Twi-Hards can marry in Alfredo Angelo version of Carolina Herrera's Bella gown

**Novice** · November 23rd, 2011, 07:08 AM

How to look like a wedding Bella: $799 replica of Breaking Dawn gown hits stores just days after movie release

By Daisy Dumas

Last updated at 8:07 AM on 23rd November 2011

Entirely fictional though they may be, Bella and Edward's nuptials in The Twilight Saga's Breaking Dawn, Part 1 have caused quite a ripple throughout the wedding industry.

Just days after the blockbuster film hit screens to rapturous success, bringing in a massive $139.5 million on its opening weekend, an imitation version of Bella Swan's wedding dress has gone on sale in stores.

The ultra-fast turnaround has not been a miracle of high-speed creation, however.

Bella in replica: The Alfredo Angelo version of Carolina Herrera's Bella gown stays as true as possible to the original, with long, lace-edged sleeves, an illusion back and buttons running the length of the dress

Instead, the film's producers at Summit Entertainment worked with bridal retailer Alfred Angelo, who have secretively been planning the replica dresses together since May, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Designer Michael Shettel joked that the confidentiality agreement for the top-secret project was 'signed with blood,' while code words were used in the discreet planning process.

While word got out in August that the dress project was under way, the clandestine nature of the project was so watertight that Alfred Angelo stores were not given prior warning of the arrival of the Bella dress, nor were photos and inventories given to staff.
Kristen Stewart's original gown was the responsibility of Venezuelan fashion designer Carolina Herrera, who gave the vampire's lover old-world elegance with a long-sleeved silk dress, complete with lace detailing on the sleeves and a cut-out illusion back.

Bridal beauty: Fictional as they may be, Bella and Edward's nuptials in Forks, Washington, were swathed in secrecy - with the original gown and its replica kept under wraps until the movie's release days ago

Mrs and Mrs Cullen: 'Twi-hards' waited months to see the design of the much-anticipated gown. The saga's fan base is 80 per cent female. Edward Cullen, played by Robert Pattinson, awaits his bride under wisteria

Buttons run the length of the back of the 'Edwardian inspired' gown, which according to Hollywood Life is valued at $35,000. A demure V-shaped neckline shows Bella's décolletage without exposing too much skin.

Both the dress and its accompanying specially-designed Manolo Blahnik jewel-encrusted shoes are set to go on sale as part of the designers' 2012 collections.

The replica, costing a very reasonable $799, stays faithful to the original, but opts for liquid satin instead of silk.

Mr Shettel told the Wall Street Journal: 'The stitching on the bodice is the same, and the lace detailing is similar.'

It was the low price point that proved a challenge for the team, he said: 'There were pricing issues to try to get it down to $799. That was the biggest issue more than design issues.'
It is hoped that the dress will capture the imaginations of Twilight fans. Though the saga has an 80 per cent female fan base, many of the film's principally teenage viewers may be too young to be in the market for a wedding gown.

Fairytale: The dream gown follows in the footsteps of both the Duchess of Cambridge and Kim Kardashian's wedding dresses which have spawned cut-prices replicas

Mr Shettel remains positive: 'It really is for a Twilight fan because it does represent what the film is about... [but] I think the silhouette transcends may different viewpoints,' he told the Journal.

In the film, adapted from Stephanie Meyer's Trilogy series, Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, played by Robert Pattinson, tie the knot in a suitably romantic, flower-filled wooded spectacle.
'Twi-hards' spent many months debating the many possible forms of Bella's fantastical dress in the run-up to the much-anticipated film release, with Ms Meyer feeding imaginations by saying that the dress is 'elegant white satin, cut on the bias, with long sleeves.'
'The dress really is for a Twilight fan because it does represent what the film is about'

The replica dress follows in the footsteps of two other hugely high profile, though rather more real weddings, this year. Both the Duchess of Cambridge's wedding gown, by Alexander McQueen, and Kim Kardashian's Vera Wang wedding dresses have been imitated at cut-price retailers.

In a sad twist of fate, Kim Kardashian replica dresses are due to hit David's Bridal stores in February - four months after her 72-day wedding crumbled.

While Alfred Angelo was one of the designers who produced a version of the Royal wedding gown, The Wall Street Journal reports that Breaking Dawn it is not the first time the wedding gown seller has produced a gown based on a fictional character.

It sold a replica of Elizabeth Taylor's 1950 Father of the Bride dress. It is also due to launch a range of prom dresses inspired by the Twilight saga and aimed directly at the story's teenage fans.

HOW MUCH DID THE TWILIGHT WEDDING COST?

The saga continues: The latest installment in the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, Part 1

Elsewhere, the fictional wedding of the year has piqued the attention of industry commentators who have calculated the economics of the Swan/Cullen matrimony.

According to Centives.net, the wedding would have cost the young couple around $38,000.
Ms Meyer described a 'fit and full' gown for Bella, created by Venezuelan designer Carolina Herrera, who usually sells dresses for around $6,000. Bella's garter would have cost just $15.

At $20,000, the main expense was flowers. Orange blossoms, roses, freesia and lilacs froth along the length of the ceremony area and in the house, says the site, surrounding guests and the bride as she walks down the aisle.

Remaining true to the book, which said the Cullen home, where the ceremony took place, was filled with 20,000 flowers, the calculation is based on a cost of around one dollar per bloom.
Strings of party lights swathed along a tree-lined driveway would, says the site, have cost the couple $8,510.88 - if the decorative lighting had come from Home Depot, that is.

Drapes for chairs are a mere $110, while a reception tent is just $210. Happily, the couple save around $13,517 on venue hire by staging their fantasy nuptials at Mr Cullen's family home.

Entertainment is a little more costly, with a band from the local area of Forks, Washington, coming in at around $1,500. The 'grand cake' says Centives, is valued at around $800.

Observant readers on the site have noted the lack of a budget for food, drinks, lighting, sound or waiting staff - with one reader saying the wedding would in fact have cost around $50,000 by her estimation: Rather more than the cost of an average American wedding, which, in 2010, cost $27,800.

**fgg** · November 23rd, 2011, 08:31 AM

i don't think even twihards can bring back wedding dresses with sleeves.

**twitchy2.0** · November 23rd, 2011, 08:50 AM

I don't think Twitards are capable of romantic relationships leading to marriage -outside of their own imaginations.

**Laurent** · November 23rd, 2011, 08:52 AM

I love wedding dresses with sleeves. The front of this dress is beautiful, but the back would be better without the sheer netting.

**sputnik** · November 23rd, 2011, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by fgg

i don't think even twihards can bring back wedding dresses with sleeves.

as much as i hate twihards, i wish they would. i'm tired of seeing chubby brides in strapless gowns. are people really that delusional?

the dress could be a lot worse. the main issue i have with it is the cheap looking satin, i'm sure the carolina herrera silk version is much nicer.

i wonder if any twihards will actually get married in this dress, or just buy it so they can wear it to finger themselves in their trailers while fantasising about wedding night rape sex with the glittery one?

**twitchy2.0** · November 23rd, 2011, 11:47 AM

Originally Posted by sputnik

i'm tired of seeing chubby brides in strapless gowns. are people really that delusional?

yes

Originally Posted by sputnik

i wonder if any twihards will actually get married in this dress, or just buy it so they can wear it to finger themselves in their trailers while fantasising about wedding night rape sex with the glittery one?

finger

**sputnik** · November 23rd, 2011, 12:00 PM

^^
that bloodhound gang lyric is just perfect to describe that last picture...

**CornFlakegrl** · November 23rd, 2011, 12:03 PM

I can almost forgive the teen fantards but a middle-aged woman? wtf.

I do like the dress though.

**witchcurlgirl** · November 23rd, 2011, 12:03 PM

adult twitards are hilarious.

**Seth82** · November 23rd, 2011, 12:05 PM

plastering someone's picture all over your walls is kinda strange and abit creepy

**fgg** · November 23rd, 2011, 05:28 PM

Originally Posted by witchcurlgirl

adult twitards are hilarious.

the ones with tattoos are the best.

**angelais** · November 23rd, 2011, 07:53 PM

Originally Posted by Seth82

plastering someone's picture all over your walls is kinda strange and abit creepy

I did it back in the 80's with Duran Duran posters. But that's a different story. It's not f*cking Twilight bullshit. Glittery vampires, my ass.

**Seth82** · November 23rd, 2011, 08:11 PM

Originally Posted by angelais

I did it back in the 80's with Duran Duran posters. But that's a different story. It's not f*cking Twilight bullshit. Glittery vampires, my ass.

lol yeah

Pattinson is perhaps the ugliest leading man I've ever seen

my comment was more for the older woman

I can understand if you're young and doing that but when you're a 40 years old it just comes off a tad strange

**Chalet** · November 23rd, 2011, 09:03 PM

Originally Posted by Laurent

I love wedding dresses with sleeves. The front of this dress is beautiful, but the back would be better without the sheer netting.

I'd like to see that style return. The plunging neck and covered arms are what lots of women should be wearing but don't. Aren't we all quite sick of bustier bodices and mermaid bottoms? Like less than 1% can wear that.

Originally Posted by sputnik

as much as i hate twihards, i wish they would. i'm tired of seeing chubby brides in strapless gowns. are people really that delusional?

the dress could be a lot worse. the main issue i have with it is the cheap looking satin, i'm sure the carolina herrera silk version is much nicer.

i wonder if any twihards will actually get married in this dress, or just buy it so they can wear it to finger themselves in their trailers while fantasising about wedding night rape sex with the glittery one?

Say what? Do tell, please.

And if one of those women above is MarieSoleil I'll kill myself. I refuse to accept that she left us for that.

**twitchy2.0** · November 24th, 2011, 08:24 AM

Originally Posted by Chalet

Say what? Do tell, please.

In the book, Edward essentially rapes Bella into unconsciousness. The wedding night sex is so violent that the bed is splintered, everything in the room is destroyed. She comes to in pain, covered in bruises, alone. The lovely message seems to be that it's alright if he hurts her as he only did it because he loves her.

Then there's the ensuing pregnancy which involves vomiting fountains of blood, her spine snapping, Edward tearing open her uterus with his teeth and some shirtless dude falling in love with the baby.

I can only assume that this will be glossed over in the movie.

Aren't you sorry you asked?