Weddingbee Blog

When we last left off, I had begun the hunt for my wedding shoes. Although one may think it would have been tough, considering all of my restrictions, it really wasn’t. It was one of my bridal light bulb moments, for sure.

Can you believe there aren’t any pictures of a light bulb with a veil on it? I Googled for at least 10 solid minutes. Mer.

One of my closest friends, and also my day-of coordinator (more on that, I promise!) was a campus representative for TOMS shoes during our time together in college. Before her, all I knew about TOMS was that Britney Spears (one of my all-time favorite human beings, ever) was a celebrity endorser…which honestly, despite the wealth of knowledge I had telling me that I fell prey to propaganda techniques, was enough for me. However, as was the case multiple times in college, my dear friend’s dedication and passion lit a flame of a similar sort under me as well.

Image via Twitter | Britney is my homegirl. Sidenote: Twitter has for real been around since 2009?!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with TOMS: TOMS was founded in 2006 by Blake Mycoskie, who simply went to visit Argentina and discovered that children often went without shoes. Being that it is an underdeveloped country, this meant that these children could walk miles for clean water without shoes, spend days in fields without shoes, perform hard labor without shoes; some schools even require shoes as part of a uniform, and without shoes, these children are denied educational opportunities. I don’t want to get too preachy on you, so that’s the gist of it. (If you’re interested, please please please, I encourage you to check it out.) Blake started TOMS after his experience, with the One for One promise. For every pair of TOMS purchased, a pair of shoes is given to a child in need. The pair of donated shoes is not just your average pair of sneakers—they are hand-crafted to fit the child’s need. (Perhaps the shoes for the child who walks for miles every day will have a thicker sole; the shoes for the child that works in the field among humidity and moisture will have breathable fabric…I do not pretend to be a cobbler; these are just examples.)

As I mentioned before, I had been entertaining this idea for quite a while. When I went searching for inspiration pictures, I found these:

Image via She Finds

Image via Modele Weddings

Image via cisnerosbn on Weddingbee!

There are also pictures of brides and bridal parties with the different colored TOMS, and as a whole, they just completely soled (get it?!) me.

As you may remember from my previous posts about my bridal party, everyone is a different shape and size—including height. I had previously told the girls that I didn’t give an eff about their shoes, partially because the dress was going to be long, but also because it really didn’t matter to me. I didn’t care if they wore flats, ballet slippers, high heels—whatever they were comfortable in and would make them happy. When this idea was born, I decided to make it a “request.” Truthfully, they can still wear whatever they want—I’m not going to make it a 110% mandatory requirement—but I will stress how appreciated it will be.

Here’s the thing: Some of my girls have way, wayyyy better fashion sense than I do. I mean, trends? What are trends? How is this pair of jeans from 2007 any different from this pair of jeans in 2012? Granted, I get some of it (like ’90s grunge, for instance) is truly no longer “in,” but for the most part, my wardrobe reallllllly hasn’t varied in a long time. Also, as I said in my last post, I don’t really know or care about shoes. Can I walk? Can I wear them with more than one thing? We’re good to go. My girls, though, are different. Heels, flats, strappies, boots, sneakers, whatevs—they have varieties of them all. Therefore, they have opinions (which I love and value, honestly), and therefore some of them kind of feel (an understatement) that the TOMS are, well, ugly.

I mean, really. I get that the regular old canvas shoe is a bit…plain. But that’s kind of the point. Plus, hello wedges! Hello pretty spring ballet flats! Hello glitters!

That all having been said, Bridesmaid Y is 100% on board and joined me in buying a “trial” pair. She opted for the wedge and I opted for the plain black canvas. (Bonus: It doubles as a work-appropriate shoe!). I also splurged and bought these for Mr. Palm Tree. I’ll send the same request to the men in the wedding party, and hopefully a few of them come through, too. To be fair, the men’s shoes look decidedly more like “normal boy shoes” (as Bridesmaid Blackout put it) than some of the women’s styles. Plus, apparently they’re ridiculously comfortable…Mr. Palm Tree has deemed them “ninja-fighting shoes,” which is a super seal of approval in this crazy world we’ve made for ourselves.

Personal photo / Bridesmaids Y’s are the left, mine are the right.

Personal photo / Our TOMS in all their glory

Personal photo / Forgive the odd angle—it won’t let me adjust it!

Personal photo / Again, sorry for the angle! Bridesmaid Y, modeling her wedges—even though it was fah-reezing outside this evening, I sent a text begging her “so we can take pictures!!!” and she obliged. Never mind the fact that we were going to her apartment post-dinner and she could slip them on for pictures…ahem.

Personal photo / Me, rocking some cute socks and my lovely TOMS

Honestly, I love my TOMS. I wear them everywhere—to work, for a bar crawl (ahem), out to eat, running errands, whatevs. Comfy, practical, BOOM. All three of us agree: Our trial run was a success. There we have it, friends and readers. My wedding shoes:

Image via TOMS website

Since wedding season is near, my girls have begun to purchase their TOMS. Most are opting for wedges, but some have decided to buy a pair of flats as backup. This makes Mr. Palm Tree and me both so happy, to know that our day will be benefiting more than just the two of us, in some way. We’re so grateful to have the awesome wedding party that, despite all the gripes and wrinkled noses, love us enough to support us in this.

Did you opt for traditional wedding shoes? Anyone else anti-heel?