The bride who decides: Feminine rituals of bridal gown purchase as a rite of passage

• Bridal gown purchase is a ritual comprising artefact, scripts, actors and audience.
• The bride-to-be is a contemporary liminal identity reconciled through gown selection.
• Australian mothers' role is different from other research on Western weddings.
• Enactment of the retail spectacle that reveals the perfect gown completes the ritual.

For contemporary Western women, many of whom cohabit for extended periods, the selection of a wedding date initiates the liminal bride-to-be identity. Choosing her central wedding artefact, the bridal gown, is not only an important first step in organising her wedding, but it is also a rite of passage. Within the setting of the Australian bespoke bridal boutique a feminine ritual is enacted. Here brides-to-be reconcile, sometimes competing, cultural and personal scripts about brides through the discovery of the bridal gown that is perfect for them. Accompanied by close friends and her mother, these actors in the ritual support the bride-to-be and reflect an imagined wedding audience, but it is the mother of the bride-to-be who is given licence to be honest. The mother's frankness provides a counterbalance to the frivolity of friends that assists in the reconciliation of the divergent scripts and the personalisation of this important artefact. The retailer stage-manages the spectacle of presenting the bride-to-be to her chosen audience and, at this moment of revelation, brides-to-be transition into the identity of bride. Different from other research, Australian brides-to-be rely on bespoke bridal boutique retailers for their knowledge of contemporary trends, and mothers play a significant role in this feminine shopping ritual.

Chinese Abstract对于当代的西方女性（其中许多人长时间同居）而言，选择一个婚礼日期意味着开启了即将成为新娘的身份。在她的婚礼安排中，选择她的主要婚纱（新娘礼服），不仅是重要的第一步，也是一种成年礼。在澳大利亚的定制婚纱精品店的布景下，可演绎女性特有的仪式。在这里，即将成为新娘的女士可通过挑选非常适合她们的婚纱礼服来协调（有时是对抗）有关于新娘的文化和个性化的脚本。在亲密的朋友和新娘母亲的陪同下，仪式上的这些演员会为即将成为新娘的女士提供支持，并扮演想象中的婚礼的观众，然而，新娘的母亲是可以说实话的。母亲的坦诚弥补了朋友的轻松随意（以帮助协调不同的脚本以及实现这件重要礼服的个性化）。销售商指挥即将成为新娘的女士在她所选择的观众面前出现的情景，而在揭开面纱的一刻，即将成为新娘的女士便成为了真正的新娘。不同于其他研究，澳大利亚的即将成为新娘的女士依赖于定制婚纱精品店的销售商对当今潮流的了解，而她们的母亲在这个女性特有的购物仪式中，发挥重要的作用。