Planning For Romance Brides-To-Be Get Advice On All The Wedding Details - From Bridal Registries And Facials To Stretch Limos

Shelby Turner waited with her mother outside the bridal fair doors and talked about wedding cake.

Actually, they argued about frosting for the cake.

“I hate that raspberry jelly stuff in between,” Turner said, wrinkling up her nose.

“But cream cheese frosting is so ordinary,” said her mother, Libby. “You want it to be remembered, don’t you?”

It hardly mattered that the Romance in the Aire Bridal Fair hadn’t even opened its doors at the Ag Trade Center on Saturday. Mothers and daughters - some with bored-looking fiances in tow - were ready to roll.

Turner, 23, planned only to taste cakes at the fair, where three caterers were on hand to solve all of her frosting problems.

Soon, however, she found herself in a maze of other wedding possibilities: a soloist for the ceremony, a stretch limo for her bridesmaids, facials, bridal registries, even a jazzy new tux for her groom.

More than 30 booths tempted future brides at the weekend-long fair. Show hours today are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $5 per person.

Promoter Valerie Hunter said attendance so far is up from last year, even with the snowy roads and dreary skies that hung around all day.

“It’s going very well,” Hunter said. “We have a nice variety of services that can set up any bride.”

Guests can also find out how to plan a wedding, decorate it, shop for a gown or pick music for the ceremony during classes taught by various business owners.

The classes are held in-between fashion shows, where the latest wedding day duds are modeled on the runway.

By the time they were finished at the fair, Turner said she was too tired to think about frosting anymore.

“She can decide,” Turner said, pointing at her smiling mother. “I don’t care anymore.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo