Friday, September 19, 2008
Wedding Attire
Probably the most gut-wrenching part of having a wedding for me was the dress. In the beginning, there were lots of tears. I'll try to not go nutso on this aspect of things, but let me tell you--finding a dress for someone who is 6ft tall and built like a football layer with a killer rack (hehe)--is really difficult. So many of the styles these days are strapless, and while I think that's totally fine and beautiful for most people, I need some serious hardware to keep things up and at attention.
I think the first mistake I made was that the first place I went was a really upscale boutique in Green Hills in Nashville. The dresses were made for a 5'4 person, so when I put them on, no seam hit me where it was supposed to. The very sweet and apologetic sales girl told me that it would have to be custom made, and oh yeah, cost $5000. Hmmm. For a $10,000 budget, that just wasnt' going to work out. Insert much tears, talk of making the dress ourselves, and general drama.
Then I walked into this place in Nashville called Bridal Warehouse. And I walked out with my dress in my arms and without $600 in my wallet. I know lots of people find dresses for less, and on the sale rack, etc. etc., but after countless bridal stores, tales of 16 week "if you're lucky" wait lists to get your dress, I was thrilled. This was a dress that I had torn out of a magazine because I thought it would be flattering. I didn't even realize I had pulled the same dress off the rack when I tried it on, but immediately I felt at home in it and so closed the book on the dress drama. It's a Casablanca from 2006, by the way.
Kim and my mom made the veil, which was lovely, and definitely didn't cost $200 like the ones in the store. It is totally doable to make your own veil, and totally crazy that some people spend that kind of money. And I don't know about anyone else, but mine was trashed by the end of the night--torn, stained, you name it.
And now for the attendant's outfits. While I have seen plenty of examples of brown bridesmaids and black tuxes, for our outdoor wedding, I just didn't feel settled about that. Coupled with a less than stellar staff at Men's Warehouse, our trusty pal Chris Cannon (left in the above photo) took us to K&G menswear in Nashville (but they're all over the south) and we picked out lovely tan suits and green ties. Total cost for suit, tie and shirt? $125. And they got to keep them.
Jason's sister was a groomswoman, so she got a special wrap made by my mom to match the guy's ties.
The girls' outfits were just awesome. We went for the JCrew Ballerina in brown, paired with some cute pumps. I have a horrible hatred for bridesmaids dresses--you can spend $275 on a dress just to feel and look so terrible in it--and the seams weren't sewn to boot! The bridesmaid dress industry is really really shitty, pardon my french. They use totally crap materials, sew them badly in a way that is so not flattering and takes advantage of the poor helpless bridesmaid. Nothing says you're one of my closest friends like "Will you please stand up with us for our wedding and wear this hideous plastic death trap and pay $200 for it?" I know that's not anyone's intention at all, it just seems impossible to avoid, especially when you're inundated with wedding stuff.
I think if I had had more attendants, they might have worn different outfits in the same color, but as it was, my sisters really liked their dresses--right?
Anyway, everyone looked just beautiful and amazing, and hopefully liked their outfits also.
Labels: weddingness
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green & brown tones? Love ya!
Congratulations
I really, really like the sort of 'whimsy' feel to the flowers! (Wish I'd thought of that for my DIY ceremony)
Any-who, found your blog, love the title because it exactly describes my sewing experience as well. (but getting better. Slowly.)