Latest dress love

Love this flowy number from Le Spose Di Gio, but 1) don't know where I'd find it to even try it on, 2) probably way out of my price range.

Another post might be brewing soon, but it's less "scrap-booky" and more relational/philosophical.

Beach Wedding Dresses

I've been pretty enamored with the idea of a beach wedding ceremony and daytime reception lately, and while I've been exploring beach venues around California (leaning towards southern Cali because it's warmer), I think it's time to examine some beachwear, too.  While I miss the structure that comes from more traditional gowns, I love that beach gowns are easy to wear and are a lot more affordable!

This one is Style BC148 from InWeddingDress.com and is currently on sale for $238.00.

This following one is Destination Bridal Style 1034 from Dessy.com.  I ran a quick search for it, and the first online retailer that I found is selling it for $394.00.  If I could fit size 0, Dessy.com has a Sample-On-Loan for $35.00 (what the heck is "sample-on-loan"?  If that's like renting a wedding dress, I would strongly consider that).

I'm also gravitating towards a lacy, trumpet/mermaid style gown minus a train for a beach wedding.  This one was in a previous dress-related post and is the Monique Lhuillier Monet.  Unfortunately, the price point is closer to the thousands, and the used dresses on sale are about $2500 or $3000.  I suppose that's to be expected for good-quality lace.

Suggestions from the peanut gallery

These came in at my sister's suggestion.  I like that you can get them all in similar--if not the exact--same color and fabric, so my bridesmaids would have their choice of dress provided that I choose the color and fabric.  I think Dessy.com's ocean blue is the closest thing to the color I'm looking for.  (They have a teal color, but it looks too gray to be teal.)

Re-wearable BM dresses

There's some debate on the re-wearability factor of a bridesmaid dress.  Most BMs don't end up wearing their dress again, and I'd hate to ask my BMs to spend too much money on something they're going to wear once.  On the other hand, what if going for re-wearability means sacrificing aesthetics?  

Let's look at some contemporary contenders for the versatile BM outfit:

• The Little Black Dress.  Every lady has one or needs one in their closet, and there are so many ways to dress one up or down.  No one looks bad in a LBD.  While I love the general idea, I'm reluctant to go with this because potential-MIL is a little superstitious and will say it's bad luck to wear black to a wedding, and WTH, your bridesmaids are wearing black?  Hell no.  I'll give this one up for peace with the MIL.
  
  
  
  
  But look how nice it is when the accessories pop from the black!!
  
• Convertible dresses.  Personally, I think it's a very nifty idea to be able to wear the same piece of fabric 10+ different ways, and it's a great balance of variety and uniformity.  Plus, I think this is a project my mom could whip up inexpensively in not too much time because she's sewn samples of these before for a local designer.  But a lot of reviews of these dresses mention that these dresses don't look great on bustier ladies, and they say it's difficult if not downright impossible to wear a bra with most of the styles.  That's pretty disappointing, and I'd hate to have to tell my BMs they can't wear a bra.
  
  
  
  
  But they look uniform and pretty, no?  Except for maybe the completely strapless on the left over there.
  
  
• Two-piece outfits.  I'm not a fan of the ones closer to formal, traditional two-piece dresses (example).  However, what I do love is the version with a pencil skirt paired with a frilly top and maybe a colorful sash, like pictured below:
  
  
  
  
  This is probably better suited for something closer to the casual side of the spectrum, but I'm sure you can dress up the pencil skirt/frilly top combo to fit a more elegant, formal wedding.

Of these, which one do you think is the most versatile option? Are there other re-wearable options I didn't cover here?

Cute BM dresses!

ModCloth just recently brought this dress back in stock, and I just love the draping detail at the top and that you can wear it beautifully in two ways!  I think it'd be adorable for bridesmaids, but is it too casual?  Accessories would be so key here.  I'd want this for a beach wedding and would have the BMs wear this in varying shades of blue (or whatever theme color I'd choose).

I am also inspired by Cinderella Project's entry on mismatched BM dresses.  Lovin' the mixture of colors look, especially when working with a monochromatic palette:

 

The trouble with doing mismatched BM dresses is figuring out the uniformity aspect: how do I set it up so that the girls still look like my ladies?  Cinderella Project suggests sticking to the same fabrics.  I'd probably also ask that the ladies stick to the same length (likely knee-length) to help with the uniformity.

A bit more form-fitting

I saw the following dress from Claire Pettibone's Fall 2010 bridal collection (Willow) and just loved the detailing on the top and back! 

The bottom part of the dress, I don't feel too strongly about.  But this is a gorgeous, unique design that demands an updo! :)

Mermaid Silhouettes

Expanding a bit on my last post, I'm going to start looking at mermaid-silhouette dresses for inspiration.  Here are a few I've seen that I like so far:

From Sophia Tolli

From La Sposa

 

From Anjolique Bridal 

From Lazaro Wedding

From Mikaella

First dress?

I was hanging out with girlfriends K and C, whom are getting married themselves (not to each other, though!).  After happy hour, we headed back to K's place for C to try on her wedding dress.  Their friend had bought 3 dresses at a sample sale, so K invited me to try one of them on, just for fun.  It was a mermaid silhouette, one that I hadn't considered before in my browsing for wedding dresses, and I looked fabulously curvy!  I wasn't crazy about the dress itself, but I liked the idea of showing off my figure (and I think the mister would love it, too!).

I wish I had a photo to show you, but I was worried it'd be bad luck before even getting the proposal! :(

Another issue I've come across in the dress search is that I know my mom has her heart set on making my wedding dress.  I'd rather buy a dress and ask her to alter it, but I'd hate to hurt her feelings.  Plus I have 3 more sisters after me, and I see this as "taking one for the team."  But it's been awhile since she's made dresses for people, so maybe she's not as keen on the idea anymore?  Or, as K and C suggested, maybe I could ask her to make my ao dai.  I'll cross that bridge when it comes, but until then I'll keep looking through dresses for inspiration.

Another beautiful gown!

More on the traditional end:

I love the ruffles cascading down this!

Integrating some culture through a second dress

In a lot of Asian American weddings, the bride wears the western-style white dress for the church ceremony and the culturally-traditional wedding dress for the reception.  I hadn't really imagined myself doing something similar, mostly because I'm not really a fan of the Vietnamese ao dai.  But I got excited about wearing a bridesmaid saree to my girlfriend's Indian wedding, and started thinking about it.  Then I saw some modern, sleeveless versions of ao dai recently that made me love the idea.  It's elegant, sexy, and more casual. 

Unfortunately, it's hard to find sleeveless, wedding ao dai online.  So I'm going to post up photos of non-wedding examples that are sleeveless and might eventually inspire a wedding version (either gold/yellow or red).




I love the "halter top" style.

Also, I like how a lot of ao dai layer fabrics with sheer embroidery on top.


Basically, I think what I'm looking for is an ao dai with a strong western spin to it (without just making it white because of the whole "white's for funerals" thing).  That would be an ao dai to best represent me.


Also, because of the nature of this dress, I'd probably have to make it a summer wedding or have it somewhere really warm.  I'm okay with that.  But I kind of wanted an off-peak month so venues and other bookings would be less expensive. :P

More cute dresses

I think I'm stuck with the image of "shorter dress" for "fun wedding." This one is adorable!

Flower Girl & Ring Boy Alternative

This bride had a storybook-themed wedding and had "Max" from Where the Wild Things Are as the ring boy and "Ferdinand the Bull" as the flower girl (because Ferdinand the Bull loves to smell flowers).

Cute!

The Search for The Dress

All I know I want from The Dress is that it falls along the lines of the wedding mood: fun.  Which really kind of means that The Dress is probably going to be a little less formal than the traditional gown.

This is going to be a difficult search, because I haven't really defined my personal wardrobe style, and without that, it's hard to define elements that I want to carry to The Dress.

So perhaps in addition to selecting dress shots that have elements I like, I think I'll also add in dress photos that capture the mood of what I'm trying to achieve.  I can figure out later if it's a dress I'd look good in or that expresses "me."

This last one is a good example of a dress that's not really my style but captures the spirit I want to achieve. However, I do LOVE the idea of a dog down the aisle instead of a bouquet. :)

12/10/09 edit: Adding a couple more...

Bridesmaid dresses

How cute are these!

I have a sister that's in that "betweener" stage--not quite a flower girl, not quite a bridesmaid--but I know she'd want to be a part of my bridal party, so I'd ask her to be a junior bridesmaid. It's surprising because she's a huge tomboy and hates the thought of being in a dress, but she says that, for my wedding, she'd do it.

More likely than not, I'd probably just have the bridesmaids choose neckline options on their dresses, as long as the colors, fabric, and hem length (knee-length) are the same.