New wedding trend: Short dresses for brides

When Cheryl Hines married Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Aug. 2 in an outdoor ceremony at the Kennedys' Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, compound, the pearl-embellished, tea-length dress she wore, designed for her by Romona Keveza, was not only stylish and practical, it also was right on trend.

"Cheryl wanted a tea-length dress because, while she wanted to feel beautiful, she also wanted to feel comfortable," Keveza said in a phone interview, noting that the design was among three she submitted to the actress. "For a garden wedding, the length makes perfect sense. If it had rained, a full-length dress with a train could be ruined."

While shorter wedding dresses have long been an option for brides seeking practicality, comfort or perhaps something less formal for a second wedding, knee- and tea-length dresses -- and dresses with hemlines that could be considered "mini" -- have been turning up lately on designer runways for other reasons. With destination weddings continuing to gain in popularity, brides like Hines are seeking dresses that work effortlessly, whether the setting is a garden, a sandy beach or club-centric Las Vegas. Reality TV and celebrity weddings also are playing a role, as real-world brides watch tabloid fixtures like Chrissy Teigen and Kim Kardashian make multiple changes throughout their day, transitioning from princess bride at the ceremony to party girl at the reception. Meanwhile, some brides don't want the magic of the wedding day to end, choosing to take the party to a nightclub after a quick change into a short, flirty dress.

While such an idea is festive and fun, it can get expensive, and proves to be cost-prohibitive for some, especially when you factor in the need for additional accessories. "Brides are heavily influenced by celebrity weddings these days, but not everyone has a celebrity budget," Keveza says. But make no mistake: There are ways for brides to get the dress -- or dresses -- of their dreams.

Donna Mause, the owner of Renate's Wedding Boutique in Lindenhurst, has seen the trend play out in her shop.

"About 20 percent of my brides are choosing two dresses," Mause said. "There's the ceremony dress, which tends to be more traditional. And then the bride is also choosing a reception dress, which is typically a sexier, fit-and-flare style with a bit of beading."

And for some brides, there's no reason to stop there.

"Lately, we've seen brides choosing a third dress," Mause said, noting that this gown is "usually a sexy, flirty little dress" worn to a post-reception party, bar or club.

Like Keveza, Monique Lhuillier is among the designers who excel at offering both princess-style ballgowns and sexier, more form-fitting gowns with trumpet or mermaid skirts. Several styles from Lhuillier's most recent bridal collection for spring/ summer 2015 capitalize on the idea of getting two looks for one price: Her slim Fabienne ivory lace column gown features a belted overskirt in tulle, allowing the bride to make an easy -- and perhaps more cost-effective -- transition from ceremony to reception.

Amsale, too, is capitalizing on this trend with the Little White Dress collection of short styles, with looks that can evoke a bride's ceremony dress with a strapless neckline or tulle skirt, while a simple sleeveless sheath, adorned with a bow at the waist, allows a bride to work an Audrey Hepburn moment into her wedding day.

Phyllis Limmer, the owner of Bridal Elegance in Dix Hills, has seen plenty of brides pick out multiple dresses in her store, too.

"A lot of girls are watching 'Say Yes to the Dress' or David Tutera , and they want to keep up with the Joneses," she said. But how can one stay on budget while buying multiple looks?

"When I put our short wedding dresses on sale, I find a bride will buy one off the rack because it's more within her reach," Limmer said, noting that the discount can range from 50 percent off full price to, in the case of sample dresses, a rack of discontinued floor samples at the bargain price of $50 each.

And in full-price options, Limmer looks to bridal lines such as Moonlight or Christina Wu for their ideal combination of style, quality and a cost her bride won't find too prohibitive.

"If a bride is spending $1,500 for her wedding gown, a second dress in the $300-to-$400 range is the most my bride would want to pay," she said.

Another option, Mause says, is to choose a style from a bridesmaid line, but in white or ivory. Alfred Angelo is among the mainstream bridesmaid collections offering a range of short bridesmaid dresses that also come in white or ivory and, at $99 to $179, can seem like a steal compared to bridal-gown prices.

"They'll accent it with a beaded belt or a brooch," Mause said of brides who go this route for their after-party look, a sure sign that "she's the bride."

Mause also points to Alfred Angelo's popular Disney Fairy Tale Bridal collection, with dresses designed to evoke ideas of Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. "Several of those dresses are available as short options, and brides love them because they'll offer a bit more beading or a fuller skirt versus something you would find in a bridesmaid line," she said.

With multiple dresses comes the need for multiple accessories, says Francine Sanders, owner of Francine's Bridal Experience, an accessories boutique in Sayville.

"There's the wedding look and then the party look, and that means changing not only the dress, but also the earrings, the handbag and the shoes," she said. "The [reception] look is definitely more glamorous, and the shoes are sexier and higher and might feature crystals," Sanders said, the better to be seen -- and photographed -- if the dress is short.

Among the popular lines in Sanders' boutique: the Pink shoe collection by UK-based Paradox London, which offers its satin bridal pumps and ankle-strap sandals in a variety of party-friendly styles, including the Luxe ivory satin platform pump with its allover embellishment of Swarovski crystals. In jewelry, Sanders says, brides might change from demure pearls and crystals at the ceremony to larger, bling-centric chandelier earrings by Jessica McClintock; the same is true of the transition from a romantic veil for the ceremony to a crystal-beaded hair comb for the reception and after-party.

While American brides have only recently caught on to the multiple-dress trend, Keveza says the practice is common abroad.

"You have to remember, in Europe a bride and groom very often have both a civil ceremony and a religious ceremony, and for the civil ceremony, it's common for the bride to wear a short white dress or suit," she said.

And when a wedding is informal, like Hines' was, a short dress is perfect all on its own. Her tea-length dress "allowed her to sail from the ceremony right into the reception and feel totally comfortable," Keveza said.

Indeed, a short dress not only highlights comfort and fun, flirty styling, it also can prove to be a more budget-friendly alternative to the voluminous, traditional ballgown. Keveza's current collection includes a tea-length dress with a circle skirt similar to the dress designed for Hines but with one-shoulder styling (another hot trend influenced by red-carpet styles) accented with a crystal belt.

Whether a bride goes for just one shorter dress or two dresses -- one for the ceremony and another for the reception -- or more, often depends on her budget, Limmer says.

"Not everyone can spend like a Kim Kardashian," she joked of the reality star, who wore two gowns for her May wedding to Kanye West, and three for her 2011 nuptials with Kris Humphries.

Indeed, while the choice of a wedding dress -- or dresses -- is highly personal, experts agree: Choose wisely.

"If your budget allows for multiple dresses, go for it, but with one caveat: Rather than spending a little amount on three cheap dresses, you're much better off with one high-quality dress," Keveza says. "You don't want to look back on these photos 10 years from now and wonder, 'What was I thinking?' "