On Monday Cheryl and Wolf were married in this season’s finale of Westside on Three. Cheryl, played by Ashleigh Cummings, had found her perfect dress and looked gorgeous on her big day. But in the build-up to the wedding day Westside put a call out for authentic eighties wedding dresses for the West’s wedding. Women across New Zealand dove into their wardrobes, dusted off their gowns and got their beloved dresses ready for a second outing.
The Weekly hears the stories behind three of the contenders…
Donna Sims – married in 1998
“My girlfriend got married before me and I really liked her dress, so I decided to go with something similar.
It’s a kind of medieval style. I purchased it from Victoria Park Market and I love the dress, but I probably would have preferred it not to be so jagged down the bottom, but I guess that’s who you are from your past. I wore white lace-up boots! They were gorgeous.
When I bought the dress, it was $1200 and then I had to buy a petticoat to poof it out underneath.
The dress was very heavy to wear. We are huge fans of the show, so I can’t believe they chose my dress!
I haven’t intentionally hung onto the dress all this time, I’ve been trying to sell it! I was clearly meant to hold onto it for something. So if anyone wants it, it’s still for sale!”
Katrina Cole – married in 1988
“The making of my dress was very secret squirrel. My Mum played golf with a lady who was a dressmaker for a top designer, and she made it for me in her spare time so we could afford it.
It was all very Princess Di and a fairytale. Everything was pink and frilly – there was a bussle bow, embroidery and I stuck all those rhinestones on the skirt. There must have been a metre of material for each sleeve!
It had a big hoop under the skirt which you could have fit a small family underneath! At 24, I was one of the last of my friends to get married, so I wanted something a bit different to a tiara, and the Olivia Newton-John movie Xanadu had just come out, so I wore a Xanadu-inspired headpiece!
These days, I just give the dress out for fancy dress! I do look back on the wedding photos fondly as a lot of those people aren’t around any more.”
Faye Hallett – married in 1988
“The dress was inspired by Princess Diana. I was a huge Diana fan! I needed the froufrou, the frills, the lace, the train and a long bouquet.
I got the feeling everyone talks about, it was a big yes to the dress! My now ex-husband and I got married in the chapel at a cemetery, which has actually been featured in Westside and Outrageous Fortune.
I was 20 at the time and we’d known each other since primary school, so everything was very sentimental. I did consider getting rid of the dress and kept it for my children initially, but now I have it for this moment.
I’ve been a huge fan of the show since the Outrageous Fortune days, and when I saw them looking for dresses, I applied immediately. I’m the receptionist at a primary school, so nowadays the dress comes to school for dress-up and gets paraded around the playground. It’s amazing anyone actually wants this pavlova!”
