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on sweet relief and total panic

thank you erin. you're my hero. So everyone has seen these pics of Hillary's awesome crinoline dress floating all over the web, but despite my starring and labeling in my google reader, I couldn't find any of them anywhere. So erin found them for me over at delesie. The whole spread is gorgeous. And finally knowing names, I found I did star it when I first saw it on green wedding shoes.

Why am I painstakingly searching for this dress all of a sudden?

Only a week after G proposed, I went on a two day jaunt to Portland, Or with my man of honor (bride's man?) Jason. We stumbled upon a cute little bridal/party dress shop owned by a local designer Lena Medoyeff. There, I tried on several, one of a kind, not white dresses, and Jason said I looked stunning and amazing in this midnight blue, raw silk, cocktail dress. I agreed, I look hot in this dress. Although I was worried it wasn't quite special enough, or maybe not bride enough, but I thought I could give it a couple of personal touches, and then it would be. I bought it then and there, because it was one of a kind and I was not in my own city.

Well, I have since seen one billion dresses in all of this wedding porn, and although I'm not a fan of the white dress, I have seen some pretty spectacular and incredibly special dresses. See below.

I have tried to rip myself out of buyers remorse but really, I needed my man to help me out. He's actually really picky and, of course, I want him to think I look amazing. So, I finally put on this wedding dress for my man to see.

Although, he says it's very pretty and he would be happy to see me walk down the aisle in this dress, he agreed that if I found something that made me feel more special that I should consider looking at other dresses. Then making the point that I have only tried on dresses made by one designer in one shop. Sigh.

I will still be super excited to wear the dress that I bought on our honeymoon, to my birthday party, to our rehearsal dinner (if I can figure out what that is supposed to be), but now I'm on the hunt for another dress.

You know the one -- not expensive, not white, and super special and perfect. Didn't I just see that somewhere? I feel so stupid.

And without further ado: the inspiration for special (please note, all of these dresses are white, which, for me, will not do).

hillary and joe (thanks again erin).

kimi and paul from here, here and here.
(and more hullaballoo about special and so much confusion)
- and that Kimi's dress was only $70 plus personal time, which is what makes it special.


sara and matt from here.$15 dress, hand embroidered which makes it special.


paula and graham from here and here.

and to erin and meg and sara and tenthousandonly: I love you.

I'm going to cry now. {here}

Comments

  1. I think you already found your dress. Just do something to make it specially you. Embroidery, beading, applique, whatever. The thing is, there is no perfect dress. There is no Oh Mommy moment. That's all just a marketing ploy. There is just a dress that makes you feel exactly like yourself when you put it on. One day I'll share the whole story of my dress search, it involves a lot of emotion, but more of the gut wrenching heartbreak soul ripping kind, and you don't want that.

    So relax. See what you might want to do to your dress, since that is clearly what you love about each of these dresses.

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  2. Ok, so if you decide to go for another dress, you should check out the bridal party section of melissa sweet.com They have some really cool dresses in amazing colors and since they are bridesmaid dresses, they are way less expensive

    some of my favs: MS311
    PB126
    1419

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  3. dear blue-dress lovely-blogger:
    i have been reading your blog, sneakily, for the past few weeks. i don't write my own blog, and there was no email address to contact, so i've been waiting for a moment to post. i, too, am wearing a non-white wedding dress and have been searching for other non-traditional dress people. the hardest part for me has been that there are almost no weddings posted of women looking fantastic and fun in non-white dresses (save for a blue dress wedding on a practical wedding, which i loved! thanks meg!).

    one thing to keep in mind: it's hard to find any non-white dress and have it feel "bridal" when almost all the wedding porn out there is white dresses (even on very non-traditional brides!).

    you might want to consider more direct alterations. i bought a vintage-style dress on bluefly and took it to a tailor to have her change the back and make some alterations that would make the dress feel mine and a bit more fun 1930s vintage wedding dress than evening gown. the tailoring was super inexpensive. (i'd send a link but i'm a shy gal, so if you email me i'd be glad to share the dress and some inspiration boards i've made with the blue wedding dress as the central idea).

    try to keep in mind that your dress might be perfect for you, but it might never feel "bridal" in a traditional sense.

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  4. love love love these dresses (and I hadn't seen a couple of them before and I could have swore I've skanked my way up and down the bridal blogs by now.

    sorry you couldn't comment on my page. I have no idea what the heck the deal is. AND I have no idea how to fix that.

    I'll be back to check out your fab space. Keep inspiring me, k?

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  5. OK I have to pipe in because I love brides in great dresses. So, since you are in Seattle I think you should check out Chrissy Wai-Ching.
    I also LOVED my friend Em's deep blue wedding dress by the Scandinavian company Oleana.
    http://www.urbanities.blogspot.com/

    Em's Blue Dress with pockets:
    http://onelovephoto.typepad.com/heathergilson/2008/08/a-garden-weddin.html

    Some lovely Wai-Chings that I have photographed:
    http://onelovephoto.typepad.com/heathergilson/2008/01/good-thing-5--.html

    http://onelovephoto.typepad.com/heathergilson/2008/04/sanctuary-at-ad.html

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  6. what a cute dress! (the crinoline one) - but as someone who is currently suffering extreme buyer's remorse, the dress you have will be fine!!! Meg is right, there are so many things you could do to special it up, and make it more yours and bridal!

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  8. And giiiirrrllllssss... I have so many non-white dresses. Look in my Real Weddings archives, silly. But you know who has a whole lot more than me? Offbeat Bride. Getchaselves there. The point is to look rockingly like yourself, not like a "bride." During my endless search I found lots of dresses that made me look like a bride... except it was a Barbie bride parody, not like me. Those were a no-go. So don't worry so much about the bride-ness, or whatever other people did. Kimi had tons of wedding remorse, so don't look at her wedding and think "I need that." I have this homemade dress everyone is swooning over sight unseen, and I've had *plenty* of remorse. Don't compare your insides to other brides outsides. You will always lose that game, always. It's rigged.

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