For richer, not poorer; Wedding dreams can come true despite slow economy.

Byline: Katie Quackenbush

Michelle A. Holmes wants rose petals. Lots and lots of rose petals. Up and down the aisle, please. After all, it's her one and only wedding.

But Ms. Holmes, like many brides in Central Massachusetts, is on a budget.

With a recession, many Americans are struggling with mortgage payments, the rising costs of food and health care, and job loss or underemployment. Inevitably, the belt-tightening and curbed spending has taken a toll on the wedding business. Spending on the average wedding in the United States fell 24 percent from $28,732 in 2007 to $21,814 in 2008, according to TheWeddingReport.com, a Web site that tracks the industry.

"At my job, I've really come to rely on working a lot of overtime, and there aren't as many opportunities for that now," said Stefanie R. Andriski, a nurse whose wedding will be at the Beechwood Hotel in Worcester. "We want a beautiful wedding, but we don't want to go into debt over it. It is, after all, one day."

But it's one day that wedding businesses rely on. From bakers to photographers, vendors are feeling the pinch as brides and bridegrooms trim extras from their wedding plans.

And wedding vendors seem to be more willing to negotiate during a recession - if you actually ask, said Ms. Andriski. After booking a block of hotel rooms for guests months before the economic downturn took hold, Ms. Andriski, who lives in Worcester, was able to negotiate a better price on the nightly rate.

"It was awkward - it's an uncomfortable thing to ask," she said. "But I'm so happy I asked them to give me a break, because they did."

Susan Lange, a travel agent with Travel Solutions of Westboro, said more couples are negotiating for honeymoon deals, too. While the same number of couples are booking honeymoons, they are spending less on their trips, said Ms. Lange.

"Before, these couples would have spent in the range of $5,000 to $10,000," she said. "Now they're spending more like $3,000 to $8,000. People have pared down a little bit, but the honeymoon is not something they're willing to give up."

Honeymoon price tags are lower now, anyway, Ms. Lange said. Because the weakened economy has caused a downturn in the travel industry, couples don't have to spend as much to get a dream honeymoon and are benefiting from added-on values like spa credit, romantic beach dinners and other extras thrown in at no charge by struggling resorts. Honeymoon registries - rather than gift registries - are increasingly popular, Ms. Lange said, as are all-inclusive resorts and cruises where budget-conscious honeymooners don't have to reach into their pockets for meals, activities and other vacation extras.

"I always imagined we'd go somewhere exotic, like Tahiti or Hawaii," said Ms. Andriski. "But with the expense of the wedding, it doesn't make sense right now."

She and her fiance will travel to the Dominican Republic, where they got a deal at a new resort hoping to attract business with low rates. Ms. Andriski said the newlyweds will be able to stay longer than if they had traveled to a more distant location.

Waiting and saving seem to be a common tactic for budget-conscious engaged couples, according to Emily A. Aghababian, assistant director of sales and catering at the Beechwood Hotel. Ms. Aghababian said she's seen a longer planning period between wedding bookings and the actual event - a period of time that used to average around nine months and is now ranging from 12 to 18.

"I think people need more time to save," she said. "People who were originally looking at dates for the fall are now rethinking and looking at dates for the spring."

Although the Beechwood Hotel is booking the same number of weddings this year, at an average of $78 to $97 per person before taxes and fees, Ms. Aghababian said often couples limit extras to make the wedding sticker-shock a little less staggering.

"Couples are always looking for ways to cut back that their guests won't necessarily notice, like cutting out the soup or a little at the hors d'oeuvres reception, or choosing beer and wine only instead of hosting a full bar," she said. "They don't want to put this on credit and incur more debt than many people have at this point."

Norwell-based Wedding Payment Plan partners with many vendors in Central Massachusetts, including the Beechwood Hotel, to prevent just that. The company provides fixed-rate loans, ranging from 8.9 percent to 10.9 percent, for couples who don't want to add to credit card debt to pay for their big day. Scott T. Almeida, president and founder of Wedding Payment Plan, said his loan products let couples fit monthly payments into their budget.

"Just because people have bad luck and timing and fall in love and get married during this bad economic cycle doesn't change how they want their wedding," said Mr. Almeida.

The recession is boosting business for the company, which opened in 2006. The last quarter was its best yet. Mr. Almeida also said that many parents don't have the excess capital to help their children pay for weddings now that so many 401(k) retirement plans have been decimated.

While Wedding Payment Plan offers loan amounts of $1,500 to $25,000, the average loan is just $7,500, said Mr. Almeida.

"Extravagant weddings get a lot of press, but at the end of the day, most people have normal weddings. These just aren't the easiest times to part with cash, and this is a creative solution."

Some couples are getting creative and doing it themselves in order to trim their budgets. College of the Holy Cross graduates Katy L. Faria and Ryan W. Shanahan, who live in Manhattan, are having their reception at Mechanics Hall in Worcester in September. The couple, who have a large guest list and many tables to decorate, received one florist's quote of $4,000 for centerpiece arrangements alone.

So the mother of the bride stepped in and is designing candle-based arrangements for each table - saving the couple a lot of money.

Ms. Faria said her mother doesn't mind taking on the centerpieces, since she is the only daughter in the family and the youngest child. "My mother is definitely in her element!"

Friends and family contribute in other ways to help trim wedding budgets. Michelle Holmes and her fiance, Dennis W. Mercier, who live in Hudson, said they called in favors owed by talented friends. "I used to work in musical theater, and a musician friend is playing at our ceremony as a wedding gift," said Ms. Holmes. "The minute a vendor hears the word `wedding,' the price goes up two grand."

While the average American bridal ensemble retailed for $1,188 in 2008, according to TheWeddingReport.com, Ms. Faria said her gown, veil, shoes and accessories, purchased at Sheer Style in North Attleboro, cost under $1,000. "I went dress shopping in Manhattan, and when I told them I didn't want to spend more than $3,000, they laughed at me," said Ms. Faria. "I didn't know the price when I tried on my dress, and it's the only one I actually liked - it just kind of fell into my lap."

Stefanie Andriski, along with other ambitious brides from across the country, found her dress at the annual "Running of the Brides" event in Boston, hosted by Filene's Basement every year since 1947.

At the event, frenzied brides - and teams made up of their friends and family - race through the store, scrambling to find the wedding gown of their dreams amid the racks of thousands of drastically discounted dresses. Although the event is something of a free-for-all - brides often try gowns on right in the aisle and barter with other brides - many brides walk away with just what they were looking for. "One of my girlfriends dragged me, and I found a beautiful dress," said Ms. Andriski. The gown, which was a floor sample from the famed Kleinfeld Bridal in New York, retails for more than $3,500. Ms. Andriski paid $400. "I just wanted to go for the fun - I'm only getting married once!"

Despite the recession, there are some wedding-day dreams that couples are just not willing to forgo. Ms. Holmes's dream will come true when she marries Mr. Mercier at The Barn at Gibbet Hill in Groton this October. She'll get her dream husband - and rose petals, too.

"The florist had to talk me back into it, and I'm splurging," said Ms. Holmes. "It's a few hundred dollars - they have to pick the roses apart - but it's one of the things I've always had in my head: the entire aisle, outside, in rose petals."

ART: PHOTOS; GRAPH

CUTLINE: (1) Michelle A. Holmes and her fiance Dennis W. Mercier, both of Hudson, are shown outside the venue for their October wedding, The Barn at Gibbet Hill in Groton. (2) Travel agent Susan Lange said more couples are negotiating honeymoon deals. (3) "Couples are always looking for ways to cut back that their guests won't necessarily notice," said Emily A. Aghababian, assistant director of sales and catering at the Beechwood Hotel in Worcester. (GRAPH) Declining wedding costs

PHOTOG: (1, 2) T&G Staff Photos/CHRISTINE PETERSON (3) T&G Staff/PAUL KAPTEYN