Weddingbee

… Er, or maybe not. Sorry, my <3 of old-school Madonna compelled me to start off the post on my after-party dress this way. He he he…

So, I still haven’t gone over my wedding dress saga with you all, but at least one dress is set—a fabulous eco-friendly dress I scored at the Barney’s Co-Op Outlet last month. The shopping mission of the day was looking for Mr. ST’s attire (which we got!) but I came upon the last two of these Phillip Lim dresses, both in my size! The retail price is way over my budget, but thanks to the dress being on clearance sale at the already-reduced outlet store, I got it for a great price!

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Remember when my mom and I had lofty goals of altering my cousins’ beautiful white lace cocktail dress to wear for our rehearsal dinner? The custom-made dress that both of my cousins wore at their own rehearsal dinners? Well, we tried and tried, and my mom slaved and slaved over the revised corset back, but in the end it just wasn’t working. The corset looked really pretty, but the back of the dress was still not lying flat due to the fact that I am short-waisted and the extra material had nowhere else to go. So, we finally decided to let it go and find something else for me to wear at the rehearsal dinner. Mind you, this was all on Sunday night, and the wedding is THIS Saturday, meaning the rehearsal dinner is THIS Friday. Yes, tomorrow!

Enter one of my favorite stores ever, Anthropologie. I am lucky enough to live in the city where Anthro/Urban Outfitters/Free People have their headquarters, so their retail stores are never hard to find in this area. This can also be a bit dangerous, though, as their clothes and charming housewares aren’t always budget friendly, yet my money still seems to somehow jump out of my wallet and into their cash registers whenever I step foot in there. My office is literally a 5 minute walk from the very first Anthropologie store that ever opened, so after checking online to see what white dresses they are carrying at the moment and immediately finding an adorable contender, my mom and I made a plan to meet there on my lunch hour last Monday.

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So, I’ve admitted that I’m a bit of a shopping fanatic, yes? This wedding has amplified my not-so wallet-friendly habits quite a bit. I’m starting to have a hard time not buying everything (even non-wedding related purchases) in the colors black, white and moss green. So when I went dress shopping for bridal showers, rehearsal dinners and other wedding-related events, you can probably guess that I encountered the very same dilemma.

Macy’s clearance racks has been a veritable gold mine as of recent, and the Labor Day sales proved very worthy of my time. I pulled lots of dresses off the racks and dragged them into the dressing room with me. Most of my current dresses were either nightclub or black-tie worthy - and not the feminine dresses one would wear to a bridal shower. In fact, I’m not used to wearing the shapes I was looking at - so I used the technique that always helps me figure out if something looks good: I take pictures of myself with my digital camera.
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Mr. Pinot Noir and I will be joining our friends and family for an informal after party gathering somewhere in San Francisco. I originally planned to wear my actual wedding dress for the get together. After all, I will only get to wear it once! But after my fitting I realized that this just isn’t a practical choice. I’ll want something a little more comfortable for the evening festivities.

My criteria for the after party dress included, but did not require, the following:

1. Costs under $100
2. There is some white in the pattern/design
3. Something I can wear it again (I’m all about reuse)
4. Will allow me to sport a regular bra (no spaghetti straps and nothing strapless)

Mr. PN and I took a trip to Macy’s to look for my after party dress. I must admit that Mr. PN is really good at shopping for me. He picks out styles and colors that I wouldn’t typically try, and they usually turn out to be great. I get the most compliments on the outfits that he picks out. Too bad I couldn’t take him wedding dress shopping with me! After scouring the sale racks, we came up with four options.
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…from posting pictures and blogging that is! I’ve been staying at my parents’ place since taking the bar exam (it’s four hours away from my beloved apartment where Mr. Coconut is no doubt playing Call of Duty) and I’ve done a ton of wedding planning! Is your Google Reader broken?! No. (*Said in a very irritated and stubborn voice). I ignorantly forgot my USB cord to upload pictures and my 2GB SD card is too large to just pop into my laptop.

I have so much to share with you, and I can’t do it yet! Ahhhhh! I know, I suck. This weekend is my bridal shower, Friday is our cake tasting. Too. Many. Things. No. USB.

In the meantime though, I will give you a look at my rehearsal dress. Since our rehearsal takes place on Halloween, it’s only fitting that I should wear this color, right?
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One thing that was definitely on the to-do list while in New Orleans was finding my mother a dress for the wedding. Finding a dress for Mama ST was imperative because

1. She hasn’t seen my dress or knows what colors we are using
2. I didn’t want her looking too matronly, since she’s younger and has fun with clothes
3. But I didn’t want her having so much fun it would look like a hot mess!

I love my mom, but let’s just say her clothing style is very hit-or-miss. As we don’t live anywhere near each other, it was either do it now or do it never. If Mama ST knew how to turn on a computer, I would’ve loved to just send her some photos of ideas and have her pick her own dress that she liked. That not being possible (she refuses to learn, I tell ya!), it was a whirlwind afternoon of dress shopping with Mama ST.
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The rehearsal day is, after all, the first time you will see your entire wedding party together… and more importantly, the last time you will see your fiance before you guys take the plunge! What a great excuse to buy a pretty little dress! I wanted something cute, light, yet would convey “bridal”. These were the candidates in the running…

Satin Bridal Dress from White House Black Market ($158)
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After going through all your suggestions, I purchased the following dress from Cache — a shop I would never have checked out if it weren’t for you!

I recently dyed my hair red, so I thought a blue dress would really complement my new hair color.  Mr. Bee really liked the dress (I almost always ask for his opinion) so I found a coupon online and purchased it.
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Thanks so much for all your wonderful dress suggestions!  I did end up buying a dress that one of you suggested, but I’m not sure whether I’ll wear it to the wedding.  I’ll get your opinions on it in a subsequent post, and pull together a dress wiki on all the fabulous stores you guys suggested.

Meanwhile, let’s talk a bit more about dress designers since many brides buy several dresses for the events leading up to the wedding.  Or in my case - and I’m sure for many of you as well - I’m a frequent wedding guest!

My friend Nhung sent me a link to this article that lists the top 10 dress designers.  They are:

• BCBG
• Betsey Johnson
• Cynthia Rowley
• Diane von Furstenberg
• Marchesa
• Oscar de la Renta
• Shoshanna
• Tracy Reese
• Vera Wang
• Milly

I definitely have to agree with BCBG, Shoshanna and Tracy Reese!  I especially adore Shoshanna’s dresses because they always fit so well – she really knows a woman’s body!  As lovely as Oscar de la Renta and Marchesa’s gowns are, I can’t say that I’ve worn dresses from them or the other designers on this list. 

What about you - do you agree with this list?  Do you have a go to designer when shopping for a dress?

This is a completely selfish post, but I need help finding a dress to wear to my cousin’s wedding!

I’ve looked through all the department store websites and a couple online boutiques, but can’t seem to find anything I love.  I’m looking for a cocktail dress that’s not too lowcut and under $250 (of course a bargain is always great!) for an evening wedding in Los Angeles.  The green dress below is lower cut than I would typically wear, but it was something I had in the back of my closet for years.

Here are a couple pics of dresses I’ve worn to recent weddings I’ve attended…

(Laundry ($20 from a thrift store), Kathlin Argiro, ABS, Zara in Paris)

Where are some of your go to shops for cute dresses?

Bonus: If you find me a dress, I’ll send you any item you want from the Weddingbee gear shop!