Gown

ERIE - The bride wore a gown. The groom did, too. Given the setting, it was only appropriate. Cassy Messenger and Derek McBride had planned a beach wedding, but they ended up exchanging vows in a hospital chapel Saturday after McBride tumbled down a set of stairs on their wedding day, the Erie Times-News reported. McBride broke three ribs and suffered a punctured, collapsed lung in the fall. He was admitted to St. Vincent Health Center but didn't want to postpone the big day. Relatives and St. Vincent nurses decorated the chapel with medical-glove balloons and bows made of gauze.

The image of the perfect fairy-tale bride is in the midst of a makeover. And fashion has everything to do with it. The shift may be slow, but it's far from subtle: Lacy bracelet-length sleeves are popping up within a dress market once dominated by strapless styles. Sparkling tiaras paired with fingertip-length veils mean baby's breath and cathedral-length headpieces have some competition. Slimmer A-line bias cuts are featured alongside the pretty poufiness essential in the early millennium.

When Wendy Torres, 34, of Philadelphia's Wynnefield neighborhood, walks down the aisle in June, she'll be wearing the dress of her dreams. That's not because it's extravagant - a strapless, mermaid-style Mon Cheri gown with a chapel-length train and Swarovski beading - or because she snagged the $2,500 dress for $460. It's because the money she spent on her gown will support Making Memories, a wish-granting nonprofit for women and men with stage IV breast cancer. Starting Thursday through Saturday, Philadelphia brides-to-be will have the opportunity to score similar deals when Brides Against Breast Cancer - an annual nationwide touring sale that brings discounted, new and used wedding dresses to 40 cities - comes to the Ramada Philadelphia Airport hotel.

When brides spend countless hours finding - and then fitting into - the perfect wedding dress, it's no wonder they eventually have that pricey number professionally cleaned and packed away for future family heirloom status. But more women are taking a decidedly different approach to preservation: trashing the dress, and documenting it. Whether it's days or years after the big bash, former brides are letting loose for edgy photo shoots in which the dress is trashed (by mud, grass, paint, water, urban grime, sand)

Hats were just as important at Friday's royal wedding as the gown of Duchess Catherine of Cambridge. London's genius milliner Philip Treacy was responsible for the origami-like drama atop the heads of Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice. Treacy also designed Victoria Beckham's posh hat. But my fave belonged to Queen Elizabeth. Her buttercup ensemble was cheery, thanks to Angela Kelly, but the hat was adorable. It was all about pomp, circumstance, and standing out. - Elizabeth Wellington

It would be easy to say Kate Middleton's gorgeous, lacy Alexander McQueen bridal gown was like that of Philadelphia's own Grace Kelly. But then you wouldn't acknowledge how Middleton's timing makes her choice much more charming. She did, after all, don a modest ivory look after nearly two decades of brides in strapless, cleavage-baring, stark white dresses. Compared with other royal wedding examples, Middleton chose a shorter veil, and the borrowed-from-the-Queen tiara and the teardrop earrings by Robinson Pelham gave the look a classic, millennial twist.

For a glimpse of the unpretentious couple beneath his royal uniform and her flowing gown, venture beyond London to the countryside of Scotland, Wales and England.

No one had ever been crowned "Miss Bentley" until Fran Schoem - in a new hairdo and a handmade gown - took home the title, the tiara, and the sash Wednesday. The lighthearted pageant at Bentley Senior Living in Pennsauken also featured a red carpet, a talent show, and a parade of five "finalists" ranging in age from 44 to 92. It was sort of a mashup of a costume party and a contest in which everyone was a winner. "I thought this would be fun," said Schoem, 75, who helped a friend design and sew the gauzy peach gown 25 years ago. "And I knew what I would wear.

All I can remember thinking was, "There goes Rehoboth," as the costs mounted for my daughter Jaida's senior prom four years ago. It looked as if our annual beach respite would be sacrificed for the perfect gown. Cha-ching. The right shoes. Cha-ching . The professionally done hair and makeup. Cha-ching . Limo rental, photos, spending money. Cha-ching cha-ching cha-ching . Heck, this wasn't a school dance. It was the dress rehearsal for her wedding. Yet it was worth every penny as I watched Jaida descend the stairs that night.

NEW YORK (AP) - Want to have a Cinderella moment without breaking the bank? If you've always wanted to wear a designer gown and jewelry and make people gawk, a growing number of businesses will indulge even your wildest Cinderella fantasy. You'll just be renting, but no one should be seen in the same outfit twice anyway. And you'll be wearing the designers' high-end lines so enjoy the savings. Maybe take it up a notch with a gaggle of paparazzi-for-hire. "Where luxury had been exclusive, the Internet has made it a commodity," says Dudley Blossom, chairman of the marketing department at LIM College, a fashion school in Manhattan.