Weddingbee Blog

I admit it, there was a lot of drama surrounding the whole process of choosing my wedding dress. A Lot. We pre-shopped, we ran, we shopped shopped, we purchased, we post-shopped, we re-purchased. There was so much going on! What I haven’t mentioned is that like many bees before me (most recently Mrs French Toast and Mrs Crepe) I will be wearing both a red dress and a white dress on my big day.

Since I was in high school, I’ve loved the idea of wearing Mama Bacon’s cheongsam (aka qipao) that she wore for her wedding to Papa Bacon in the ’70s for at least one part of my wedding. But sadly, I am graced with my father’s American build and not my mom’s much more delicate Chinese build which means that when the time came last fall to try it on, I couldn’t even get the darn thing over my SHOULDERS, let alone my American thighs. I mean, I could have worn it for our wedding 11 months later… if I dropped 40 lbs, but hello, not healthy for a girl my size. Either way, this dress needs a moment in the spotlight (along with that fantastic white tux my dad’s got on and all that hair between them both).

I just LOVE this photo. Who can guess the year?

I’ve been known to don some Chinese traditional garb in my time, and the circumstances vary widely like at an 8th grade dance or on a make shift stage at an outdoor festival.

I was in a Chinese dance group throughout middle school and high school, and I dabbled a bit with it in college, so I have loads of photos of me in mandarin collars, embroidery, frog buttons and sequins, wielding anything from delicate feathered fans to heavy giant drums, long red ribbons to long sleeves simply for entertainment value. In fact, part of me worried that putting on my wedding cheongsam would just feel like another dance performance, with no special spark.

Photo op before the 8th Grade Graduation dance. (I can’t believe I am posting a picture from those awkward puberty years on the internet for all of you to see…)

This is just an average Sunday afternoon in 2001

I was 15 and thought it would be a good idea to choreograph and perform a martial arts inspired Chinese dance to the Top Gun theme song. Makes for a cool photo though, right?

Can you find me? Hint: I’m one of the tall ones

Ok, so this was wayyyyyy after my time in the dance group, but see how often I wear old timey Chinese clothes?

When it finally came to choose the one I’d be wearing for the wedding, you’d think I would be super involved with picking the fabrics, choosing a style and all kinds of things. Yeah, me too, but ultimately, I had nothing to do with it. Mama Bacon was heading to Singapore for some fun with the family, so she took my measurements and was off to get it made. I left everything to her and I couldn’t be more excited with the results! She went the traditional route with the cut and style, but the fabric she chose is really cool! Mama B recognized that the rewearability of a deep red cheongsam with traditional phoenix and dragon embroidery is pretty much never, so instead she picked red sari fabric with a black and gold geometric pattern. I mean, I am a gal that seems to have a thing for wearing these dresses for any occasion.

Not the best angle, and its a bit too big, but you get the idea.

Since the dress turned out really well, I’m going to be putting this bad boy back on later in the evening so that I can get some nice pro photos in it and because I might feel compelled to drop some of those traditional Chinese dance moves. Ok, so no Chinese dance moves, but I am super excited to throw this dress on during the reception instead of limiting it to the morning tea ceremony.

Did anyone else relinquish control in a part of the wedding that surprised you?