My Reception Dress!

April 11th, 2009 @ 4:15 pm by Mrs. Labrador

I’ve always known I would want a separate dress to wear for the dancing portion of my reception. I don’t want to get my wedding gown trashed after I break it down for one too many songs, LOL. So after dinner, the cutting of the cake, the bouquet toss, and the first couple of dances, I’m going to change into a “bridal cocktail dress”. We’ll also probably hit River Street for the “after party” and I’ll need a short dress to party in. I may add an inexpensive short veil to the ensemble since I’m not too keen on one for my actual wedding gown, but feel like I’ll miss getting to wear one on our wedding day. This way, people will know I’m a bride while we’re out on the town! I had originally planned to buy a dress like this:

Photo Source

But because I’m trying to keep the budget as tight as possible, I decided I’d just wear the dress I got engaged in on New Year’s Eve! It’s a Betsey Johnson “Teen Vogue” strapless sequin cocktail dress with a hot pink/fuchsia sash. Here’s a picture of it:

Photo Source

This idea is perfect for four reasons:

I get more use out of this “special occasion only” dress.
I don’t have to spend money on a new reception dress. This dress originally cost over $400 in the B.J. stores, but I found it on eBay for $170, and then did a “Best Offer” for $100 shipped! On top of that, I’m selling other dresses on eBay I don’t wear anymore to make up for what I spent on it. I never spend that much money on ANY clothing, because I’ll typically end up feeling guilty about the purchase later. But this time, I had no regrets because I ended up getting engaged in it!
It’ll have a special significance, since the only times I will have worn it will be the day I got engaged and the day I got married.
It’ll be my way of getting my favorite color into the wedding: hot pink! I didn’t want to make pink one of our wedding colors, because Mr. Lab and his groomsmen would have killed me. Not to mention, hot pink doesn’t really go with a fall wedding. So this way I can have my cake, and eat it too. Pun intended.

Will you wear more than one dress on your wedding day? What does your 2nd dress look like?

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23 Responses to “My Reception Dress!”

Bee

miss mouse (message) 3,302 posts, Sugar bee

I love Betsey Johnson! That’s a really cute dress. I’m only wearing 1 dress on my wedding day, but my one dress is short, so no need to change!

4/11/09 @ 5:13 pm (reply)

Member

JennyBryde (message) 1,148 posts, Bumble bee

Originally, I was just going to go with my one dress, but after I found a dress for a fourth of my budgeted cost, I have decided that I’m on the hunt for the perfect 2nd dress. My wedding dress is romantic and girlie, and since we plan on going out after the reception is over also, I want my second dress to be HOT! I love the dress that you are going to use and the other one that you posted!

4/11/09 @ 5:21 pm (reply)

Member

GaBGal (message) 1,977 posts, Buzzing bee

Miss Lab, I already know that I am going to LOVE your posts — totally my style (reminiscent of how I felt about reading Miss Tiramisu, I was always excited when they popped up!). So adorable, and I think it’s AWESOME that you can wear the same dress you got engaged in to the latter part of the wedding festivities. Adorable!

4/11/09 @ 5:32 pm (reply)

Hostess

bellenga (message) 4,640 posts, Honey bee

Great idea and I love your dress! Very very cute. Pink’s my fav color too!

Going out on River St. afterwards would be so fun! (We love Savannah)

4/11/09 @ 7:29 pm (reply)

Member

Cole (message) 20 posts, Newbee

I LOVE Betsey! I wore her to my prom

That dress is 100% fabulous…there’s little in life that makes me as giddy as sequins and glitter!

4/11/09 @ 8:23 pm (reply)

Member

Miss E from NYC (message) 69 posts, Worker bee

Lovin your 2nd Dress choice! I definitely wanna change dresses but haven’t found the right one yet~

4/11/09 @ 8:51 pm (reply)

Guest

BakerBride

These are both really awesome dresses. Do you know the style number for the Jim Hjelm? I’d love to try it on myself. Thanks!

4/11/09 @ 10:26 pm (reply)

Guest

Lina

BakerBride, it’s JH8815 from the Spring 2008 line. (I was curious myself.)

4/11/09 @ 10:56 pm (reply)

Guest

BakerBride

That was fast! Thanks Lina.

4/11/09 @ 11:57 pm (reply)

10.

Bee

Miss Labrador (message) 1,324 posts, Bumble bee

@Cole: I feel the exact same way! lol

@BakerBride: Lina beat me to it! haha

4/12/09 @ 1:12 am (reply)

11.

Member

MaPo (message) 312 posts, Helper bee

What a lovely idea. Sentimental touches make a wedding even more special. My hubby had bought special champagne flutes to toast with the day he proposed and we used those to toast with at our wedding. How sweet to make your engagement dress part of the Big Day!

4/12/09 @ 4:11 pm (reply)

12.

Member

lethie (message) 230 posts, Helper bee

Your dress is hot!

4/12/09 @ 6:09 pm (reply)

13.

Bee

Miss Glitter (message) 880 posts, Busy bee

Of course I’m going to be crazy about a dress that’s so sparkly and “glittery”! I think it is both resourceful and sentimental that you will wear the dress you were engaged in. Fabulous!

4/12/09 @ 6:58 pm (reply)

14.

Guest

Starry-Eyed Barefoot Bride

One thought for you - come the day of, you probably wont care about the hem of your dresses getting messy. My wedding was last weekend and I had my mom’s cocktail style wedding dress to wear when I wanted to change because I LOVE TO DANCE and dancing in my formal dress? Ha! I thought. Boy was I wrong!! I danced like a mad woman all night long adn had to be reminded to get into my moms wedding dress for the after party!

4/12/09 @ 9:44 pm (reply)

15.

Bee

Miss Mascara (message) 771 posts, Busy bee

That is a gorgeous dress! So fun and perfect for a reception dress! Well done Miss L

4/12/09 @ 11:42 pm (reply)

16.

Guest

City Chick

I love the idea of re-wearing the dress for more than one reason. I love the sentimental value of the dress; I love it because it’s a thrifty choice and eco-friendly as well! I usually see a lot of frivolous spending mentioned on this site, so I was surprised to see this post.

4/13/09 @ 12:13 am (reply)

17.

Member

purpleHaze79 (message) 875 posts, Busy bee

I’ve already told you how much I love that dress! It’s perfect and you won’t have to spend any more of your money on another dress. LOVE IT!

4/13/09 @ 9:51 am (reply)

18.

Member

Future_Mrs.S (message) 1 posts, Wannabee

I too am wearing 2 dresses. The first dress I got for free (how could I not wear it) and its the perfect princess gown with the skirts and train and beading. Perfect for me and my love of Princesses
But Mr. S and I also love to party and dance and the princess dress, while lovely, is not a good dance dress. Also part of our wedding is working in polka dot accents where we can, cause I love POKEY SPOTS.
I am getting my dress from Julius Bridal. Its scheduled to be here in 2 weeks and this is the one I am getting. Cannot WAIT for it to get here. So Excited!

http://www.juliusbridal.com/product.asp?DressName=SH005

4/13/09 @ 10:47 am (reply)

19.

Member

Crash (message) 378 posts, Helper bee

I love this idea! I am wearing a dress I wore on our first ‘real’ date for the rehearsal dinner.

4/13/09 @ 2:04 pm (reply)

20.

Member

jennygirl (message) 12 posts, Newbee

I love your posts too!! I think you’re my fav bee:) I’ve been trying to decide on the 2nd dress too. We are having an after party as well so I definitely want to change into a short party dress then, but I have a feeling I won’t want to change the dress for the reception, ya know??!! Anyway, I’m still looking though. But I think the idea of the Betsey Johnson dress is perfect:)

4/13/09 @ 5:49 pm (reply)

21.

Bee

Miss Labrador (message) 1,324 posts, Bumble bee

@Miss Glitter: I hear ya! I probably would have chosen your icon if I were in your generation. If it “blings, sparkles, glitters, etc.”, I’m immediately drawn to it!

@Starry-Eyed Barefoot Bride: I probably will put off changing until late into the night now that I found a wedding dress that won’t cost me an arm & a leg. I’ll feel a lot less guilty if it gets trashed!

@City Chick: I’m trying to stick to being a true budget bride. I probably will splurge here or there, but only on items I will reuse or that are of very sentimental reasons!

@Future_Mrs.S: That dress is ADORABLE! Great choice!

@jennygirl: YAY! *cue Sally Field* You like me! You really really like me! haha

4/14/09 @ 12:23 am (reply)

22.

Hostess

LatteLove (message) 4,094 posts, Honey bee

I’m trying to look for a dinner dress for my second reception a month after the wedding and I’m having a really hard time finding one I love that is affordable (i.e. under $200)
yours is a cute choice!

4/14/09 @ 12:04 pm (reply)

23.