Some businesses, however, are capitalizing on the economy. For New York-based Adorn Brides, which rents out bridal jewelry (including Sethi's earrings, which cost $100 for the weekend), the recession "really has worked in our favor," says co-founder Laura Carrington. "Even if a bride is spending $200,000 or more, a $10,000 or $20,000 necklace is still not a practical purchase" when you can rent one for $350.

Steal the Time, a New York-based luxury watch leasing company, recently outfitted a Manhattan groom and his four groomsmen with Rolex Submariners (the company's 30-model collection ranges from $52 to $308 a week, pieces that go for $850 to $14,200 retail). "We do live in an image-obsessed society, and people always want to portray an image that may not be there anymore," says founder Justin Figari.

But at Chicago's Cakegirls bakery, gone are the elaborate $7,000 confections. Starting in January (a big planning month for summer weddings), co-owner Mary Maher noticed a shift "right away": Couples began choosing smaller, simpler creations. Right now, the average cost is about $900 for a cake; a year ago it was $1,200 to $1,500. The change indicates "they might be curbing the guest list and doing weddings that are a little more modest," says Maher, whose shop appears on WE's Amazing Wedding Cakes.

*****

Even deep-pocketed couples are trimming the trappings. Sethi trimmed her $300,000 Bahamas wedding — to the tune of $50,000 — by using local musicians instead of flying in a band and nixing hand-calligraphed menu and seating cards. She felt "really guilty" about asking her 62 guests to travel, given the expense and time off required. So for some, she and her husband, Raj Sethi, helped pay the hotel bill.

The goal is to cut costs while sustaining style. "You don't want to look back on it and say, 'What a great budget wedding I had.' But you do want to be a smart consumer," van der Meer says.

The Burlington, Mass.-based company, known for its "Running of the Brides" wedding gown sales, closed 11 troubled stores, including two in the Chicago area, earlier this year.

Filene's had hoped to renegotiate leases for its remaining 25 stores, but that prospect dimmed as the retail climate worsened, according to Columbus, Ohio-based parent company Retail Ventures Inc.'s filing with the Securities and Exchange.

Since January "the performance of Filene's Basement has continued to deteriorate significantly," the filing said. "RVI has concluded that renegotiation of the remaining leases is not likely to lead to sustainable operations."

More than 1,000 women flooded Filene's Basement for the discount department store's annual "Running of the Brides" event, where the retailer sold designer wedding dresses valued at up to $12,000 for $700 or less.

Workers opened the doors at 8 a.m. to the horde of shrieking brides-to-be who had waited outside the 14th St. store for hours to get their gowns on the cheap. The brides pushed, shoved and trampled one another to get at the 3,000 discounted dresses Filene's hung on its racks, while employees clung to whatever they could to avoid the stampede.

The new 'Set Your Table' tool enables users to set a virtual table step by step, from selecting a "charger" (decorative plates) to drinkware and flatware, mixing and matching various colors and patterns. The tool features images and specs on 300 different products sold online by Bloomingdale's from 19 different brands, including Baccarat, Kate Spade, Lenox and Vera Wang. More products and brands will be added.

Once setting combinations are completed, couples can add their choices to wedding registries on Bloomingdales.com, where guests and loved ones can purchase the items as gifts.

Set Your Table appears on Brides.com but is clearly presented as a co-branded product and labeled "from Bloomingdale's and Brides.com." Links to Bloomingdale's Wedding Channel are given prominent placement throughout the table-setting process.

Last year, an estimated 20,000 brides in Britain were pregnant on their wedding day, accounting for 10 per cent of all first-time brides under the age of 45.

And if soaring sales at maternity bridal boutiques are anything to go by, more pregnant women than ever are opting to wear a traditional white dress. One person feeling the benefit is Tiffany London, founder of Tiffany Rose - a website selling wedding dresses solely for pregnant brides. She has seen sales of her range of maternity wedding dresses, ranging from £135 up to £369, soar recently, reaching sales of 1,000 dresses in 2008 alone - 50 per cent up on 2007.

"It's been amazing to watch our maternity bridal range take off," she said. "We've seen a steady growth in over the last few years, and it's still growing. It's really a reflection on our society: we're much more open-minded than we once were." Most of the brides are aged between 25 and 29, say the figures from the Office for National Statistics, and are around three to five months pregnant on their wedding day.

• three-quarters (75%) of brides-to-be admit that they will have to make adjustments to their wedding budget as a result of the economic climate.
• About one quarter plan to cut their budget in half and one in ten said their budget had dropped more than 75%.
• Over half (53%) of respondents do not plan to spend more than $25,000 on their big day
• a little over one third (34%) said they plan to spend $10,000 or less.
• paying off debts (77%) was noted as couples' top economic priority.
• The survey revealed that the first area that brides-to-be would be willing to adjust is the number of guests (45%), followed by the wedding cuisine (45%).
• When asked what items they refuse to compromise on, the top responses were wedding bands (45%) and, not surprisingly, their wedding dress (37%).

After the band was chosen and the napkins color-coordinated to match her shoes, Kacey Knauer, a bride-to-be, had another critical matter to address: her skin, and the skin of the nine women in her bridal party.

So Ms. Knauer, the 35-year-old owner of TempTrends, a staffing agency in Manhattan, invited her nearest and dearest -- including her mother and future mother-in-law -- for a night out at the TriBeCa MedSpa, replete with mimosas and cupcakes. An aesthetician assessed each woman's face and devised a treatment plan -- a quick chemical peel, say, or an injection of a wrinkle-filler. Or maybe, for a bridesmaid with age spots, a series of Fraxel laser treatments over months, allowing for recovery time.

For Ms. Knauer, who will be married in December, cosmetic interventions for herself and her entourage are as vital as the centerpieces or food. "If I were 25 or 26 and getting married, a bracelet, necklace or matching earrings would be fine," she said. But at 35? "Giving them a bracelet isn’t as special as spending an evening together. Plus, as you get older, everyone is more conscientious about their skin and appearance," she said. "Giving them something for themselves -- as opposed to something that they'll never wear again -- is more meaningful."

With the top bid at $5,700, the auction ended Wednesday night, and the winner was, surprisingly, a man named "Nick" who told Gray that he was raising his own bid to $10,000.

But it turned out "Nick" was actually a representative for the owners of Dr. Pepper and Snapple. And he won't be in the wedding. Instead, the company is launching an online competition to decide who Gray's bridesmaid should be -- and they say it could even be a surprise celebrity.

The amount of money and media attention is more than Gray ever expected.

"We can have a honeymoon," she said with glee. "I wanted my wedding, now we can have a honeymoon."