Weddingbee Blog

Now that I had decided on doing my own version of Figgie Shoes (which you can see here), I had to find the right shoe to do it with. I immediately crossed satin shoes off my list. The problem with satin is that any ink would immediately bleed. I would have to buy specialty silk paint and paint the shoes, causing me a lot more headaches. I then began the search for white patent leather shoes. I learned something very quick. When you type “white patent leather heels” into Google, you get a lot of hits like this:

Image via SinfulShoes.com

Apparently exotic dancers have a special affection for white patent leather heels. Now, I walk very well in heels, but spending my wedding day in 7 inch heels  was just not appealing to me. Then the white patent leather shoes continued to disappoint.

Top designers also like to use patent leather for their shoes. Like these from Cole Haan :

Image via Zappos.com

I could go for cheap and incredibly high, or normal height and incredibly expensive. It was like a catch 22. I have a very hard time justifying spending a lot of money on a pair of shoes that in all honesty, will wear all of five hours until I can get to the reception hall and slip on flip-flops. I even was fine with wearing flats, and only came up with either really uncomfortable options (like cheap ones that take forever to break in, or expensive ones that I would never dream of paying for). I was about to throw in the towel when one of my friends made an awesome suggestions.

She knew how uncomfortable I was about spending a lot of money on a pair of white shoes that I was just going to doodle all over anyways, so she asked how I would feel if I could get white shoes I could draw on and do something good at the same time. I told her that I would wholeheartedly do it. She showed me these:

Image via Toms.com

They may not be the most stylish things ever, but they serve their purpose of being a blank canvas for me. By purchasing them, I will also be giving a child a pair of shoes through Toms “One for One” campaign. That makes me feel pretty good about spending $50 (which was right around my budget anyways!) on my wedding shoes!

So as soon as I got these little babies in mail, I tore them open, navy blue and lime green sharpies in hand.

I was so excited! It even came with a cute little flag! They ask you take a picture with the flag and to send it to them so they can use it for promotions and stories! After many hours of swearing under my breath, Jack Johnson to calm me down, temper tantrums, giggles at my weird drawings, and careful deliberations as to what to put on the shoes, I was finally finished with them. And thus, these beautiful ladies will be my wedding shoes:

I must say, I am extremely proud of these. While I know that they aren’t as amazing as a real pair of Figgie Shoes, they still are totally me and make me happy. I cannot wait to unveil these to my guests on my wedding day and to get some professional pictures taken of them! I found my perfect wedding shoes after all!

Was something you wanted badly way outside of your budget? Did you do some crafty things to get what you wanted anyways? Did it work out for you?