Here Comes the Bride, Down Kings Highway

About a hundred brides and their bridal entourages visited downtown Haddonfield Sunday to participate in the Second Annual “Haddonfield Wedding Walk.”

The event, presented by Bouché Productions and the Partnership for Haddonfield, was stationed at the Haddon Fortnightly on the corner of Kings Highway and Grove Street, while retail locations throughout town welcomed brides with markers of festive gold and ivory balloons.

Brides of all ages and interests bought a $5 entry ticket and toured the town using “Prize Passports” as guides. The passport listed fifteen retail locations on and off the beaten path of Kings Highway, from Haddon Avenue, to Mechanic Street and Tanner Street. Brides visited participating locations to shop and "stamp-in" their passports.

Brides with at least eight stamps on their passports and signatures from all 17 vendors at the Fortnightly were entered into a raffle. Grand prize: round-trip air fare for two. Other prizes included gift certificates and coupons.

Newly engaged bride-to-be Tanisha Northcutt and her mother Debra enjoyed a stop in the shop .

“I grew up in the area and we thought it would be a fun afternoon since everything is kind of overwhelming,” said Tanisha, smiling. Her mother, beaming, said the shop gave them ideas, “For bridesmaids gifts you can really use.”

Store owner Kimber Schladweiler confirmed the popularity of specialty items as favors. “We have two other shops in Pennsylvania. We’ve done quite a few weddings with the favors.”

Brides on opposite sides of the spectrum, Dorian Genzano of Maple Shade and friend Liz Loudon of Haddonfield stopped to talk outside of Country Way Bridals. Genzano, whose wedding is planned for June 2013, already has her wedding gown. “I started planning the minute I was engaged.” She was in town for information about florists.

Loudon, whose wedding is planned for September 2013 said, “I’m looking for pretty much everything.”

Both brides smiled at the advice from Genzano to other young matrimonial buds, “Do what you want to do. Advice is nice, but you need to do what you want to do. It’s your wedding. Hopefully, you’ll only do it once!”

Essence Worthy of Paulsboro was in search of a mermaid style dress in Country Way Bridals, with the help of her mother and grandmother.

“This is my first day actually looking,” she said. Her wedding has a bridal party of five bridesmaids and five groomsmen. According to a shop assistant, that’s a big wedding party these days. Worthy said it was her fiancé, James Revels III, who planned the large wedding party. “He’s the planner,” she laughed.

Event producer, Carol Bouché Dunkin of Bouché Productions, confirmed a trend in grooms being more involved in wedding planning.

She said, “Guys are more involved in wedding planning now. I think part of the reason is that many couples are paying for their own weddings.” She added, “The guys are ‘metro,’ they are comfortable and interested in the event planning.”

Some of Dunkin’s other promotions are hosted where televised NFL games are shown and include a "Gaming" aspect to include groom "interests."

Overall, Dunkin said the turnout this year was about the same as last year with about 100 brides. She said, “Haddonfield has a lot of things to offer brides.”

A wedding trolley from Great American Trolley Company delivered ladies and their company to locations throughout town that included eateries like , and the .

According to Dunkin, this year’s show was proud to welcome Mark Kingsdorf of Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants.

“He is the only Master Wedding Planner in our area, and possibly one of about thirty-some in the nation,” said Dunkin. As bridal show speaker, Dunkin said Kingsdorf “would talk about trends as far as bridal tips, shortcuts, things they might not know.”

The show included an entertainment showcase, and a fashion show featuring gowns from Angel Bridal, Country Way Bridals and Jay West Bridal, and men’s formalwear by Dynamic Crew/Lifestyles Tuxedo.