A British Royal family wedding traditionally triggers an international interest in romance and lavish ceremonies.

And next weekend's royal wedding between Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones is set to launch dozens of new trends in the multi-million dollar nuptials stakes.

Everything from the bride's dress to the bouquet she carries is likely to be copied by women around world.

But the royal bride-to-be's stunning engagement ring, which features a large oval diamond with two smaller heart-shaped diamonds on either side, itself follows on a world-wide trend towards multi-stone rings.

Allan Porter, of Solomon's on Front Street, said 90 percent of the engagement rings they have recently sold featured multiple diamonds.

"We have sold a lot of rings with multiple-stones,'' he said. "I would say that nine out of every ten rings has more than one stone in it.'' And Mr. Porter said that engagement rings which marry white and yellow gold were also hot-sellers with betrothed couples.

"A lot of our rings have white gold tops and yellow shanks,'' he explained.

"About 70 to 75 percent of the rings have the two tones -- it gives people the best of the both worlds.

"The warmth of the yellow gold is against their skin which sets off most skin tones nicely and the white gold sets the diamond off and really accents its bright sparkle.'' And thanks to plenty of US advertisements trumpeting the beauty of platinum, Mr. Porter said that locals were asking for more platinum engagement ring settings.

"We have also done a lot of brilliant (round) and princess (square) cut diamonds,'' he added. "And we have sold a lot of coloured stones which were the traditional engagement rings until the war.'' While colour is making substantial inroads in the engagement ring market, traditional white is still tops when it comes to invitations.

But according to Kristi Graystone of Pulp and Circumstance, on Old Cellar Lane and Queen Street, today's white invitations have a modern twist which showcase the couple's individuality.

"Colour is not that big when it comes to paper,'' she explained. "White, ivory or ecru are still the most popular colours when it comes to invitations.

"But the thing we seem to hear more and more is that people want something original and different.'' And Ms Graystone said that an increasing number of couples wanted to make their own invitations in a bid to produce something that was truly a unique creation.

"We are trying to cater to that by bringing in papers that people can print their own invitations on,'' she added. "We are steadily becoming a source for supplies for people who want to make their own invitations. It's a new area for us.'' No matter how much couples revamp and tweak the tradition wedding trappings, one aspect will remain an enduring mainstay of weddings -- flowers.

Linda O'Brien of Designer Flowers in Windsor Place in Brides and grooms ring the changes in Hamilton said today's brides were selecting more natural arrangements for their weddings.

"We are doing a lot of natural, not formal bouquets,'' she explained. "They bring in pictures from various magazines, so I think it is the magazines that are really setting the trends.'' Ms O'Brien also said that blushing brides were going for colour with their bridesmaid's flowers, shying away from the once popular pastel shades.

"At one time people we're asking for a lot of peach, but now it seems to be a lot of blue and purples.'' And tumbling cascades of roses are no longer the blossom of choice for a bride's bouquet.

"Calla lilies are very popular,'' said Ms O'Brien. "They are sophisticated and you can get away with carrying fewer flowers.

However, no matter what is in vogue at the moment, one thing remains constant -- white bouquets for the bride.

"Most brides still tend to go with white bouquets for themselves,'' she added.

Elaborate and costly floral arrangements are no longer a must-have for a reception.

According to decorator Marionette Simons, of Creative Touch, balloons and tulle are rapidly becoming the decoration of choice for receptions. "They are fun, dramatic and eye-catching.'' And Ms Simons said she had noticed that silver seemed to be all the rage with the last brides of the 20th century.

"Silver and white seems to be the popular colours this year,'' she explained.

"I'm doing a lot of decorating in silver and white.

"The colour scheme also depends on what the girls are wearing. Silver and white go with everything.'' Ms Simons, who works mostly with balloons, tulle and greenery, said the deciding factor when it came to decorating was the budget -- not what's in vogue. "It really depends on the budget how far they go with the decorations,'' she said. "But the stuff I have been doing lately has been very elaborate.'' And she noted that balloon arches seemed to ride-out any trends and enjoyed enduring popularity with brides.

A traditional wedding? Couples are putting a modern spin on their ceremonies.

Pastel flowers are being replaced with vibrant bouquets, white invitations are getting a touch of individuality and the local moongate is rapidly being replaced by a festive arch of balloons.

Trend-setter Royal bride Sophie Rhys-Jones