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Park Slope's Henrietta's Has Outfitted Brides For 50 Years:D ays In W h ite SatinBY DOROTHY WHITMORE%u201cHere comes the bride,%u201d the old bridalmarch, is staging a comeback in the eighties. Ever since Prince Charles and Lady Disaid, %u201cI do%u201d at St. Paul%u2019s, weddings areback bigger and more costlier than ever.And nowhere is the cost higher than in theBig Apple. While years ago, the bill for acocktail wedding with hors d%u2019oeuvres was $8per person, nowadays the price ranges inthe thousands.At the Brooklyn Botanical Gardenmembers%u2019 room a catered cocktail weddingwith hot canapes, champagne and flowerdecorated tables for about 80 people runsabout $5,000. This includes the fee for thejudge and a guitarist, but not the services ofthe wedding photographer.Even the price of the license has increased. The old $2 fee has long vanished.But even with a $10 tab, people are stillmarching down the aisle. According to themarriage bureau%u2019s Joseph Sanfedele, %u201cInJune of %u201885 we issued 7,059 licenses and performed 2,960 weddings in our citywidechapels.%u201dALWAYS WANTED JUNE WEDDINGBut a City Hall wedding is not the dreamof most brides. Most women still prefer areligious ceremony. And Park Slope%u2019s Debbie Macchia, a lifelong resident, is no exception. The 30-year-old nursery schoolteacher at Our Lady of Peace%u2019s day carecenter always wanted %u201ca June weddingwith all the trimmings.%u201dThese trimmings are comprised of asmorgasbord, cocktail hour and a roast beefdinner for 119 people at Del Monte Caterersin Bensonhurst at a hefty $35 a person.%u201cThis doesn%u2019t include the band, the videoor the photographer,%u201d explained Debbie%u2019sfiance, Paul Dauphinais, a Staten Islandconstruction engineer whom she met fouryears ago while both were attending theCollege of Staten Island. %u201cThe total cost ofour wedding is about $12,000,%u201d he added.Encompassed in this total is a 5-pieceband at $1,200. Another $900 is for a videoand $1,200 for the photographer. Flowers,including decorations at St. Rocco%u2019s church,carnation boutonnieres for the men andbouquets of lilies and roses for the womencost $800.Another expense, but one which mastbrides consider the most important, is thatof the bride ensemble. Debbie %u201cfell in loveimmediately%u201d with a traditional silk-satingown at Henrietta%u2019s, a Ninth Street ParkSlope landmark. The gown, complete withtrain, features a sweetheart neckline, Julietsleeves, a basque waist and is embroideredwith seed pearls and Alencon lace. It sellsfor $410.%u201cAlencon lace is the best and most popular,%u201d said Dolores Napoli, an 18-yearveteran salesperson at Henrietta%u2019s. Napolihas served about 2,500 brides since 1968.%u201cThe customers have changed in the lastten years. We used to have a majority ofbrides of 19, 20 and 22,%u201d she remarked,%u201cnow they%u2019re more like 26, 27, 32 and even62. And we have more and more people getWe used to have a majority of brides of 19,20, and 22. NowThey're more like 26,27, 32 and even 62. More people are marrying.Lynn Shaw, Henrietta%u2019s granddaughter, exam ines a lace bridal hat while her daughter,Je ssica , 9, learns the ropes. (Phoenix/Carvalho Photo)ting married for the second and thirdtime%u2014both widows and divorcees.%u201dTRADITION STILL RULES TASTEWhat hasn%u2019t changed is the brides%u2019 tastes.%u201cAll the brides in the end are the same,%u201dremarked Flora Kortsolakis, another18-year Henrietta employee. %u201cAt first theylook through the books, but in the end theygo for the traditional lace, a long train anda headpiece with a netting veil.%u201dAlthough Henrietta%u2019s sells hats withfeathers and sequined headbands with veils,the most popular choice of bridal headgeartoday is the wreath. Like Diana Ross%u2019s,Debbie%u2019s is a seed pearl crown withscalloped, moline veiling costing $130,Debbie%u2019s maid-of-honor, 29-year-old Donna Pasquiariello, who is also her firstcousin, chose a rose-colored, ballet lengthtwo-piece lace dress. The lace fashioned ina flowered pattern with a scalloped waistsells for $100. The bridesmaid, Nancy Pasquiariello, wore an identical dress.But dresses for the 11-year-old juniorbridesmaid and the 5-year-old flower girlwere custom made. Joyce, a neighborhoodseamstress, used the rose-colored lace obtained from Henrietta%u2019s. Custom-madedresses are very much in Henrietta%u2019s tradition. The original owner, HenriettaChiarello, the present owner%u2019s grandmother,was a custom dressmaker.%u201cMy grandmother used to select thematerial, design her own dresses and fitthem to the customer,%u201d emphasized LynnShaw. %u201cShe started the business in 1936, butContinued on' Page 10Bride-to-be Debbie M acchia is all sm iles as she tries on her gqwn at Henrietta%u2019s. Maid of Honor Donna Pasquiariello also tries on heroutfit. (Phoenix/Carvalho Photo)June 26, 1986, T H E PH O EN IX, Page 9