Weddingbee Blog

Like most brides, I started looking at dress pictures as soon as I got engaged. I had no idea what our wedding would be like, but whenever I saw a dress I couldn’t stop thinking about, I figured it meant that there was something about it that spoke to me, and I saved it.

Originally, I’d denied the excitement these dresses held for me, but after I got that self-image stuff out of the way, I decided to look at them again and see if any of them had jumped into my subconscious.

Alvina Valenta, 9914 - What a romantic dress. Look at that color! And the lace! And the box pleats!

Amsale, “Ella” - The natural waist, tiny pleats, and lace bodice make this dress look so sweet.

Melissa Sweet, “Saffron” - I love the sexy sparkly-ness. Also, the veil.

Renella di Fina, “Lauren” - I love the deconstructed elegance of this. I just want to go running in a field with it. Also, the taffeta.

I love the glow of a beautiful hand-made dupioni gown, like this one by Lea Ann Belter.

Can you find the common elements in these dresses? When I went back to my original favorite dresses, I kept thinking about what I truly wanted. I realized that I wanted a lot of fabric to swish around in, and I wanted to sparkle. So here is my “sparkle & swish” dress.

It’s a natural-waist, strapless very full A-line, with an inexact hem. It will have a sparkly bodice; the perfect showcase for the beaded lace my grandmother bought me. The sweetheart neckline will have the matching trim we picked out that day. The shape is a full a-line; the waist comes to a V in the back and the skirt will have box pleats. I have not yet decided what to do with the waistline (ruched? organza? a sash?) but we’ll see.

In the sketch, the dress looks a bit plain. But there’s one more surprise. Here’s a shot of the dress fabric underneath the beaded lace:

I hadn’t expected to find this, but came across it by accident. I initially chose the ivory silk satin for my dress, but, seeing as that was never what I truly wanted, I set about looking for the perfect dupioni and saw this one in the back of Richard Brooks fabrics. I couldn’t stop staring at it — and you know what that means. Depending on your monitor, the sunlight, or the lighting in the room, this shimmery shantung can appear off-white, gold, or pink (pink!). The fabric’s official name is “Champagne”.

Even though I loved the Alvina Valenta, I didn’t plan on wearing a non-white/ivory dress. I can’t deny, though, that my admiration for that dress got me comfortable with the idea. Plus, the contrast of the “champagne” with the ivory beads shows them off beautifully.

I hear many brides say they tried on something and “just knew”, but I wonder how much of that is just an affirmation of an idea or thought we might have had a long time ago?

Did any of your initial ideas from your earliest days of being engaged make it into your final choice?