This paper is a qualitative study which explores perceptions of the ideal wedding dress held by Singaporean brides who choose to skip wedding fairs in their wedding preparaton process. Ten interviews are conducted: 8 with Singaporean brides who do not attend wedding fairs, and 2 with brides who do attend them. Questions to the interview are formulated by first attempting to understand the bride’s perception of the ideal wedding ceremony, and subsequently that of the ideal wedding dress. For the purpose of this paper, the narratives of two brides who do attend wedding shows are included as an attempt to make the study more complete. For example, brides who attend the wedding show might attend with the sole purpose of acquiring information of what is available for consumption in the wedding market, but still hold the same perceptions as the non-attendees.

From the results, perceptions of the ideal wedding dress in relation to wedding shows are catagorised as follow: (A) The perception that a wedding dress offered by the wedding show is a bad investment; (B) The perception that the wedding dress available for sale at the wedding show is not “unique”; (C) The rejection of the wedding dress altogether; (D) The rejection of the idea of a “wedding dress package”; (E) Attributes that have nothing to do with perceptions of the ideal wedding dress, such avoiding wedding shows because brides do not like “hard-selling”, or perceiving the wedding show as a “marketing gimmick”. Wedding show organisers can consider these perceptions when planning future communication and sales efforts to appeal to a larger pool of prospective brides.

• Soh Wan Wei(Aalto University School of Business, Finland)