Wedding Blog

So, I’ve admitted that I’m a bit of a shopping fanatic, yes? This wedding has amplified my not-so wallet-friendly habits quite a bit. I’m starting to have a hard time not buying everything (even non-wedding related purchases) in the colors black, white and moss green. So when I went dress shopping for bridal showers, rehearsal dinners and other wedding-related events, you can probably guess that I encountered the very same dilemma.

Macy’s clearance racks has been a veritable gold mine as of recent, and the Labor Day sales proved very worthy of my time. I pulled lots of dresses off the racks and dragged them into the dressing room with me. Most of my current dresses were either nightclub or black-tie worthy - and not the feminine dresses one would wear to a bridal shower. In fact, I’m not used to wearing the shapes I was looking at - so I used the technique that always helps me figure out if something looks good: I take pictures of myself with my digital camera.

First, I’ll show you the dresses I stubbornly chose as they were as far away from my wedding colors as possible. A floral print wrap dress and a trend that I’ve been loving lately: the dress that looks like two-pieces, but it’s really one.

BCBGMAXAZRIA Watercolor Mums Satin Dress
This had a ridiculous price tag of something like $248 marked down to $69.99.
Sadly, there was a hole in it.


I cannot for the life of me remember who made this - but I think it was either BCBG or Max Studio.
It was around $150 - 200.
This was not on sale - but the pleated edges of the collar were calling to me.

In looking for a rehearsal dinner dress, the obvious choice was a white cocktail dress. I had very little luck in this department - white is SO unforgiving! It also does not fare well on the sale racks - most of the dresses I could find were smeared with makeup - ew. I tried the two dresses below before moving on.

Does anyone know who makes this dress? I recently saw it in an engagement shoot.
It was about $100 - $150 and not on sale.
This dress was SUPER cute, but when looking at the photo, I realized that trapeze dresses and boobies don’t always work so well together - unless you’re actually pregnant, of course!


Again, I have no idea who made this dress. I’ve seen it in black and ivory as well.
Originally $169, on sale for $49.99.
LOVED the frothy edges of this tulle dress - but the bunching at my chest area was not working.

The next two dresses were BIG winners! Much like the above-mentioned finds, I have yet to find them anywhere online - so you’ll have to bear with me. They were both available via the clearance racks at Macy’s last month. Each was an incredible deal - so I couldn’t pass them up!

For a Bridal Shower:
Ruffle-front dress with paper-bag skirt by Ralph Lauren.
Originally $169, on sale for $69.99.
Again, I love this trend - but this one was missing its belt and had a few minor repairs. I had them take another 10% off to cover the costs of the mending.
For the Rehearsal Dinner:
Ivory Silk Shantung Striped dress by Ralph Lauren.
Originally $220, on sale for $49.99.
This dress was a steal! It originally had straps - but I had them removed.

I’m pretty stoked about that last dress - it was an incredible deal. I’m really glad I took my camera with me because some of the dresses were completely lackluster on the hanger, but looked fabulous on! I recently did the same thing with Mamita Pom when searching for her Mother of the Bride outfit and it helped tremendously.

Do you utilize your camera when trying on clothes in the dressing room?