I’m trying to quit, but I can’t stop. I used to condemn it, and now I’m in it so deep that it’s starting to interfere with other important aspects of my life like my school work, my gym schedule, and even getting sleep. It’s time for me to come clean. I watch WE TV bridal shows. My once discriminating taste of just the documentaries of the most posh weddings on the networks program Platinum Weddings, has been compromised to include all the bridal programming, not excluding the dreaded Bridezilla. At first I watched Platinum Weddings for unique ideas I could incorporate into my wedding, but then I started to feel self conscious that my floral budget wasn’t $56,000 like the couple who had a rare orchid in the napkin at every guests’ place setting. Ultimately, all the shows just started to stress me out about all the details I have yet to address, but I still couldn’t tear myself from the screen. I started to notice an interesting phenomenon that I will call the Cinderella Complex. Whether it’s a bride springing for a new set of three inch acrylic nails that resemble peacock tails on the ends of her fingers or a bride struggling to decide between Harry Winston or Chopard wedding jewelry, at some point they all make the same declaration. “I want to look like a princess”. Cinderella is a popular point of reference for these brides, as they attempt to create a vision for coordinators, dress salespeople, hairstylists and all other parties contributing to her appearance for the big day. Well, someone at Disney must have been listening, because the creator of Generation Y’s favorite animated fairytale princesses has partnered with 12-year veteran designer Kristie Kelly to create a line of Disney bridal dresses. The Disney bride has her choice of six different collections inspired by the likes of Snow White, Sleeping Beauty , Jasmine, Belle, Ariel and of course Cinderella. Kelly explains that the dresses are intended to help brides connect with their “inner princess”. Little girls spend years reinventing the princess role every Halloween—fairy princess, enchanted princess, ballerina princess, and on and on. So, I guess it was only a matter of time before Disney found a way to extend this childhood obsession resurfacing in wedding planning just a little bit longer. Given my initial misgivings about the concept, most of the dresses are relatively elegant and beautiful. But just not enough to make me feel good about attempting to emulate a Disney character on my wedding day, regardless of the fact that they were literary characters prior to their big screen debuts. The dresses are not clearly distinguishable in terms of identifying with their Disney muse, which reinforces the real genius here, that this is just a great marketing tactic to reach all price points in what is becoming an increasingly commoditized market of wedding dresses. The differentiation of the Disney dresses is just a princess illusion and fairy tale label. The website picturing the dresses already boasts a small icon to explore options for planning a Disney wedding and honeymoon. If these marketing initiatives are successful, Disney may be the next major player in housing development. We can buy a Snow White dress, marry prince charming at an enchanted Disney wedding, skate off to the princess paradise honeymoon, at the completion of which us newlyweds move into a quant Disney palace. Hopefully it comes with a guest house for seven dwarves, wicked mother in-laws, and Jafar.
