Sole Mates

Living in Massachusetts, my shoe wardrobe, particularly this time of year, is utilitarian and decidedly unsexy: a pair of Dansko clogs (my dog-walking shoe of choice) and a pair of Hunter boots (designed for rain, but awesome for snow).  I think this is why in my wedding fantasies, I am tottering around in a pair of saucy stilettos, comfort be damned.

[Manolo Blahnik Self Portrait]

Well, I am excited to report that Mr. Blahnik and Nordstrom have made my dream into a reality.  Behold the gorgeous Sedaraby D'orsays that will deck my gnomish feet -- I'm a size 5 -- on my wedding day:

The Sedaraby is a classic Manolo style.  Remember that hilarious SATC episode where Carrie loses her silver pair when she's forced to take off her shoes at a baby shower?  But lately Manolo (yeah, we're totes on a first-name basis now) has been amping up the style in new fabric treatments.  The ones I got are the perfect shade of purple -- a dusky, irridescent amethyst that complements the color of the bridesmaid dresses and (as you can see in the next photo) changes hues depending on the light.  And they are strangely comfortable!  Sure, I'll be eating ramen for a month to pay for them, but I figure that in terms of wearability, they were a better "investment" than my wedding gown, which I had gotten on the cheap precisely to make room in the budget for a pair of hot shoes.

I love them so much that instead of wearing a long formal gown at the end of the evening (Chinese brides change three times!), I'm thinking of showing off the shoes by rocking this short little Badgley Mischka number (originally my rehearsal dinner dress):

Badgley Mischka via Gilt Groupe

I'd pair the dress with a flirty, quirky hairpiece, maybe something like this one by Etsy seller LoBoheme (formerly Sweetsnlo), and be ready to dance all night.

[Amelie Feather Hairpiece]

Brides and grooms, do you have a wedding outfit indulgence, be it a pair of shoes or a fab veil? Brides, are you a dress gal or a shoe gal?

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Maid to Perfection - Part II

In yesterday's post, I wrote about our initial efforts at finding the perfect dresses for the six lovely ladies in my bridal party.  Just to review the criteria, the dress(es) had to be appropriate for a black-tie-optional wedding, be stylish and fun, and be affordable (i.e., under $200).

As a reminder, here are our favorite choices from our visit to Bridal Reflections: 

While these Alfred Angelo dresses were lovely, I had some reservations.  First, I had difficulty conceptualizing what the dresses would look like in the lilac color we chose; after all, we only had a tiny swatch of fabric to work with.  Second, I wasn't sure whether the dresses would be formal enough.  They would be beautiful in the context of an outdoor or daytime wedding, but would they be too understated for a formal wedding?

While I was pondering these deep, incredibly important questions, I got an email from Bluefly about a 15% off sale they were having.  And there, hidden in plain site amongst dozens of overpriced and overly embellished gowns, was the perfect dress.  It came in the most exquisite shade of mauvish, silverish purple.  It was chic, sexy, and resembled the cut of my dress.  It was just the right level of formality.  And, best of all, it was on sale.

Tada:

[Photo Source]

The gown is satin and made by Amsale.  It's pretty in the photo, but it's even more flattering in person.  Here is a picture of R trying on the dress:

I hadn't anticipated outfitting all four of my "friends of honor" in the same dress.  I had always planned on allowing them to choose a different style dress in the same color.  But it turns out that all four really loved this Amsale gown.  And why wouldn't they?  They looked muy caliente in them!

To tone down the matchy-matchiness of the bridal party, I decided to ask my two "sisters of honor" to wear gowns in similar, though not identical silhouettes in silver satin.  Here is the Jim Hjelm dress that Sister Hot Cocoa will be wearing:

[Jim Hjelm 5773]

And here is the gown that FSIL Hot Cocoa will be wearing.  The Jim Hjelm website, unfortunately, doesn't have a picture of the front of the dress, but it's a simple and lovely deep v-neck.

[Jim Hjelm 5680]

From the front, the dresses are very different, but I love how they are nearly identical from the back and how they echo the shape of the Amsale dress.  I ended up ordering the two Jim Hjelm dresses from Pearl's Place, and each was under $200.

After many weeks of scouring through stores online and in person, I've finally outfitted my bridal party.  Woo hoo!  Now, I can shift my attention to what Mr. HC and his groomspersons will be wearing.  (Is it just me or is the work of a bride never done?!)

Will your bridal party be wearing identical dresses?  Did you find it hard to accommodate the different aesthetics and body shapes of all of your attendants?

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Maid to Perfection - Part I

There are six lovely ladies in my bridal party: my sister, my FSIL, and four of my friends from graduate school and law school.  Let me just say that Team Hot Cocoa is pretty hot.  And if I were a jealous bride, I'd outfit them in these masterpieces from the Hong Kong wedding mall:

The gold number on the left is spectacular.  I mean, nothing gives off mixed signals like an extra panel of frilliness in the crotch area.  It's like Scarlett O'Hara meets Eve in her fig-leaf days. And the silver lamé gown would be perfect for a jaunt down the yellow brick road with the Tin Man.

Lucky for Team HC, I'm not so into the Marie-Antoinette-meets-Rampage aesthetic.  I  just wanted them to wear something that would make them feel beautiful and special, so long as it was appropriate for an evening black-tie-optional wedding.  And since I was going to be purchasing the dresses, I was hoping to find something relatively affordable too.

We started out with the cotton cady dresses from JCrew.  They came in a few styles that would work well on a variety of body shapes (sweet!), arrived quickly (sweeter!), and were on clearance sale (sweetest!).  The only drawbacks were that the "royal purple" of the cady dresses didn't really go with the more sedate purples in my wedding palette, and the cady fabric seemed a bit too casual.  The JCrew wedding reps bent over backward to help me locate sizes/styles appropriate for all six ladies, which was difficult to do given that the dresses were on clearance. Unfortunately, JCrew wasn't able to locate dresses for the whole party.  But how's this for good service?  They kindly allowed me to return the dresses I had in my possession (even though they were on final sale).

Our next stop was Bridal Reflections, a boutique in Watertown, MA.  Owner Anita runs the business out of her home, and her second floor is crammed with hundreds of bridesmaid dresses from most of the major lines, including B2, Watters & Watters, and Alfred Angelo. Because of her low overhead costs, she passes on major savings to her clients.  So you get the prices of a discount retailer (like Netbride) with the opportunity to try on a number of gowns under the discerning eye of a patient and attentive expert.

Two members of my bridal party, L and A, came with me to scope out the gowns.  A tried on the B2 gown above, which we liked on the hanger.  Once it was on, though, we saw that it had a strangely high neckline for a strapless dress.  Seriously, the dress looked like it was trying to throttle her.

A also tried on the above Dessy, which was okay, but it left us a bit uninspired.

We liked the Alfred Angelo gown above on L.  The empire waist was flattering on most body types, and the loose shape of the gown meant that the ladies could partake heartily in our dessert bar without worrying about a muffin-top (or should I say cupcake-top) effect.

But we loved this adorable lace dress from Alfred Angelo.  The lace had metallic threading, which amped it up for a formal wedding, and it came in two delicious shapes -- a chic empire waist number (modeled by A above) and a sweet tank style dress (modeled by -- holy cupcake tops -- me below).  The dress came in a mauvy-lilac shade that seemed to go well with the color palette of the wedding.

The plan, upon leaving Bridal Reflections, was to have the six ladies choose from the two lace dresses, as well as a satin strapless style (modeled by L above).  All three styles of dresses would be in the same color, but each woman could pick the style that went best with their aesthetic and their body type.

We were all set to place the order when I found something even better!  To be continued . . . .

Was finding the perfect dress for your bridal party even more difficult than finding a dress for yourself?  Did you change your mind a million times over like me?

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