Brides of Disney

My eldest daughter has picked out her wedding dress, and I have to say it's a big load off my mind. You never want to delay such an important decision until the last minute.

Sure, she probably could have waited for, say, 20 years - she's 6 - but when the perfect dress comes along, a girl doesn't dare miss it. Other pesky wedding-day details, such as choosing a groom, have to take a backseat.

Jin Yu's choice is a creamy off-the-shoulder number called Cinderella - it looks like it sounds. It's among a new collection being marketed by the Walt Disney Co., which teamed with designer Kirstie Kelly to create gowns inspired by Disney princesses, including Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Belle, Ariel from The Little Mermaid, and Jasmine from Aladdin.

Kelly said she "wanted women to feel like they had something in common with these princesses."

To which a father can only respond: Is she kidding? Something in common? My kid thinks she and the princesses are related by blood. Blue blood.

Many families organize their lives around a pillar of central spiritual importance. Like their church or synagogue. Or the Flyers. At our house, for our eldest, it's the princesses.

Jin Yu rides a Disney Princess bicycle, carries a Disney Princess purse. To her, the arrival of Disney Princess magazine is not the routine delivery of a $15 subscription, but a personal communiqué from headquarters.

After a hard day in kindergarten, Jin Yu likes to relax by slipping into a frilly yellow dress-up gown, a duplicate of the one Belle wore during her climactic ballroom-dance scene with the Beast. As evening nears, she might change into a powder-blue Cinderella gown and a pair of faux glass slippers.

For school, she dons more grown-up dresses that feature the faint, printed outline of Cinderella or another princess. Adults often don't notice the design, though it's immediately recognizable to my daughter and her classmates, a way for them to identify themselves to one another without the need for a secret handshake.

For years I've been trying to persuade Jin Yu that despite the single-color palette preferred by the princesses, the rainbow actually contains a multitude of hues, and she should feel free to experiment when picking out clothes and shoes.

"Uh-uh," she answers, shaking her head. "I like pink."

Jin Yu's little sister, Zhao Gu, 3, has largely proven resistant to the princesses' charms, though I often find myself slipping into the vernacular of the kingdom.

"Is that how Belle sits at the dinner table?" I ask, the mere mention of the name sufficient to make Jin Yu stop squirming and demurely place her napkin on her lap.

With her seventh birthday coming up, Jin Yu has been busy planning her wedding. When she learned she could get married in a Cinderella gown, she began to jump up and down. "I love Disney and the princesses!"

I'm amazed it's taken Disney so long to get into the wedding racket, and that the price of the gowns is not completely ridiculous. The typical American bride spends $1,505 on her dress, while the princess gowns cost between $1,100 and $3,400. Three grand may seem like a lot of money for a dress that'll be worn for one day, but let's face it: Elegance may characterize the Disney princesses; frugality does not.

Kelly, the designer, said she tried to pour the personality of each princess into a gown suitable for today's modern woman. Which makes sense. The Saharan garb works great for Jasmine, but most brides don't want to show up for their wedding wearing a two-piece and a tiara.

In photos, the dresses look, well, nice. They're not cheesy. But here's the problem: The gowns are only the start.

Disney executive Andy Mooney said the firm has found that interest in the princesses extends far beyond the 2- to 8-year-old demographic. In fact, surveys show strong demand for princess themes throughout women's lives.

That's bad news. Particularly for me.

Because I was hoping my daughter would grow out of this, that at some point we would wave a white-gloved farewell to the princesses. And it doesn't seem to be happening.

I get home from work and step into our backyard.

"My prince!" Jin Yu calls. At that point, I'm required to bow from the waist and recite the appropriate lines about getting dressed for the royal ball, all the while hoping that none of the neighbors are watching.

For a while, I was comforted by my younger daughter's lack of interest. Zhao Gu preferred Handy Manny, fostering a hope that my child might eventually decide to pick up a hammer and help with some repairs around the house.

That prospect ended when I woke her for preschool the other day.

She greeted me: "Good morning, your highness."

What could I say? Nothing, except:

"Good morning, your majesty."

Better make that two dresses.

Information on the Disney wedding dresses designed by Kirstie Kelly is available at www.disneybridal.com. The six collections - Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Belle and Jasmine - each have five to seven gown styles that range in price from $1,100 to $3,500.

In the Philadelphia area, the dresses are supposed to be available at the end of June/beginning of July at the following stores:

Pennsylvania: Bridaltown, 3446 Germantown Pike, Collegeville, 800-330-4696, www.bridaltown.com.

New Jersey: Exquisite Bride, 107 Main St., Princeton, 609-452-7200, www.exquisite-bride.com.

Corresponding "Maiden" bridesmaid dresses, priced from $200 to $500, and "Jewels" accessories are also available. Flower-girl dresses will come out in October.EndText

Would you wear a Disney wedding dress? Vote at go.phillynews.com/disneydressesEndText