I LEAVE the Australian component of Bendigo Art Gallery’s White Wedding Dress exhibition in awe of Rebecca Judd’s J’Aton wedding dress summer dresses and the tiny body it swathed during her 2010 wedding.

A few more steps into the international collection, Gwen Stefani’s unconventional pink-and-white John Galliano frock knocks my senses sideways. I collect myself only to fall in love with a puff of purple silk once worn by Dita Von Teese.

At this point, one thing is clear: I’m not in Bendigo any more.

Atelier Aimee channels old world opulence and European romance in its 2012 Romeo and Juliet bridal line. Waist-cinching corsets are lavishly beaded, embroidered and adorned, and tiers of ruffles cascade down a-line, princess and ballgown skirts. Atelier Aimee is not afraid of the bustle and while I'm typically not a bustle kinda gal, the wedding dress below (photo 2, right) left me swooning. I adore the modern spin on the traditional bridal bustle, and the sweetheart bodice with metallic beading and champagne cummerbund sash could not be more perfect. If you're a fan of intricate detailing, clouds of tulle and endless drama and WOW, you must check out the Romeo and Juliet collection!

But... Atelier Aimee isn't just for high-drama cocktail dresses brides. Its Pret-a-Porter collection is perfect for brides with restrained style and classic, timeless tastes. With little to no embellishments and sleek, rather than voluminous, silhouettes, a Pret-a-Porter dress actually could be passed down to future generations.

BEIJING - On the third floor of a tile-roofed house at the end of a nondescript alley in Suzhou, six young women sit at computers taking orders from around the world. In an adjacent room, sewing machines hum as white wedding gowns come off the production line in the 30-square-meter workshop. Shen Yan, founder and chief designer of the Top Wedding Dress Factory, said the workshop produces up to 1,200 dresses a month, at an average price of 1,000 yuan ($156). Once they are hanging in a Western wedding dress shop, three or four weeks later, they will have a price tag of at least $1,000.

In the Huqiu district of Suzhou, eastern China, at least 1,000 such factories have sprung up. They sell wedding dresses online, and almost all their customers are from overseas.

Shenzhen Wuzhou Changlian International Trading Co Ltd, a leading trading company that specializes in manufacturing series of dresses including wedding, sheath column wedding dresses bridesmaid and flower girls dresses and also a series of prom or informal dresses, is pleased to announce its new arrivals of discounted dresses with various materials to meet all personalized needs.

No matter in ancient or modern world, home or abroad, a wedding day is the biggest day of a lifetime. Though the dresses have changed and evolved as time went on, it never changed for the brides to look forward to that exciting moment and an everlasting love.

Robin Russell had just picked up her wedding dress and her flower girl's dress from being altered when she and her color bridesmaid dresses maid of honor decided to stop at a nearby craft store to pick up an item for the wedding.

"We came to get the last minute bubble fillers for the flowers," said Russell. "We drove here, went into the store for maybe 15 or 20 minutes and came back out, loaded up the stuff and went home."

The two didn't realize the dresses were missing at first because they were in the backseat of a minivan.

"We grab the bags from Michael's and go in the house and I said 'oh I need to go back out and get my dress' and then I thought the dress color flower girl dresses wasn't in there and I just thought there's no way, there's no way and I went out there and it was gone," said Russell.