You won't find barely-there gowns at this bridal shop By Tim Townsend ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 08/09/2008 Chatfields Boutique may seem at first glance to be targeting two different groups of brides: the very pregnant and the very religious. Welcher said she got the idea to open a bridal store in “an Aha! moment” after hearing a startling statistic on the radio about how many brides are pregnant at the time of their weddings. “I wanted to open a bridal shop, but I wanted a store in the hard-to-find-dress category,” Welcher said. “We don’t have Maggie Sottero, Vera Wang or Jim Hjelm. We have dresses girls can wear if they’re three months pregnant or nine and a half months.” Welcher is catering to another underrepresented group of brides-to-be – those looking for what are called “Modesty Style” or “Temple Ready” wedding dresses. Such dresses, which often feature high necklines and long sleeves, are required for brides being married in some faiths or denominations whose houses of worship require modest dress. Welcher left a career in the corporate world working for companies including MasterCard and Fleishman-Hillard to start her own business. In the month that Chatfields has been open, she’s had inquiries from Muslim, Orthodox Jewish, Mormon, Roman Catholic and evangelical Christian women. “Our church’s motto is ‘Honor God. Help people,” said Welcher, who attends the evangelical St. Louis Family Church. “Helping people honors God, and I wanted a store that helped girls who couldn’t find a religiously appropriate wedding dress. Not everyone wants strapless.” The Roman Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis on Lindell Boulevard does not allow strapless wedding dresses, for instance. “Catholic tradition says a level of decorum is required,” said Laura Voegelie, the operations and events manager for the cathedral. “Strapless gowns are not allowed here or at many Catholic churches around the archdiocese.” Strapless dresses are sometimes allowed, Voegelie said, if the bride wears a jacket or shawl and the straps “have to be substantial.” Spaghetti straps, she said, “are lacking in modesty.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has strict guidelines for temple weddings, and one of the most successful modesty wedding dress stores is LatterDayBride in Utah. LatterDayBride began as an online store in 2003 and has since added a bricks-and-mortar store in downtown Salt Lake City. In 2007, the store was 22nd on the “Utah 100” list of fastest growth companies. Becky Bowers, the store’s manager, said that while the store began by selling dresses (which range from $300 to $1,250) to Mormon brides-to-be, it quickly became a popular shopping spot for women of many faiths. “Every denomination has girls who want a church wedding and want to dress modestly,” said Bowers. “Jewish girls, Catholic girls, Pentecostal girls – in the Bible Belt, where there are lots of conservative Christian churches, we have a lot of customers.” Welcher said she likes the idea of “temple ready” dresses because, if only indirectly, their modesty suggests that the event in question “is about the couple, not just the bride.” “That’s counter to what so many weddings are about these days where everything is geared toward the bride,” she said. “But many religions stress that a marriage is about a union of two people, about the partnership, and keeping the dress simple says that.” Welcher said a few people have asked her about the seeming contradiction of selling wedding dresses that, in their modesty, pay so much respect to religious tradition, but also catering to women who have become pregnant outside of marriage. “I’m pro-family and that means I’m helping the bride who wants to keep her baby but wants to get married,” Welcher said. “Life happens, and this store is traditionally untraditional.” The article can be read here: Folio