Weddingbee Blog

Standing at a whooping 5’1″, I can confidently say that I’m short. I have trained myself over the years to be comfortable in heels, and unless I’m exercising, I’m always in heels that are at least 3½” inches tall.

I was ecstatic when the Cole Haan Nike Air Collection was announced. It’s definitely more than what I usually pay for shoes, but they’re worth it - they really are the most comfortable heels around. I once walked more than 20 NYC blocks in these shoes and all the men who were with me were very impressed.

However, none of the shoes in the Nike Air Collection are very wedding-y. In addition, I knew that I wanted my shoes to be 4-5″ for my wedding day just to give me that extra lift…

Unfortunately there are very few nice-looking shoes that are this high, and I didn’t want to shell over $500+ for high end designer shoes. It’s even more difficult finding bridal-looking shoes at this height.

Here were my top contenders:

Stuart Weitzman Dubonnet, 4½”

While these shoes are definitely bridal shoes and one of the prettiest I found (I love the little bows!), I couldn’t get over the fact that they are slingbacks. I tend to stay away from slingbacks because the straps always dig into the heels of my feet. I’ve tried Foot Petals Strappy Strips in the past to alleviate this problem, but they didn’t help much, especially when there’s a lot of dancing involved.

Giuseppe Zanotti White Patent Leather High Heel Slides, 4½”

High yet comfortable-looking shoes. However, I couldn’t get over the high pricetag. I tried to think of other occassions where I could wear these shoes, and I just couldn’t.

Dolce Vita Carmen Platform Pump, 4½”, $150

Gold and red are my other color contenders, since I’ll be changing into Korean and Chinese traditional dresses on the wedding day. These shoes are very sexy, but I’ve never really been a fan of snakeskin or snakeskin pattern and I wasn’t sure I wanted to start with my wedding shoes.

Hale Bob Jo Metallic Leather, 4½”, $104.99

I really like these shoes, and I think it goes with my theme well. However, those slingbacks again!

Then I found them…

Steven by Steve Madden Satin Peep-Toe Pump, 4½”, $99.

Not only are they the least expensive of my top contenders, they’re also so very sexy! I love the gathered satin bow on top as well as the concealed platform. I’ve never owned red shoes before, but I’ve grown to love them while perusing various photographers’ blogs.

I received the shoes last night and the high heel is surprisingly pretty comfortable. I will definitely be using Insolia inserts - I’ve tried almost every pad/gel/insert out there and I’ve found Insolias to work the best on my high arches. I also plan on wearing these while taking our dance lessons so that I can get comfortable dancing in them.

Although I have very wide feet, these shoes were not tight at all. If they were, I had been planning on using RiceBunny’s shoe stretching technique…. ingenius!

P.S. - We’re having a NYC Weddingbee get together later today. I can’t wait!