Neons and lace lead wedding trends

Bride-to-be Sarah Dempsey. Photo / Sarah Ivey

This year weddings are all about splashes of neon colour in details and vintage lacy dresses, according to industry experts.

"Neons are coming back in, little patches of neon with neutral backgrounds. It's huge overseas and I think we'll be seeing it happen here too," said Amber Roper, the director of event styling agency Red Creative.

"It's the first time we've ever really seen it in weddings. Neons were obviously very big in the 80s but I don't think you saw them in weddings so much."

The neon colours are used in a restrained way, Ms Roper said, such as a touch of neon pink ribbon on a bouquet or detailing on shoes.

Bride-to-be Sarah Dempsey is following the trend - she's going with an ivory dress but wants to get some bright purple shoes to go with it.

Miss Dempsey, who is set to become a Mrs on December 1, said she was planning a purple theme.

"So having matching shoes might be a bit of fun."

Astra Bridal director Lori McPherson, said it, too, was seeing a lot of bursts of colour coming through - though no neon yet.

"But we're certainly seeing bright coloured shoes and people bringing colour into their gowns with bright coloured belts, shoes and accessories."

Astra Bridal will be showing a bit of its colourful range on the Bride and Groom Show's catwalk on Sunday.

Brides were continuing the trend of vintage gowns with a lot of lace, Mrs McPherson said.

They were also opting for less traditional necklines, like one-shoulder or a halterneck, and different lengths too.

"Different lengths are definitely a small trend. It's not something that everyone goes for but it's more than no one, which we used to have because no one had a shorter gown.

"But these days we're seeing more and more, even knee length, ballet length or tea length.

"People are looking to be a little bit different."

New Zealand's wedding industry normally takes its cues from the United States where most of the influential designers, such as Vera Wang, are based.

But the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton was still having an influence more than a year on, Ms Roper said.

"A lot of people are going for smaller, quite intricate bouquets rather than big fluffy bouquets and a lot of lace still, like Kate's gown."

The annual Bride and Groom Show is being held at Ellerslie Event Centre where the big names in the business will be touting their goods to couples about to get hitched or those who are just keen for a nosy.

Organisers have said this year's show is the biggest yet, with more than 150 exhibitors.

The editor of Bride and Groom magazine, Simone Sommer, said the stands sold out very quickly and another room had to be opened to accommodate more exhibitors.

"In the gardens we have cars, marquees, and even a party bus with a jacuzzi and dancefloor with pole. I'm sure that will be popular with the guys while the girls are going giddy over flowers, table settings, gowns and makeup."

Mrs McPherson said more people were going to the wedding show, despite there being fewer marriages.

"I think brides are wanting to look at and touch gowns out of the shop. It's really changing how people are organising their weddings."