wedding-related stories set to run in February, a month when many couples get engaged and start planning their weddings.

Valerie Mobley wanted to give her daughter her dream wedding, but she had no idea the big day would end up costing so much.

“My daughter basically said I want this, this and this, and I said we have $10,000 and let’s make it work,” Mobley said. “When it was all done, we spent $30,000.”

Mobley is not alone.

The average cost of a wedding in the Murfreesboro area is $26,580, according to data from The Wedding Report.

A few extra details can easily raise the price tag of a wedding by several thousands of dollars depending on the type of reception, flowers and number of guests.

For those who can’t afford such a lavish affair, there really isn’t much help out there. Parents or the engaged couple can get a personal loan from their bank or just do whatever they can to fit the occasion in their budget.

Some say hiring a wedding planner who can secure special deals will save money and valuable time, and others are of the opinion that doing it yourself is the biggest money saver.

Mobley’s daughter, Amy Ragsdale, wanted a winter wonderland theme for her Jan. 6 wedding.

Ragsdale’s father built the scenery, complete with wooden deer and sled, real trees and sparkling lights, for the wedding at a price tag of $500 saving the family thousands of dollars.

Meg Walker said her family has saved thousands of dollars by using a wedding planner. The budget for her wedding slated for June 2 in Savannah, Ga., is $15,000.

Heritage South Credit Union offers a 1 percent lower rate on personal loans for weddings, said Lynn Knowles, financial services representative at the Murfreesboro branch of the Shelbyville-based credit union.

Lee Moss, president and chief executive officer of MidSouth Bank, said the bank doesn’t have too many clients who come in asking for a wedding loan. Personal loans are available for such an occasion.

“The majority of weddings that are financed are paid for in full, or the majority of it would be paid for by the parents,” he said. “It is highly likely that someone else would pay the loan or co-sign it for young adults that are getting married.”

For smaller amounts — a few thousand dollars — Moss expects couples are charging wedding expenses on their credit cards.

Wilson Bank & Trust offers a bridal registry for newlyweds. It is a money market savings account where friends and family can deposit money for the couple.

The program is designed to help the couple purchase their first home, said Phyllis Jamison, mortgage assistance administer for the Lebanon-based bank, but the money can be used for anything.

Once couples are signed up, Wilson Bank & Trust will post a wedding announcement in the local newspaper notifying the public of the wedding and of the account.

Brentwood-based wedding planner Alice Hendry said weddings are becoming more intimate affairs with fewer guests.

“Weddings are really changing and that is driving the cost a different way,” she said. “They are becoming more cost effective that way.”

Hendry is having more brides and grooms split the cost of weddings giving grooms a more vested interest in planning the event.

Weddings planned by Hendry usually range from $10,000 to nearly $80,000.

Usually the reception eats up more than half of the wedding’s entire budget, she said. That price could be higher or lower depending on if alcohol is served, the type of food offered and the number of guests.

Hendry recommends couples or parents set up a separate bank account to pay for wedding expenses. This will allow them to keep a better track of how much money is being spent and where it is going, she said.

She also recommends maintaining a spreadsheet of the expenses and keep track of extra fees and taxes that could be tacked on by a caterer or reception hall.

Couples should prioritize and spend more of their budget on what is the most important to them, Hendry. She highly recommends to clients that photographs are the only keepsakes from the event, and that they should consider investing more in that area.

Starting planning early, at least nine months in advance, and interviewing photographers, florists, cake designers and others that would be providing services is essential, Hendry said.

Walker recommends having the wedding dress and even bridesmaids’ dresses custom made. It may not seem like it, but in many cases it is a lot cheaper to have a dress made than to order or buy one off the rack.

Having her wedding outdoors has saved Walker’s family a bundle, she said. The wedding is going to be held at Forsyth Park in Savannah, Ga. It only costs $200 to rent the park for the evening.

The bulk of the budget for her wedding is being spent on renting the reception hall at $3,000, photographer at $3,000 and the catered meal, which she estimated will cost around $4,375.