I adore my dress. I’d say that I pull up a picture of it about…maybe once a week. Don’t remember what it is? Well, I’ve got a picture on hand.
Image from Lis Simon
The end. Just wanted to look at my dress again.
Just kidding. 
So, why am I posting about my dress again? I don’t have dress regret. But what I do have is a little bit of anxiety about dress comfort. You may or may not recall that this lovely dress is constructed with a whopping 40 yards of fabric. That makes it weigh in at around 10 pounds.
I’m not too worried about the weight itself. But I am a little worried about overheating in the dress. You see, we chose a venue that doesn’t have air conditioning… This probably won’t be an issue (everyone cross your fingers for me). In fact, I’ve heard of several brides getting married there in July, and if they lived, surely I’ll make it through my May wedding. But I can’t stop thinking about how miserable I’ll be if it ends up being 90 degrees on our wedding day and I’m dripping with sweat and horribly uncomfortable.
The solution? A back-up dress. It’s been on my mind for several months, but I didn’t really know what to do about it. Where would I get this dress? Should it be long? Short? What color? Then, MOH L came to visit me a few weekends ago and we ended up heading to David’s Bridal to look for a bridesmaids’ dress for her. And I knew exactly what I was going to do.
I’ve been dying to try on one of the Vera Wang bridesmaids’ dresses. You know, the ones from Gossip Girl:
Image from Gossip Girl and Coco Perez
In fact, I’d been considering buying it in gray for the rehearsal dinner, but our dinner is going to be very casual, so I had to say good-bye to that idea. This left me free to consider it as a reception dress. So I put it on, and let me tell you—it’s perfect!
I honestly hope that I don’t have to change out of my amazing 10-pound dress. But if I do, I’m super pumped to have a fabulous back-up dress. (Plus, now I have a dress to wear on our anniversary. Win!)
Did anyone else have a back-up dress or a second dress? Did you end up wearing it, or did you stay with the original all night?
It looks really nice on you, and a dress that pretty I’m sure will get lots of use
Lookin’ good! I was really interested in the VW wedding dress with fern embroidery that they used in their ads… like 2 years ago! Yikes. My wedding is starting to date me! 
This looks too cute on you and is a perfect pairing to your wedding dress! I love it!
i love that VW-White BM dress!!! My girls did not want to wear short dresses! ;p
I LOVE your dress and that short Vera Wang number matches perfectly!! By the way, I’m a HUGE Gossip Girl fan… thanks for making me smile with that GG wedding pic!!!
Oh May can get so hot in the south 
After five years in South Carolina… I was convinced I needed to have an indoor wedding with air conditioning. Good job finding a great back-up dress!!
I am in the same dilemma, i love my dress, but I’m gettin married on the beach, and i do not know if i buy another dress (a cheap one) for my budget, but I would feel bad using short time an expensive dress and use more the cheap: S
Your back-up dress is like a little sister to your dress. I love it!
It’s good to think about contingencies, whether it’s heat or weight, because a comfortable bride equals a happy bride. FWIW, my gown was 9+ pounds but I didn’t feel tired until the after-party.
Wow! That is amazing that there is the perfect reception dress to match your gorgeous gown. What luck! Plus, you look freaking awesome in it!
What a great idea! My dress wasn’t nearly as big as yours and I ended up getting so hot (with air conditioning), so this is so smart!
That wedding dress is so beautiful. It sort of reminds me of the Vera Wang wedding dress that actually matches the bridesmaids dresses in the picture. There is something about them that is so beautiful and so different and so flawless. Anyway to answer your question though I am not yet married I do plan to have a reception dress for 2 reasons, the first is just in case anything (praying it doesn’t) happens to my wedding dress (i.e. spill, stain, etc), I can be “fashionable” and switch into something for the reception. And the second reason is to have a dress to be able to dance and enjoy instead of lugging my heavy dress from table to table.
I love that dress, but I think it can look very unflattering in the wrong body (mine), but you can totally pull it off girl. I hadn’t seen it in white before, it’s gorgeous
that totally fits with your first dress. looks great on you!
its a great idea to have an option to change in case you need it. I actually was going to source that vw dress as my dress change but it was just too hard not being able to try it on and being in australia. My bf protested quite loudly about you only get married once so you should wear your dress all day, but soon as she was not looking i made a dash during dinner and slipped on my little cocktail dress which was a short satin peplum dress. everyone loved it as well and when i started dancing i can honesty tell you i had no regrets, also my beautiful dress is not trashed. 
I bought a reception dress thinking I might want to change too. I loved my Vera, but I also love to dance. Having the dress to change into was the best thing I did. Especially since there was snow and mud and rain on my wedding day and the bottom of my dress had gotten dirty and wet. I was so thankful I had that dress to change into. I even brought it on our honeymoon and wore it on formal night on our cruise. It was wonderful to be able to slip into that dress and feel like a bride again on our honeymoon.
I loved that GG scene too… The episode aired right when we were looking at BM dresses for my wedding, and I’m pretty sure we all drooled. Vera Wang is a genius.
Thanks for all the compliments, y’all! You’ve totally made my day
@trixiesrockets: No short dresses? That’s funny, because I think most bridesmaids only want short dresses…
@Mrs. Beanstalk: Yay Gossip Girl Glad I could give you a little smile
@Mrs. Pain au Chocolat: It IS my dress’s little sister! Haha, I hadn’t thought of it like that. Also, whenever I get worried about my dress being too heavy, I think about you and how you say you didn’t notice It helps.
@nikstar: Glad to hear you didn’t regret changing out of your big gown!
@HarrySally: I hadn’t thought about taking it on a cruise! It would totally work for the formal night. Now, I want to take a cruise…
That is such an awesome option! I actually saw the same thing done on an episode of 4 weddings. I think it’s great that it’s SO similar to your #1 dress and it’ll make a perfect anniversary (or even honeymoon) dress!
great choice – I bought this in moss green to wear to someone’s wedding and have gotten lots of wear out of it!!
Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MD Age and Occupation: 27, Graduate Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate Student Engagement Date: March 10, 2012 Wedding Date: May 2013 Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GA About Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
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