Stone Fox explains how to avoid bridezilla weddings.
“Fuck Weddings” might seem an odd slogan for a bridal atelier, but Molly Guy opened Stone Fox Bride in 2012 intending to make a chic rebuttal to the mainstream marriage racket and appeal to a customer who wants a more chilled-out approach to walking down the aisle. In a market dominated by dusty, factory-sized mega- shops, Stone Fox Bride welcomes wives-to-be in an intimate downtown NYC studio space outfitted with a confetti-covered yurt, which serves as both a fitting room and office.
“We consider ourselves bridal spirit guides,” says Guy, a slender, thirty-something blonde and self-proclaimed “non-freaker-outer.” Aside from stocking a killer range of non-traditional wedding dresses, Stone Fox’s services range from sex therapy referrals to finding a bra that keeps your boobs up all day to full-blown wedding planning. “In whatever capacity that someone needs hand-holding,” she says, “we’ll hold it.”
As an alternative bridal shop, the number one complaint Guy hears from incoming clients is how out of touch the bridal scene is with the way most women dress. If everything else in your life—your wardrobe, your iPhone case, your Tumblr feed—is mixable and matchable, why shouldn’t your wedding be customizable enough to express your personal style? “Mostly, it’s the lack of taste and style in the bridal world—it’s so radically different from the worlds of pop culture or fashion,” she says. “It’s like it’s still 1954.” According to Guy, the Stone Fox bride is a young creative professional who knows exactly what she wants her wedding not to look like—outdated and matronly—and is searching for the dress, the ceremony and the all-round vibe that reflects her already well-honed style. With 100 successfully SFB-styled weddings under her belt, Guy gave us her top tips for rewriting the old wedding rules.
Trusting your first impulse is usually the easiest way to steer clear of bridezilla drama. And even more importantly, you have to act on that instinct. “A lot of girls come in, they try something on, they laugh, they cry, they beat their fists on the wall, call their mom, high-five their bridesmaids, and then I don’t see them for nine months,” says Guy. “If you like something, then you should jump on it, know it and put your fears to rest.”
You may think scrapbooking is for your grandma, but using that process to gather source images, color swatches and general mood ideas helps your wedding coordinator help you. “It’s much easier when clients have Pinterest boards, Tumblrs, Instagrams,” says Guy. For the record, she says most of her clients want to look like Kate Moss.
Traditional wedding gowns, or as Guy calls them, “cupcake dresses on steroids,” have lost their allure among brides who are opting for more pared-down, modern ceremonies. And passing up layers of frills has become increasingly easier with emerging NYC-based designers like Yara Flinn of Nomia, Lindsey Thornburg, Leana Zuniga of Electric Feathers and the people behind SFB’s own in-house line, who all create custom wedding dresses that look as good on the street as they
do walking down the aisle. “It’s a completely collaborative experience and an honest reflection of the designers’ style as much as their own,” Guy says.
While Guy hates the cupcake look, equally awful is the other extreme of twee, indie-barnyard weddings. “If I have to see another mason jar, I’ll vomit,” she says. “From the rustic family-style dinner to the flowers in their hair—I think there has been a Starbucksification of the indie wedding. [It’s] becoming so mainstream that it’s almost grotesque.”
Opting for timeless simplicity is always a solid option. “I would hope that the new trend is no trend,” says Guy. “If you look back at Caroline Bessette-Kennedy’s wedding photo, which is now 14 years old, she was in a white [slip] dress with her hair back and she looked like she could have been married yesterday or 50 years ago.”
When giving thank you gifts to your bridesmaids, be original and personal. “Every wedding I’ve been in, I’ve gotten a Tiffany’s picture frame, weird scrunchies or embroidered bedroom slippers. T-A-C-K-Y!” says Guy. To help matters, Stone Fox has pulled together The Bridesmaid’s Survival Kit: a “Fuck Weddings” tote filled with second-hand Judy Blume paperbacks, candy, new age smudge sticks, sex toys, vitamins and a journal. Each tote is tailored to the brides’ specific tastes and reflects each ceremony’s overall feel.
“Any honest expression of love or marriage should be true to what that means to you,” says Guy. “What’s important is that the love and the marriage is on display instead of the dress, and that’s what should be worn down the aisle.”