Tradition Calls
Romona's friends and relatives came up with some unusual items to represent the traditional "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" in her bridal ensemble:
€. a yellow porcelain rose, a garden relic symbolizing stress relief, from aunt Alice Robinson;
€. a just-purchased angel figurine "for peace of mind from sister Rena Robinson;
€. a borrowed bracelet to represent lifelong friendship from college friend Kim Lowe;
€. a blue candle symbolizing continued inspiration, wisdom and devotion from sister Beulah Robinson
Romona Robinson steps out of the dressing area at Matina's bridal salon in a strapless, ivory silk-crepe sheath by Romona Keveza, drawing oohs and ahhs from the quintet of friends and relatives assembled in the Oakwood Village shop to watch her try on wedding dresses.
"I feel like Cinderella!" she exclaims as she shows off a strapless white silk-duchesse Vera Wang sample by waltzing around the room with her goddaughter, 8-year-old Mackenzie Banks of Solon. But it is the last dress she models that gets the most compliments: a strapless, ivory silk-duchesse gown by Kenneth Pool featuring a silver- and gold-embroidered and beaded bodice with crystals and pearls, dropped waist, full pleated skirt and cathedral train detailed in gold-and-silver embroidery and crystals.
"This was my second choice," she reveals. "If you love this, you're gonna love what I selected."
The fashion show, as evidenced by the lights and cameras, is being staged for a package on Romona's wedding that aired on WKYC-TV during the May 2004 ratings period. The anchorwoman actually selected her Reem Acra Couture wedding gown in December 2003, during a weekend shopping trip to New York City.
"I always knew I wanted a Reem Acra dress," she says later. "I've watched stars wear her dresses to the Oscars, and I saw a lot of her dresses in the bridal magazines."
In fact, Acra actually helped Romona pick out her wedding dress. The designer walked into her salon while Romona was trying to choose between the dress she had on (the one an accompanying friend and attending bridal consultant favored) and the one she'd fallen in love with while flipping through a magazine: a strikingly elegant, ivory silk-duchesse creation featuring a square-necked bodice embellished with gold-and-silver embroidery in a medallion design and scattered Swarovski crystals; a dropped waist; long, sheer sleeves; and a ballroom skirt with an extended, chapel-length train.
"The saleswoman held up the dress that I liked next to me and said to Reem, €˜We're undecided. Which of these dresses do you think looks best?' " Romona remembers. "And Reem said, 'The one you're holding up against her I could have designed for her myself.' I knew she was being honest because the dress I had on was thousands — I mean, thousands — of dollars more than the one I wanted."
While in New York, Romona also purchased a rhinestone knockoff of the $1 million diamond-and-platinum shoes worn by actress Laura Elena Harring to the 2002 Oscars and a pair of chandelier earrings at Kleinfeld Bridal on Fifth Avenue. "There are so many crystals and beads on that dress that if you try to put on a necklace, it will clash," she says.
To top off her bridal ensemble, the bride-to-be opted for a cathedral-length veil custom-made by New York-based Homa Creations. It's decorated with Swarovski crystals, pearls and gold-and-silver embroidery that mimics that in her dress.
"Everyone wanted to stick these tiaras on my head," she says when asked about the off-the-rack options she considered. "But I just felt like this older princess. It wasn't me."
While Romona did her bridal shopping in New York, she made a point of ordering her dress from Matina's. "I had just done all of this reporting about police, firefighters and paramedics losing their jobs," she explains. "I just [thought], Cleveland is my hometown. If I'm going to spend a bunch of money, I want to spend it at home." She admits she gained a few pounds in the months after ordering the size-8 gown, a result of putting wedding planning before her usual three or four workouts a week.
"I have been exercising maybe once a week, once every other week," she laments. "And then I was eating on the run because I was going to so many meetings. People were like, 'Oh, you'll lose weight because you'll be stressed out.' I said, 'Hell, I'm eating because I'm stressed out!' But not to worry. It's coming off!"
