Open Question: Nontraditional Wedding Dress

Open Question: Nontraditional Wedding Dress

February 21st, 2007 @ 2:12 pm by Open Question

Dear WeddingBee,

I have been searching for a wedding dress to wear to my destination wedding in August. Since we are getting married on the beach, I want an ivory, knee-length dress but I am having such a hard time finding a dress like that. The dresses that are short don’t seem fancy enough to make me feel like a bride. I know something must be out there, but I need your (and your readers’) help in leading me towards my desired wedding gown.

My ideal cost for such a dress would be under $600. I know many brides are considering beach-side weddings, so any advice given may help others who don’t want to be weighed down by their wedding dresses!

Thanks!

Cindy

Tags: advice, destination-wedding, wedding-dress |

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25 Responses to “Open Question: Nontraditional Wedding Dress”

Guest

snot

When I was considering a destination wedding I looked at White House/Black Market.

They on occasion (and sorry I can’t look at that site work for some reason to give you an example) have some beautiful white dresses that are still nice for a more casual wedding. And also some that are fancier.

http://www.whitehouseblackmarket.com/

2/21/07 @ 2:21 pm (reply)

Guest

Becky

How about looking for a bridesmaid dress that comes in ivory or white? Also look at Ann Taylors Celebration line…. Congrats and good luck

2/21/07 @ 2:28 pm (reply)

Guest

oojoy

I like White House Black Market, too. Also try checking out Nordstrom. They have a section on their site for wedding-worthy dresses.

http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/6005465/0~2376776~2374327~6005464~6005465?origin=wshop

http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/6005548/0~2376776~2374327~6005464~6005511~6005548?origin=wshop

2/21/07 @ 2:35 pm (reply)

Guest

I would suggest that you contact a large bridal salon, possibly RK Bridal, Kleinfeld’s, etc… and ask about shorter dresses or dresses that brides have chosen for destination weddings.

If not, depending on the design of the dress, you could always tailor a long dress to make it shorter.

2/21/07 @ 2:40 pm (reply)

Guest

Miss Kiwi

Alfred Angelo has Destiny collection, for destination weddings!Good luck!
http://www.alfredangelo.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/collections.displayCollection/categoryID/6eb1ddbe-45d0-4d16-93d6-ca5ded5c84d6

2/21/07 @ 2:52 pm (reply)

Guest

Jenny GoLightly

I wrote about it before, but I got this great dress from Anthropologie…it’s ivory and perfectly beachy!
http://www.anthropologie.com/jump.jsp?itemID=11480&itemType=PRODUCT&iSubCat=317&iMainCat=314

2/21/07 @ 2:54 pm (reply)

Guest

eisor

I’d check White House/Black Market as well. I’d also try http://www.nordstroms.com. They have a fairly large special occasion section. Also, I agree about looking for a bridesmaid dress. Watters & Watters (www.watters.com) has a good BM dress selection.

Also, last year (I haven’t looked at their new collection) David’s Bridal had a few short dresses. I tried on one, and I loved it! They were all ivory.

Here are some I found:
http://www.watters.com/product.php?coll=watters&showid=605
http://www.watters.com/product.php?coll=watters&showid=617
http://www.watters.com/product.php?coll=watters&showid=621

Good luck!

2/21/07 @ 3:04 pm (reply)

Guest

Miss Orchid

Miss Ant and a beautiful beach wedding and her dress was absolutely goregus!

2/21/07 @ 3:14 pm (reply)

Guest

Mrs Ant

There are several knee-length white dresses from Nordstrom. I like the BariJay organza and particularly adore the CarmenMarc lace dresses.
http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/6005465/0~2376776~2374327~6005464~6005465?origin=wshop

Edressme.com also has a category of white/ ivory dresses.. altho nothing screams “wedding” at me.
http://www.edressme.com/whitedress.html

Also, you can try knee-length bridesmaid dresses. Just order it in white or ivory.

2/21/07 @ 3:17 pm (reply)

10.

Guest

Kathleen

I was also going to bring up Alfred Angelo.

David’s Bridal (not sure how you feel about them) also has some dresses that would work for a destination wedding.

2/21/07 @ 3:27 pm (reply)

11.

Guest

Mrs Ant

Also, with a budget of $600 for an ivory cocktail dress, you can snag yourself a designer dress. Check out bluefly, saks, bloomingdales, and neiman marcus.

2/21/07 @ 3:35 pm (reply)

12.

Guest

cassie

i got my dress at BCBG for $400. it’s ivory, tea length and totally bridal. i bought it last year but i saw one recently at the store. i highly suggest checking it out. you can see a photo of me trying it on at my website that is linked. good luck!

2/21/07 @ 3:38 pm (reply)

13.

Guest

Kristina

Here’s a post about some short dresses; they aren’t quite what you’re looking for, but if you look at the other offerings at the sites mentioned, you may find just the thing: http://christianweddingtips.blogspot.com/search?q=knee-length+ball+gown

2/21/07 @ 4:01 pm (reply)

14.

Guest

Jenbug

I second David’s Bridal. They’re not a great retailer, but they have a couple of lovely tea length dresses, one of which I very nearly bought for my (not beach) wedding.

2/21/07 @ 4:03 pm (reply)

15.

Guest

http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/catalog/prod.jhtml?itemId=prod35950013&parentId=cat9610738&masterId=cat780735&index=67&cmCat=cat000000cat980731cat6000734cat980735cat780735cat9610738

beautiful!

2/21/07 @ 4:23 pm (reply)

16.

Guest

pbj

Have you checked JCrew? They have this new beach wedding outfit. It’s rather a long dress, but it’s very cute and definitely in your price range.

http://www.jcrew.com/ms/weddingshop/wedding.jhtml?id1=cat150503

2/21/07 @ 4:38 pm (reply)

17.

Guest

Alexandrialeigh

What size are you? I’m getting married in June and wearing a tea-length Ulla-Maija Alencon lace gown, only very slightly altered, and I’ll definitely be willing to sell it after the wedding!

2/21/07 @ 5:10 pm (reply)

18.

Guest

Clarecat

JCrew’s wedding gowns some in shorter lengths, as well as the longer traditional lengths. If you are looking for them in the shorter lengths, try the bridesmaid section, or even just the dress section overall. I had a friend that bought one of their other dresses that only came in a long length, and she ended up just having a tailor shorten it for her. Their dresses are only $300-ish.

2/21/07 @ 5:54 pm (reply)

19.

Guest

Lou

I wore this dress in ivory and I loved it!

http://www.jcrew.com/catalog/product.jhtml?id=prod72366411

2/22/07 @ 1:30 pm (reply)

20.

Guest

Shannon

This is adorable! And in your price range:

http://www.alfredangelo.com/index.cfm/fuseAction/COLLECTIONS.productDetail/fromAdvancedSearch/0/productID/cd360f5e-646a-4d54-ae8c-36eaedd52a9d/categoryID/32e5a88c-cbf1-498f-afcf-dbfca138c5d3

2/22/07 @ 2:44 pm (reply)

21.

Guest

Emma

alexandrialeigh,
I recognize you may have sold it already but do you still have the ulla maija dress? I think you have the one I have been looking for…I wear a 4.
Thanks

11/24/07 @ 9:20 pm (reply)

22.

Guest

Rachel

another fan of the jcrew gowns. I wore the long ivory sofia that I got on clearance at the end of last year ($65) and it looked smashing, even in the context of our fancy huge persian wedding celebration last month. my husband’s special-made suit cost 10x as much and they looked great together.

the wonderful thing about getting a dress like that is not only are they simple and versitile, but you won’t feel guilty when you let your photographer take fantastically wonderful photos of the two of your rolling around on the beach making out after the wedding. please tell me you are letting your photographer do a day after session with you…

3/18/08 @ 3:08 pm (reply)

23.

Guest

Karen

@Alexandrialeigh:

I absolutely love the Ulla Maija tea length gown you mentioned…is it still for sale?

4/21/08 @ 9:12 pm (reply)

24.

Guest

Kerry

@Karen:
I have a Ulla Maija dress if you are interested in buying it. It has never been worn-or altered - size 10.

5/4/08 @ 3:16 pm (reply)