After getting engaged in San Francisco, we eventually had to fly home. I wanted to extend our vacation and stay there, oh, a few months, but we both had work waiting for us. On the plane home, I was flipping channels on the TV to get to my customary Food Network (we don’t have it at home, so I need to get my Iron Chef fix where I can!) and I found a show that had ladies in wedding dresses. I stopped. I watched my first episode of Say Yes To The Dress. And then I watched 3 more, because it was a marathon! Was this a sign, or what?
After watching for a couple hours, I thought I’d decided some things:
- I did not want a ball gown. I’m only 5’3″ and I’d feel like it would be eating me.
- I wouldn’t be the bride that went in with a set budget, then tried on something twice the budget, then begged her parents to come up with the money.
I also thought I wanted a vintage, tea-length dress.
It was all the rage on wedding blogs, and looked so romantic, and you could show off cute shoes! I love shoes! These were a couple of my inspirations/aspirations (click on the photos to be taken to the sources!):
Gorgeous Vintage Dress
Doily Dress!
I loved that look, and that was what I wanted. Period.
I started searching vintage sites, mainly Posh Girl Vintage, and found a few contenders (long since sold, sorry!):
I wasn’t necessarily searching in their wedding dress category, because I didn’t think I wanted white, either. I loved the lacy one with the interesting neckline because it was different, and I loved the yellow one because I immediately had the perfect accessories in mind:
A bolero from Bonzie (I’ve been coveting one of these for at least a year!), and Frye Maya Vintage Stud shoes, which I’d already drooled over at my local shoe store, Gravity Pope.
Plus, I was also set on a birdcage veil—set enough that it was birdcage or nothing, in my mind. I loved these two dresses but…it’s hard to buy vintage online. Buying new is easy but I feel that I need to inspect vintage things closely. I want to feel them in my hands, and check with my own eyes for stains and rips. So, I didn’t buy them. I really wanted to, but mum booked a trip to come visit a couple weeks after we got back from San Francisco, and I knew she’d want to go dress shopping, and I did kind of want to go and try on hilariously enormous dresses and laugh. I also wanted to share that experience with my mum, as she doesn’t live in the same city as we do. I thought it would be fun to play dress-up. I also looked forward to the chance to try on some tea-length gowns in person, and maybe even find The One. I knew that there were new dresses out there in the style I wanted—I had found pictures of this Priscilla of Boston dress online, and had been drooling over them regularly!
We’ll see how well the search turned out next! Did anyone else have very firm ideas from the start? Did you stick to those ideas, or did they melt away?
P.S. If I were still looking at Posh Girl Vintage for my dress, I’d be obsessing over these babies:
Pink! Streamers on the shoulders!
Irises. I love the idea of a patterned dress!
Lovely lace again!
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