Stars of The Brides of Beverly Hills to headline Edmonton show

Strapless gowns are still tops with brides and bridesmaids, despite the stunning dress worn by

Kate Middleton at her wedding to Prince William.

EDMONTON - The “dynamic duo” from the hit TV show The Brides of Beverly Hills will be here later this month to meet the brides of Edmonton when the 30th annual Bridal Fantasy show comes to the Edmonton Expo Centre.

“We’re very excited to come to Edmonton,” said Renee Strauss in an interview from her Wilshire Boulevard boutique.

“Kevin and I have done a couple of Canadian junkets but we’ve never been there before. Canadian people are always so welcoming; the show was on the air in Canada before it was even shown in the U.S., you know.”

The show airs on Slice in Canada and was recently picked up in the United States by TLC. Strauss’s Beverly Hills bridal salon acts as the location for the reality wedding show, the customers who walk through her door in search of glitz and glam for their nuptials its “actors.”

In a setting where the Hollywood sign hovers above the city, the brides are predictably eclectic; previously featured clients include a parade of wannabe actresses, a porn star, a circus performer and a 40-year-old “Barbie doll.”

Strauss’s staff members are equally colourful, especially florist extraordinaire Kevin Lee, who was the inspiration for the over-the-top character Frank in the movie Father of the Bride, a role played by Canadian comedian Martin Short.

“Kevin doesn’t like to admit this but we’ve worked together for more than 20 years,” says Strauss, then laughs. “We’re the dynamic duo.”

Strauss says she’s seen a trend toward opulence in wedding fashion in recent years, an ironic result of a dire economy.

“The more difficult the economy the more women buy lipstick and try to shine and be glittery,” says Strauss. “It’s the same in bridal; as soon as the economy here started going south, the dresses started to get more ornate.

“And that’s really infiltrated all markets in bridal now, designers from Europe to the Middle East to South America are all doing ornate dresses; beaded, feathery, lacy, sparkly, blingy.”

The opening price point at Strauss’s salon is around $2,500, the upper limit “whatever the customer is willing to spend.”

One of her clients, the daughter of a Mexican supermarket chain owner, dropped more than $60,000 on a gown made of imported French lace and embellished with pearls. And, a few years ago, in 2008, Strauss collaborated with noted American jeweller Martin Katz to create the most expensive wedding dress on record. The $12-million creation featured 150 carats worth of diamonds laced throughout the dress, and also included a matching diamond-laced veil and diamond-studded shoes.

“The gown was created for an event,” says Strauss. “We didn’t sell the dress itself but we sold six prototypes for $10,000 each. It was an amazing creation.”

Strauss says unlike other TV wedding shows, which focus on the gown alone, The Brides of Beverly Hills encompasses other facets of the wedding experience as well.

“It’s not only about the gown, it’s about the cake, and it’s about the flowers,” says Strauss. “One of the things we want to do (at Bridal Fantasy) is give some of the vendors an opportunity to speak with Kevin and I so we can help them really maximize their businesses, just like we have.

“It’s not only about the gown, it’s about the cake, it’s about the flowers and so much more. That’s why we’re different than most wedding shows.”

Organizer Gay Derk, meanwhile, says that kind of diversity is what sets Bridal Fantasy apart from other locally produced wedding shows.

“We do the wedding planning part, but we also do the lifestyle aspect; the finances, the relationship, the communication,” says Derk. “It’s very all-encompassing.”

Fashion, of course, is still paramount; more than 400 garments will be displayed during the fashion show portion of the day.

Derk says the royal wedding has had a huge impact on trends here. Local bridal shops cannot keep fascinators in stock, and more and more brides are opting for lace — and for sleeves.

“We’ve been doing strapless for 10 years straight and now because of Kate Middleton you’re starting to see sleeves coming back onto dresses,” says Derk.

She says brides are personalizing their ensemble, too, with brightly-coloured shoes and unique blinged-out jewelry.

Grooms are much more actively involved in wedding planning, too, something that is evident by the number of men who come to the show every year.

“Originally one or two per cent of the people who came to the show were grooms, but I would say that’s about 35 to 40 per cent now,” she says. “They don’t feel conspicuous.”