2008 will be remembered as the year when Madonna got divorced the second time, Mariah Carey wed Hubby No. 2, and Ellen Degeneres and Beyoncé got hitched for the first time to their respective partners.

In the Philippines, the previous year will also be memorable for some of Manila’s fairest brides and their bridal frocks.

While a girl may tap into her inner bombshell and walk into a party in vertiginous heels and a dress that leaves little to the imagination, she’s likely to pick a dress that’s more traditional—classic, as they like to call it—or even virginal for her altar date. Such was the case in most brides of 2008.

In September, screen siren Joyce Jimenez married her Filipino-American boyfriend in a pure white, almost conservative confection that’s quite the opposite of her onscreen persona.

Designer Frederick Peralta created a classic strapless dress of Mikado silk with crystal beads on the bodice. It had a floor-length French lace overlay for Jimenez’s dress for the chapel ceremonies. She wed away from prying eyes, in Walnut Creek, California.

Behind the celebrity, “Joyce is very practical and a simple person,” Peralta says of the bride and her choices.

Twist

Jennifer Stephanie Jurilla also chose classic when she wed Andrei Aquino in January. But she made sure there was a twist to the clothes of her entourage: She asked top couturier Auggie Cordero for a black-and-white-themed wedding.

The idea came from one magazine, Jurilla recalls, and she was thoroughly pleased with how Cordero interpreted it: bows in polka dots or stripes and black lace accents.

The designer, in turn, says he enjoys working with brides like Jurilla who know what they want and stick to it, not swayed by a meddlesome mom or in-law.

When Wilvy Sy wed Raphael Eduard Gubelin, she wore a Pitoy Moreno piña dress, exquisitely embroidered in Cavite with a matching veil and circular train.

Sy wore it to both ceremonies—in Lucerne, Switzerland and in Santuario de San Antonio in Makati, where her groom wore a traditional barong.

Simplicity is key to many a modern bride. Makati City councilor Abby Binay asked for just that from designer Ivarluski Aseron when she wed Luis Campos in civil rites in October.

Aseron created a dress with a random-pleat bodice and bias skirt in off-white silk chiffon. For just a tiny bit of shimmer, he embroidered crystal beads on gauzy tulle for sleeves.

Trisha Chua also asked for a “feminine, romantic and simple” dress “with just a bit of vintage feel” from Patrice Ramos Diaz, when the former fashion editor walked down the aisle with Quezon City councilor Joseph Juico in Tagaytay.

The dress had a low back in ivory French lace with a mix of lace appliqués. Diaz embellished the dress with silk organdy petals, crystals and beadwork.

A strapless gown in “satin-ized” silk organdy with Chantilly lace bodice and floral details was Rhett Eala’s interpretation of Janelyn Tiu’s “feminine and modern” dress when she wed Ryan Lim at Santuario de San Antonio in Forbes Park, Makati last month.

For the resort wedding of model Marilen Faustino to former model Hans Montenegro in January, Randy Ortiz designed an all-silk chiffon strapless flowing dress for the bride. It had a pleated empire-cut bodice with a beaded French lace accent on the waist.

Faustino wore a metallic gold Spanish veil to the wedding held in Shangri-La Mactan.

Filipiniana

When Patricia Cojuangco wed Anthony Kierulf, she had only one request: that her dress be Filipiniana-looking, according to designer Dennis Lustico. Her entourage wore dresses in a salmon-pomelo shade.

The dress was of duchess satin with a train made of raso organza that Lustico purchased in Italy. On it he embroidered a Japanese bamboo theme, taken from a photo of a floral arrangement he had seen.

The bride’s abuela, Imelda Cojuangco, was so pleased with the outcome, she went up to the designer to thank him “for making my granddaughter very beautiful.”

Mimi Choy went for a fully beaded French Chantilly lace dress with a halter dress when she married Steve Li at the Manila Cathedral.

The spa-owner bride wanted “modern classic,” says designer Loretto, who interpreted it in an eight-piece gore serpentine skirt, cinched with a four-inch-thick Swaroski-crystal belt.

In contrast, Rajo Laurel eschewed classic and went all out for the wedding of his sister Gela to Ace Stehmeier in early 2008. The theme was “elegant animé,” and the designer took the Japanese inspiration to full fantasy.

The entourage wore black, it being the Japanese matrimonial color, accented with origami folds in a joyful mix of hot pink, lime, red and orange.

For the bride’s gown, Laurel used seven different materials: white Mikado silk, platinum-gray duchess satin, ivory Abraham silk gazar, bisque silk satin organza, striped piña silk weave and two kinds of vintage obi sash used in an exaggerated obi train—decidedly the most striking part of the dress. Laurel kept it simple at the top, which had a square neckline.