Milwaukee’s Magnificent Bride: One Lovely Choice After Another

I planned our wedding seven years ago, before the flood of beauty, inspiration and comparison that are Pinterest and Instagram. Back then, wedding blogs were the main way to see what was out there in the realm of weddings, and I devoured so many of them that I killed my laptop.

The brides I met at Milwaukee’s Magnificent Bride Wedding Show at the Pfister last weekend weren’t frying laptops; they were wandering around ballrooms with their mothers, sisters and friends, champagne in hand, sometimes fiancé in tow, and everywhere they looked were some of the most beautiful things the wedding world has to offer— the most gorgeous flowers, the most bejeweled trains, the most memorable salad.  All of it was vying to be chosen by these excited brides, which felt really opulent and fun.

The dresses were gorgeous peacocks outdoing one another.

This was the type of lavish event where people in suits, gowns, and flower crowns were standing around looking beautiful and tasting macarons.

 

 

Lauren, Chelsea and Kaitlin are work friends who are enjoying planning all of their weddings at the same time.  They said their favorite part of wedding planning, by far, was choosing their dresses.

 

Luke and Hannah are in the midst of a two year engagement, so with plenty of time to plan, they said they aren’t stressed at all yet and are enjoying all the creative options out there for weddings.  They’ll be getting married at Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery, which they chose for its “speakeasy, industrial vibe”.

 

Hannah and Jennifer are the brides in this group, accompanied by Jennifer’s mother Dawn and mutual friends Megan and Taylor.  Hannah will be getting married at the Cupola Barn in Oconomowoc and Jennifer at the Grain Exchange in Milwaukee.  They were at the Magnificent Bride event to find stylists for hair and makeup, a videographer and rehearsal dinner details.

Which was easy to do, because all around me people were getting their hair styled…

their caricature drawn…

or enjoying music by classical ensembles or swingy bands.

Surprisingly, my favorite feature of the entire show was a salad.  The Mint Julep Salad tasted of the romantic South, of Kentucky Derby hats and sweet tea and springtime.  If this salad had been featured on one of those now-obsolete wedding blogs when I was engaged, I’d have chosen it for sure.

 

For brides in every stage of planning their most memorable of days, or old married ladies like me living vicariously through them, Milwaukee’s Magnificent Bride was a celebration of beautiful decisions.