What did yours look like? Or if you’re not yet married (but would like to be one day), how do you envision the wedding dress of your dreams?
I’ll start…
Unfortunately, the picture above doesn’t show much of my dress (I just got a new computer and haven’t moved any of my files over yet) but I absolutely LOVED my veil which you can see well in that picture. My dress was fairly simple. It had a full floor-length skirt with satin trim, a fitted bodice, short sleeves that were ever-so-slightly off-the-shoulder and a scooped back. Oh, and it was covered in tiny (fake) pearls. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. In retrospect I wished I’d worn pink or blue shoes but I chose white ones which were unremarkable but did the job so no complaints. :)
If I ever have a second wedding (of the vow-renewal variety) I think I’ll go all vintage all the way and add a splash of color to my outfit. Just for fun, dontcha know.
Your turn! What did your wedding dress (and shoes and veil) look like? Do you still love your dress as much you did then? Do you wish you’d done anything differently?
I’m all ears!
oohh.. now that is right up my alley. Will come back tonight with more than you ever wished to know about anyones wedding dress!
Everyone lovingly referred to my off-the-shoulder satin-and-organza moonlight white dress as "the Audrey dress", as in Audrey Hepburn. I like to think she would have taken it as a compliment. Pictures here: http://applecidermama.blogspot.com/2010/12/on-our-fifth-wedding-anniversary.html
It only cost me $99, since it had been discontinued at David's Bridal three years before (my dress was the only one left in stock–apparently there aren't that many size 0s in my hometown looking for wedding dresses!), and at that price, I can't think I would change a thing. Well, no…if I could change one thing, it would have been to make the covered buttons down the back be functional.
~Bethany
Okay, I have to come out of lurkdom. :) I found my wedding dress 5 years before I found my man! It was a strapless, champagne-colored ballgown by Oleg Cassini with a Jackie O belt. Organza skirt and lace-encrusted bodice. I really, really thought when I got engaged that I would want a new dress but when we pulled the "trousseau" dress out, well… it was still my very favorite dress! :-D
Wore a vintage cap and veil and gloves too. You can see some of the professional photos here (but sorry it doesn't show all the detail! Still waiting for better shots to come in!):
http://tinyurl.com/46jz6r8
http://tinyurl.com/46o8743
Your dress and veil look/sound *amazing!* Love the sleeves (so rare now, haha).
I loved my dress! I'll wrote about it tonight.
Bethany and Sarah–You two were GORGEOUS brides! Absolutely stunning.
Faerieeva and Baroness.Von.Korf–I can't wait to hear all about your dresses!
Wow, Bethany, that's exactly the kind of dress I would like! Although, if I can get away with it, I suppose I would like to be less traditional and have that same style as a knee-length. Although I can appreciate the formality of the long dresses, I suppose I consider myself more fun/spunky, and just like knee-length dresses because I'm so short. Who knows how I'll feel when I get to that point though. :)
I LOVE knee-length wedding dresses, Allie! I'm absolutely smitten with the ones the designers at BHLDN created. Swoon!
I am getting married in June, so I don't really want to give away exactly what it looks like just yet :-)
As of now, I can hardly remember it, since I picked it out in August and I get to pick it up in a week or two. It's currently strapless (although I am thinking of adding sleeves of some kind), ivory, floor length with a medium sized train. It's very ornate with beading and stuff, and my favorite part is how the bottom is scalloped. I'm hoping for a floor length veil, just because it reminds me of our Mother Mary for some reason…
Anyways, if you still care to see it after I get married, I can post a picture!
I'd love that, Kendra! Please do! I don't mean to keep going on and on about BHLDN (I'm not receiving compensation, I promise!) but they have some super cute boleros you could team with your dress if you wanted. I linked to them in my last post. :)
Oh, and congratulations!!!
I LOVED my wedding dress. It was strapless (they all are, it seems) and princess seamed all the way to the ground. The bodice had some beading, as did the very bottom, in a leaf pattern, but the kicker was the "coat". It was long sleeved (late October wedding) and went all the way to the ground and continued into a train. But it was sheer organza, and covered with beading. It had one clasp, right under the bust.
I was told by someone later that I "sparkled" when they drove up to the church and we were taking photos. YES. I wanted sparkly. I will try to find a picture and post it on the blog so you can see it.
I would love this: http://www.unique-vintage.com/stop-staring-exclusive-white-polka-mesh-grace-wedding-dress-p-3040.html
…with Grandma's pearls and my plum mary jane pumps.
I like versatility, and this dress could be dyed to my favorite color and worn again and again for our monthly outings (going to the city for swing dancing).
Now I just need to meet (or perhaps, notice?) the lucky groom-to-be!
On a side note, my close-as-sisters friend talked me into a style of dress for her wedding that I'm loving more and more. We had to go long to accomodate someone, and I did say I will be shortening it asap (It's on the verge of being too long as is… with heels). I plan to make it shorter so i can wear it again for special occasions or just to the city for dancing. :)
http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Long-Jersey-Dress-with-Charmeuse-Straps-and-Waist-F13095_Bridal-Party-Bridesmaids-Long-Bridesmaid-Dresses (only, it's plum colored…)
Kimberly–Oh my gosh! You're killing me! That sounds amazing.
Ash–Those polka dots are too cute!
Thanks for sharing, girls!
And there I did post it.
Hey that was a fun trip down memory lane!
http://maherfamilygrows.blogspot.com/2011/02/random-photos-of-wedding.html
Thanks for doing this. I enjoyed it immensely!!!
Since our anniversary is a few weeks away, I thought it would be fun to join in.
http://jreosti.blogspot.com/2011/02/because-she-asked.html
This is fun! You look beautiful, BTW … The dress I wore for my wedding was the very first one I tried on. I didn't have anything in mind, but I was still surprised by my choice (I think because it had such tiny straps =) I loved it, though, the minute I put it on. It's simplicity. The beading at the top was repeated at the hem. I didn't wear a veil. I never wanted to. But I also didn't know the "theology" of the veil back then … So, I made a headband of pearly beads. And I liked the simple look. It seemed to go with my simple dress. But I think if I could do it all over again, I would opt for the veil …
This photo isn't great, but here you go: http://morethanenough7.blogspot.com/2009/10/eight.html
Oops! That link didn't work. Here you go:
http://morethanenough7.blogspot.com/2009/10/eight.html
Love this post! I got married 6 months ago, so I definitely still love my dress. It is strapless with beading and embroidery on the bodice. I loved the silky taffeta with my blue shoes covered in rhinestones! It was the perfect dress for the perfect day.
Here is a picture of me with my bridesmaids showing off the shoes.
http://twitpic.com/409362
and here is a pic of just me with my pretty flowers :)
http://twitpic.com/4094u0
Thanks for the great post!
I wore a white strapless satin a-line gown with ruching at the waist. Since we had a wedding Mass I wore a matching satin bolero jacket. It was fairly plain, but I felt so comfortable and pretty in it. I had a very elaborate mantilla-style veil with pearls and beading on the edge.
I'll post a picture on my blog later!
What a fun post. I love reading about everyone's dresses. :)
Fun! I'll try to get a picture up on my blog at some point.
I loved my wedding dress. Still do. It was the second one I tried on. I tried on two others, but went back. It was remarkably like the one I had envisioned when I was about 15. It was white lace with a good deal of shimmer, square yoke, empire waisted with sheer lace sleeves. My veil was very simple tulle. I wish I had gone with either silver or blue satin flats instead of the plain white, but the shoe situation was very last minute. Oh well. I looked darn good.
I was 40 pounds heavier than I am now and the thought of going to a STORE to buy a DRESS in front of OTHER PEOPLE made me want to hurl. I did not think I could be Beautiful, I was shooting for Half Decent. So I asked my aunt to make it. It was a V neck, empire waist, super plain satin thing with a chiffon overlay and some beaded flowery trim. My veil was crazy long and made everything look a bit fancier. I loved that dress and loved that my aunt made it for me, but now that I am Older and Wiser and like myself a bit more I wish I'd believed I could look pretty! Sigh. At my next wedding I'll wear something from J. Crew's line – I will also be two feet taller and twenty pounds lighter to make it possible.
I was married in 74. The fashions then were awful. If I had to do it again, I would not have borrowed my gown. It was a heavy high necked off-white brocade material, very much like a long shirt dress. My head piece was a "jackie kennedy" pill box hat with a short veil. My kids still laugh at the wedding pictures. My maid of honor wore a simple gown, with a huge picture hat. Nothing frilly or lacy in the 70's!
What a fun topic! My blog has been kind of depressing lately, so this was a great chance to ligten things up!
I LOVED my dress. It was the 5th one I tried on and I just knew. My Mom, with whom I was shopping and whom I love dearly, is/was a bit of a Debbie Downer. But I tried it on a few days later with my favourite Aunt (a fashionista) and my maid-of-honour and that was it.
I'm a buxom girl and I wasn't about to wear a strapless dress during our wedding mass. The dress had cap sleeves and a beaded bodice. The rest was plain satin, the skirt an A-line, and it reached the floor where the hem was beaded like the bodice. We shared pics of dresses on twitter a few days ago, so here they are:
http://twitpic.com/3wheaj
http://twitpic.com/3whh5p
(Dave looks very fine that day, too!)
So, since this is an interesting topic, if one was to wear a knee-high wedding gown, what would you recommend for a veil? I always feel like your typical longer veil would be too much, but that something short (like this: http://www.bhldn.com/the-shop_hair-adornments/dotted-voile-veil) would be weird. Thoughts?
This is such fun! Thank you all for joining in! I'm having a ball reading about your dresses. :)
Allie–I think a birdcage veil would be adorable. I *think* you could also get away with one of those shoulder-length veils if you end up wanting something a bit more substantial.
I loved my wedding dress. So much that, now you have given me an excuse, I devoted a whole post to it, five years after the fact:
http://faerieeva.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-wedding-gown.html
I still love the pictures and have not yet seen a gown I would love more than the one I wore.
My wedding dress was a $100 white prom dress. It was satin across the chest(and I had no chest), empire waist, and the skirt was A line with a sheer, dotted layer over top. It came with little straps but I had a neighbor sew little cap sleeves. For my veil I bought a huge length of tuile and sewed it to a comb that I tucked under my up-do. The veil was just cut straight across, but it trailed several feet behind me.
I like it in pictures. I'm sure my mother-in-law was horrified – I think her dress cost thousands. I have two regrets, however. First, I wish I had a blusher on my veil – I love the symbolism of lifting it, and I hate being in pictures, so it would have saved me a bit of anxiety. I just didn't think of it at the time.
My other regret is that my mom has a wedding dress in her closet that a divorced woman gave her that was absolutely gorgeous – a huge satin skirt, lace bodice and long lace sleeves, just amazing. I know it fit because I used to wear it for dress up. It just seemed too fancy in '99 when I got married and everything was simple, simple, simple. Looking at it now I see it is just classic. Mine was nothing that I could really pass down to my daughters, but of course, they'll probably want to do their own thing, anyway. Or be nuns.
And, gosh darn it, I'll never fit into it again! Oh, well.
When I went hunting for a dress I knew pretty well what I wanted: it had to be floor length, it had to have sleeves. I didn't want lots of lace or sequins. Something simple. Classic.
I found just what I wanted on the sale rack at David's Bridal, the first store I went to. (Which is good because I hate shopping.) The dress had to be taken in at the bust, which just about doubled the price. Still very affordable at that.
Scoop neck, simple bodice, sheer sleeves, small train. Very minimal bead work on the bodice and sleeves. It is so me!
My Italian family was positively disgraced by my insistence on a plain and simple wedding dress. And I didn't get any help from the saleslady at the local bridal shop, who became so fed up with my refrain of "That's a little too fancy," that she finally burst forth with "Why don't you just go buy yourself a white housedress, huh?" Eventually, I went to a seamstress who made my dress to order: a lovely tea-length dress trimmed with seed pearls and genuine Alencon lace. And it cost only $200, which was a pretty good price, even in 1984. My only regret is that I didn't have the dress preserved, so it's turned an unappetizing bleh yellow. Had I known that I would give birth to four daughters, I would have had the dress cleaned, wrapped, boxed, and ready to pass onto my girls!
Coming out of lurkdom here too!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=90177067634&set=a.90166832634.88848.754517634&theater
That's the only photo source I have online. I LOVED my dress. It really appealed to me because it was SO simple, and IMO, timeless. Aside from the strapless/spaghetti straps. Maybe one of my daughters will want to wear it?? My favorite part of the dress was the pleats. I had a cathedral length veil and that's about the only thing I would do differently. I bought a cheap one on ebay with out feeling it first. If I were to do it over again, I would try some other styles and definitely made sure I saw it in person! I was dead set on that type of veil but they were all so pricey. My bolero was handmade by a seamstress with extra fabric from the designer. When I had my first child, I had the seamstress take apart my bolero and create a baptismal gown using some of the material for our children. All three (hopefully more in the future) of my children were baptized in it. I pray that all their children will wear it, too!
I didn't have a wedding, but one of my sisters did. Here's here dress. http://jenambrose.blogspot.com/2008/01/whats-new.html
It had that splash of color, with champagne in the train. That same dress I've seen with red and even blue in the train. She had been leaning toward a bolder accent color, but then she decided she liked the champagne instead. She did wear red peep toe high heels.
I remember buying a second hand wedding dress for $200, but then feeling such immense regret over the purchase that I returned it and got my money back. Then I went to a fabric store, bought $150 worth of ivory shantung silk and spent four months making my own. I loved it. It was very simple, though I can't seem to find a good picture of it anywhere that I can post, and I wore white heels I already owned and borrowed a veil from my best friend. I'm so glad I ended up making it. Actually I tried it on the other day and it still fits!
I'm not closed to being married yet, but I love reading these stories! Also, you must check out this gorgeous wedding dress the bride designed and made!: http://www.laura.bitter-gamer.com/quietude/archive/2008_10_01_index.html
i love the little bit of color from the silk flowers.
I made my own renaissance style dress and restyled my Mom's veil to match. I absolutely loved it. It was very different, but totally me, and I wouldn't change a thing!
Thank you, Betty! Wow, this thread is *so* fun to read. I will say, for those who have yet to choose a dress, thinking of the venue helped me so much with making choices. When I thought about walking down the loooong aisle in that huuuge old church… I realized I would be happiest with the big skirt and train,. The shorter dresses are awfully fun and appealing though!
I ADORE the dress in this photo shoot for Utah Bride. It's so classy and refined.
I wore the same dress that my mother wore and her mother wore. It was a beautiful long sleeved all satin dress with little buttons down the front and a collar. Did it look a little out of place in the middle of July in Texas, yes. But now a days anything that covers your chest and arms in out of place at a wedding. I had to add a little lace at the bottom of the gown because my grandmother was barely 5 feet tall and I am 6 inches taller.
Come on over to my blog and see a couple of pictures. I loved my wedding dress…I borrowed it.
Enjoy! :)
This post comes just as I am dress-hunting and veil-hunting! I love this gown and I'm going to find the most inexpensive way I can to do something similar:
http://www.priscillaofboston.com/dress_detail.jsp?gid=1&sfid=51351&f1=Sleeve/Cap%20Sleeve.
I'm also trying to decide what kind of veil to look for, but some of you have such lovely veils that I think I'm getting inspired…wide lace edging on an elbow- or fingertip-length with a blusher…And a friend gave me the idea of wearing little wrist-length gloves. I think that would be so romantic, especially when my husband-to-be gets to de-glove me for rings! It sounds authentically sexy in such a classy way.
Maybe some of you can help me. I cover my head for Mass, as do some of my bridesmaids, so I'd like to have bridesmaids' veils. I'm having trouble coming up with what kind of not-over-the-top veils would be charming on them. Birdcage veils are often gorgeous, but the ones I've seen so far really don't cover the head much and they might clash with my getup. Any thoughts?
Betty, you're so sweet, you always ask questions that are fun to answer! I made my dress, because I couldn't find one I liked that was cheap enough–I didn't feel right spending a huge ammount of money. I'm no seamstress, all I've ever done is simple skirts, so I did it very slow with lots of trial and error, and the bodice fit was a bit off, but it meant so much more to me being homemade.
So, white satin with a scoop neck and short sleeves, trimmed with really nice lace; a lace skirt over the satin, and a gathered chiffon skirt over that, but split in the middle to show some of the lace underneath. I made a satin sash and embroidered it, again amateurly, with yellow roses and ducks, which are kind of an inside joke between me and my husband. If my future daughters want to wear it, I made the sash detatchable so they can embroider a new one with something that is significant to them!
MamaEscandon, I love the idea of making a baptism gown out of wedding gown material! I wanted to do the same thing but didn't get around to it in time.
Rosie
I found a wedding gown from the 1950s in a little vintage shop. You can see a picture here: http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=0e25460f9e29d91f6276141d224b0f78&sid=0CZtGjNqyZMnXw. My mother-in-law let me wear her veil (from the early 60s) and it matched the dress perfectly!
I liked that my dress was unique, but more than that, I loved that it came from a time when the iconic bride was the "blushing bride" – feminine, pure, eager to serve her husband – as opposed to the "bride-zilla" of today.
My dress had a scoop neck and short sleeves (late May wedding)- only the bodice and sleeves had any beading so it wasn't flashy. My veil (borrowed from big sis) was also very simple, just a sort of band with tulle- we Byzantines wear crowns provided by the church for half of the ceremony so anything more would have been too much. My dress was the thrid I tried on- I loved it
Only problem- I didn't have the money to deal with the train, so I had to use hidden safety pins for the reception
This is so fun – I can't believe it was 13 years ago! I loved my gown, my bridesmaids all teased that they were surprised I didn't wear to church the day after the wedding – traditional silhouette, but no froof, no beads, no sequins – oyster white silk taffeta, full length ball gown with deep, fully inverted box pleats instead of gathers, had it "turned around" so the the back became the front and sent my own antique lace for the bodice overlay and sleeves, and vintage hand crocheted covered buttons to close the v neck (back turned) front, much like a coat dress (I loved the Norma Kamali wedding gowns of the 80's – it was the first departure from the Pretty Princess look that I was trying to avoid – and at 30, it was not suited to my age or my style).
Truth be told, my reception dress was my favorite – silver on pale gray Fortuny print(a gift from my designer bff), vintage cashmere bolero (a wedding gift from my husband), and the.best.shoes.ever. by Peter Fox, from my mom. They all make me look good – and the clothes weren't bad, either.
I loved my dress and I still do. It took me about a year, 3 states, about 7 cities, 20 bridal shops, and 100 dresses (not exaggerating) to find it. The top and the bottom originally come from two different dresses by one designer. We called the company and they made my dress exclusively for me. The bodice was originally strapless but the bridal shop made a sheer higher back with covered buttons and sheer sleeves. They also beaded the bottom of the sleeves to mimic the rest of the dress. The dress was made of gold (it's was more of a cross between cream champagne and candle light) Italian Satin with a double Cathedral length couture satin and tulle train. It had a sweet heart neckline, the bodice was elaborately beaded with Swarovski Crystal and embroidered with platinum thread. It was a ball gown style skirt with scolloped hemline that barely missed the floor. When I walked it looked like I was floating. The train and skirt were also elaborately beaded with Swarovski Crystal and embroidered with platinum thread. The back of the dress had colored buttons form the train all the way to the back of my neck. It took forever for me to find the dress but once I did I fell in love. I had my grandmother's diamond and platinum watch band made into earrings and wore them. I also carried her rosary in my bouquet. I wore my prom shoes because they had a pretty embroidered flower pattern that complimented the dress. We had them re-dyed because they were still white. My hair was worn up with my sister's head piece and I bought a scolloped beaded veil with blusher. My wedding day was her 25th wedding anniversary. So now I will never forget her anniversary date and the guys can call each other to remind the the other. I'll post pictures on my blog. Over all I loved my appearance and had the princess wedding that I always wanted.
This is so fun! I decided I'd just do a quick post about mine.
http://theroadhomewv.blogspot.com/2011/02/dress-yourself-in-love.html
Sorry I forgot to post the link
http://lifeloveandetouffee.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-wedding-inspired-by-betty-beguiled.html
Coming so late to the game, but I am going to write about my wedding dress tonight. I am ready to bust off this writers block.
A teaser though… My dress was a fitted trumpet style with black and while lace overlay. It was so not what I thought that I'd buy but once I tried it on I. LOVED. IT.