Wedding Blog

[For those just joining me on the dress-hunt, revisit the past:
Part I; Part 2; Part 3]

Remember my brown suit? Well, forget it. I returned it earlier this week.

Why? Well… as much as I liked the familial symbolism of it, and as much as I liked the suit itself, it really wasn’t me (at least not bride-me). The more I thought about it, the more I really did not want to get married in a brown suit. You see, I know that many of you may say I’m crazy, but I’ve always had some trouble feeling feminine. I’ve been a tomboy much of my life (with interests in cars and electronics and no fear of getting my hands dirty). I’m also quite tall and have struggled with my appearance and self-image a lot over the years. And in December I had a momentary lapse of judgment and got a very short pixie haircut. Not a style that screams womanly beauty for me.

So the idea of getting married in a long-sleeved, brownish suit was making me rather wary. I want to be feminine and cute on my wedding day, and I’m not particularly cute-looking by default (IMHO). Sure, I look like a girl, and not a particularly bad looking girl at that. I have a girl shape and a girl face. No one is confusing me for the opposite sex. But I’m also almost the same height as my groom. I have long arms, big feet, and the aforementioned short hair. Nothing can make me petite, and it takes the perfect dress to make me look delicate. While my suit did have delicate elements to it (like the notched boat neck), I decided it would be a better fit if our wedding was going to be in the late fall or winter. In early September, the weather will still be summery and I’ll likely look out of place and sweaty in such a heavy, conservative outfit.

It was hard for me to return my suit (I considered keeping it for work), but with a new house in the works and a wedding to plan, I needed any extra money I could get, especially now that I needed a new wedding dress.

Having already hit up the Macy’s and Nordstrom websites for ideas, I decided to just go to the mall and see what the local stores had to offer. The snow is finally melting here in Grand Forks, so sundresses are starting to show up in our stores. I was hoping to find a nice tea- or knee-length white sundress… and I hit the jackpot! Check it out:

[source]

Meet my new dress: the Floral Eyelet Dress by American Living. It’s comfortable, not too tight, and not too short. It’s feminine and cute. It’s summery. I’m happy with it. But you know what makes me really love it? It was $100. (But I’m not done yet!) It was marked down 40%, to $59.99. And I had a leftover gift card from Christmas, bringing my out-of-pocket total to… $14.00. FOURTEEN BUCKS, people. (So if I change my mind again, it’s not like I’m going to go broke because of it!)

I need to take it in a little in the waist, but otherwise it looks just great. So there you have it, the ultimate budget wedding dress!

If you’re looking for a rehearsal dress or even some budget-friendly bridesmaid dresses, I highly recommend checking out the sundresses at your local department stores. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you find.

Did you manage to buy your wedding dress for significantly less than your budgeted amount?