RETAIL ROUNDUP:Nice day for an off-white wedding

Although what many consider to be wedding season is still months away, brides-to-be are flocking to bridal salons around Newport-Mesa to pick out the dress they’ll wear on that special day.

And the shop owners are happy to help as they offer “designer trunk shows” and bridal consultants.

For local bridal salons, January through March is the busiest time of the year, since many men propose over the holidays, and will be proposing on the lover’s holiday, a.k.a. Valentine’s Day.

Wedding dress styles are innumerable and myriad styles can complement any woman on the one day she wants to make sure she looks absolutely drop-dead gorgeous.

This year, brides are beginning to stray from the strapless gowns, opting for some sort of straps — halters seem to be popular, Costa Mesa’s Mon Amie Bridal Salon spokeswoman Annalisa Austin said.

With all the choices, not everyone gets the ball gown dress, although bridal consultants say that will never go out of style. So what drives the latest wedding styles? Just like they do for everyday fashions, magazines, celebrities and TV shows can influence what design a woman chooses.

“Every bride is different, especially now with the Internet. Brides are a lot more savvy and have more ideas of what they want,” Austin said. “The wedding industry in general is more popular with In Style’s celebrity weddings, more bridal publications out — there’s definitely a lot more girls coming in with a clear idea of what they want.”

And white is not always what brides want. The stigma around a bride wearing something other than white on their wedding day is gone, Saks Fifth Avenue bridal manager Debbie Milischi said.

White is not flattering to all skin tones, and in fact not very many skin tones, Austin said, and more brides are opting for blush-colored gowns or dresses in off-white, blues and even greens. But it’s not just because of the color itself.

“Most of the real silk fabrics are not going to come in that stark white, blue-white color,” Austin said. “That’s something that comes more with polyester fabric — a lot of girls appreciate the richness in the fabric.”

Every once in a while, mothers and grandmothers of the brides are surprised, but Austin said that hasn’t created any major problems that she’s seen.

Despite the local weather being pleasant for year-round weddings, many women still lean toward summer and early fall weddings, which means they really should be thinking about getting their dresses now.

It can take four to six months to get a dress made, plus a couple more for alterations, Milischi said. “There are certain designers who are international, and they are going to take longer, particularly with anything that has intricate lace or design or beadwork — those can take eight to 10 months,” Austin said. “When our consultants work with brides and see when the wedding date is, we can narrow down which designers we can choose from.”