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Too romantic to be ‘me’ but this one from Lazaro bridal is just too pretty to not share:

I’d rock these two bridesmaid dresses as a bride in a heartbeat.
From Alvina Valenta:
and this one by Jim Hjelm:

I could never pull off the softness but this from LuciDiBella makes me wanna bathe in Downy:

Here are three from Saison Blanche, and I’m:
1. Digging that funky loopy loop
2. Drooling over the pleats at the bottom
3. Dreaming…just dreaming…

This from Watters looks fun, and I sooo wish I had cool straps…

And no words need to precede this Vera Wang:

What wedding dress details do you drool over?
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Noooooooooooo!

How could this have happened!

Okay, okay, that’s not my dress. The owner of that dress gave full consent and permission for its destruction. In fact, she complained, “I don’t know why we didn’t throw that thing out years ago.”

Well I will tell you why, Nana.

We didn’t throw it out because although it may not mean a lot to you, it sure means a lot to me. My Mom’s Mom, with whom I share a middle name and a fierce stubborn streak, is one of my favorite people in the whole world. Not only is she generous, humble, loving and honest, she’s also just downright awesome. She has more energy than a small child, a stronger work ethic than any CEO, and more spirit in her than, well, than someone with a whole lot of spirit.

It’s for all these reasons and more that I asked my Nana if she’d be willing to give up a small piece of her wedding dress for me to wrap around my bouquet and carry with me on my wedding day. She of course agreed, because if there is one thing she does lack, it’s a sense of sentimental value for material things. I suppose she gathered enough memories in her fifty-two years of marriage to my Grandpa to not need a white dress in a closet to make her happy.

Here’s the piece we’re using next to the ACTUAL FLOWERS that are going to be in my bouquet!

Carrying a piece of her wedding day down the aisle on mine is also a way for me to remember my Grandpa, the man she married in that gown. He will be celebrating with us, although wholeheartedly, only in spirit. I like to think he’ll be somewhere up there grinning.

September 9, 1950

I just couldn’t be more excited that she’s letting me have this. What’s your something old?
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Dress Front

Dress Back Half Bustle

Dress Back with Veil

Dress Back Full Bustle

And here is me cracking up in my veil worn as a ’superhero cape’:

Cape

then realizing I’m better off not being a superhero:

No Cape

The full bustle will be for the reception, and the half bustle will be for the ceremony, since I don’t like the super long train and it works better with the veil. The gorgeous veil is my something borrowed from my good friend who made it herself for her own wedding in 2005:

Though Zelda and I are not best friends, we still make an aiight team, no? I love the fact that I won’t have to think twice before jumping in mud if I so desire on my wedding day. I have Zelda to thank for that freedom. And we sing:

Getting to know you, getting to know all about you.
Getting to like you, getting to hope you like me.
Getting to know you, putting it my way,
But nicely,
You are precisely,
My cup of tea. *

* Lyrics from Getting To Know You (Oscar Hammerstein)

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Goodness! It’s passed the “confirmed” delivery date and we don’t have tracking information!

Where could it be?

Is it in Spain?

Nope.

Is it in New York? Nope. Seattle? Nope.

Where, oh, where could Miss Cherry Pie’s dress be?

Oh, oh, I see. NOW you’ve found some information that explains the delay. It seems that the raw silk fabric used to make the Diamante style was either delayed or in shortage so Pronovias had a backlog, causing delays for all Diamante brides worldwide. Hmm, I am so glad you told me this the day after my first scheduled fitting when my dress was nowhere to be found.

Lucky for me I ordered my dress on January 28, six MONTHS ago and not any later, when you told me I’d have until the end of February or beginning of March!

Lucky for me my dress arrived only one day after my first (canceled) fitting and you scheduled me again right away. Lucky for me there’s still plenty of time.

And very lucky for me, I ordered a size 10 instead of a size 8 like you suggested, because my hips fit PERFECTLY.

Oh yes, I love it even more than when I first tried it on. It needs very little alteration - a bit taken in at the chest, a French bustle, and potentially a sexy “drop” in the back.

You may remember what the dress looks like from my last dress post. Here’s the original video of me strutting about in the sample size, train and all:

Here’s the video from my fitting on Friday with the train pinned up where it will be French-bustled:

As you can see, I’m wearing my boots, and they worked GREAT with the dress. I just have to send them in to be cleaned. I also think my cowboy hat will look insanely awesome in a few “novelty” wedding photos.

I did purchase the veil you see in the video. It’s a very long (100 inches) soft silk veil with a narrow border. It will look amazing during the ceremony, but I plan on taking it off at the reception once the dress is bustled so no one steps on it.

I’ll wear the veil above my hair, as in the photos, not under it as in the video.

Wearing the dress again made me realize that I definitely want my hair up, especially to show off my back and hold the veil. I am contemplating having the back taken down into a lower V, following the line of the straps. I had the seamstress pin the back so you could see the line we’ll follow:

(Showing me the American (pick-up) bustle, which I didn’t like… it was too “princessy.”)

(Starting to pin the French bustle.)

I love the idea of a dropped back for a little added sexiness and surprise. And it will work with this dress because it has straps.

However, dropping the back causes some “structural” problems with the dress. If there is a V in the middle of the back, I get none of the cinching action across my breasts that the straight back would provide.

This means less lift and less “oomph.” Depending on the bra I choose (which would have to be a backless bustier), this could make a big difference. I was conflicted, as you can see…

Ultimately, I had her hold off on altering the back until my next fitting on August 5th. I’ll have a proper bra by then and I can try again.

So ladies, what do you think? To “V” or not to “V”?
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So please, be honest with me and don’t hold back! These pictures are incredibly unflattering, but hopefully it’s enough to get some feedback and advice. I haven’t seen my first dress with the alterations yet since I just recently dropped it off to be altered. I know I’m supposed to know when I’m wearing the dress, but I am far too indecisive and made a pro’s/con’s list (Rory-style, for the fellow Gilmore geeks out there), and still can’t decide. Le sigh.

Anyway, it’s photo sharing time. (WARNING: There’s red eye galore, please don’t be frightened away!)

 

Dress #1 on the model

Dress #1 on me while I played with Betty White in bed (it was too large in the bust for me to stand while wearing it and I was lacking in the clothespin department)

Dress #1 on a slouchy Ms. Candy Corn

Dress #1 on me (a super washed out photo, sorry!). Pardon the lack of boobie support, I didn’t have a bustier and the only thing keeping the dress from falling was my arms firmly resting at my sides. Also pardon my insane bedhead (!!), I had just woken up and decided to play dress up without grooming myself.

Dress #2 allows for lots of jumping up and down without the corn muffins falling out.

Posing in dress #2 with my wedding clutch, which I shall post about soon, I promise!

I grabbed the first ribbon I could find in my closet to wear with it. I think if I went with this one I would definitely need some sort of sash or ribbon to break up the mid-section (in a lighter color).

Sash improvisation, yo.

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Please forgive me, as I only have pictures of three dresses this time (and they just aren’t that pretty), since all of these photos had be taken on the sly by my fabulously creative friend Nicole who had to misdirect the sales associate with requests for veils and tissues and the like. It would be a completely different situation if it were up to me. All of these dresses were found at Mockingbird Bridal, chosen because of its large selection and price range.

This first dress was a big contender, it was actually the first dress I tried on during my time in the store (I only tried on 6 dresses total this time). I thought that the horizontal stripes might cut me off, but instead the dress had me looking rather long and lean.

I am just not a fan of sparkly embellishments, beading, sequins, etc. I guess I like having control of what the embellishments are going to look like. I’ve heard that it would be no problem to have the dress made without any sparkles on it, but even without the sparkles the dress is out because I don’t think sleeves or a bolero would ever look good with it.

Don’t I look a little fried here? I was new to Texas and jobless, which meant a lot of my time was spent at the pool. I love how the ruffles cascade and flow down the back of this dress. It was just a little too architectural for me, a little more structured than I was looking for.

It’s a good thing that I didn’t end up loving this next dress the most because it was the most expensive one I had tried on yet. It was very romantic, and I loved the bubble skirt, but it was a little busy for my taste. I wish we had a picture without the sash, but the sweet little sleeves are a nice touch. The back was very pretty with crystal buttons down the back. I love two things on wedding dresses, pleats and buttons down the back. If you love this dress, I found it on the the Jasmine website here.

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

The dress!

It’s Watters 9055B, and even though these photos of me are some of the worst ever taken, I can’t get over how much I love this dress. I’ve lost 15lbs since these photos were taken and so I think it will sit a little bit smoother on my back and stomach. I hope I ordered it in the right size, because I don’t even know what size I tried on!

Sleeves will be added to the dress, and I am going to do some searching for a new brooch at the waist. But other than that, it’s Mary Poppins perfect.

I called A Bride Beautiful the moment I got home to find out if they could order it, and I put a deposit down right then. I’ll be flying down to Utah the third week of August for a few days of fittings and alterations, and then it will finally be mine, all mine!

How can they ever expect us to wait so long for such an amazing dress?!?

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Some of my favourites:

Pasadena $ 599

Los Cabos $375

Manhattan $349

Merin Country $449

So, yeah, umm, I am reduced into a quivering pile of drooling protoplasm.

Check out the rest at Dolly Couture!
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But reader Chibride was right when she predicted that there would be a third tie. Miss Milkshake’s post about etsy ties sent me running to toybreaker’s shop for a Sakura tie. Toybreaker was super helpful in breaking down the difference between standard, narrow and skinny ties for us. (For the record, Miss GB 2.0 needs a narrow tie for it to look proportional on her.)

*cue Daft Punk’s “One More Time“*

So now Miss GB 2.0 is a three tie bride. She really digs the slightly feminine touch of cherry blossoms on this green tie. Plus, cherry blossoms bring back fond memories of the early days of our relationship when cherry blossoms were in full bloom at the Tidal Basin in D.C.

Here is my reluctant model with the cream shirt and new green tie.

As a special bonus, here’s one of her flashing you.

Just to jog your memory, this is my dress as worn by the Watters model.

(image source)

What do you think? Does the green tie trump the cream tie?
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Side note: Speaking of pushy, what is up with sales people at bridal shops attempting to push their own preferences on you? At another store I visited I spoke about the possibility of a birdcage veil and her response was “Oh you don’t want a birdcage veil. You need a REAL veil.” I consider the birdcage to be a real veil, thank you very much.

I have a lot of pictures because I called all of the bridal shops in the area to find out if they allowed photos to be taken. If they said no, I didn’t visit. I’m all about the photos.

My Mom loved the dresses like the one above. Full of interesting details and flair. I wanted something a little more elegant.

Whenever we found one that we thought might work, we would attempt to improvise some sleeves to get a better idea what it might look like after alterations were done on them. I loved this dress (and still do). Look at those amazing pleats along the bottom! You should know that I have a mild obsession with pleats.

This one was made with a type of fabric that I loved. I didn’t like it as much at the time as I do now.

They found me a birdcage veil to try on with this one. If I were to walk back into the store and choose one dress right now, it would be this one. My waist looks so curvy. I luuuurrrrvvvvee it! (But I don’t have dress regret, I found something better!)

We thought I was going to buy this one. The sleeves would have been so fantastic, and I love the way the bustle looks. As soon as I got home and looked at the pictures I realized that it just wasn’t doing it for me. I decided to keep looking in Dallas after I had moved down a few weeks later.

I had decided not to buy any of these dresses, and I was feeling stressed about how I was going to find a dress, and who I was going to order it from, when I received a card in the mail from Orrie letting me know that she has the ability to order almost any dress from any designer. I had looked through a book of her alterations and was really impressed by her ability to reconstruct gowns. I knew that when I found what I wanted, I would be ordering it from her.

Anyone else think they found “the dress,” only to look back on the photos and change your mind? Also, please brainstorm with me on ways that we can convince the bridal apparel industry that the photo ban is unnecessary and outdated.
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It might seem two-faced to some of you that I say I do these things, and then show you photos of myself wearing something completely different. I used my own judgment to decide whether or not I would post these photos of myself on the internet, and have decided that I feel comfortable doing so.These photos act as a reference to help me decide which gown I like best. I think that all of you enjoy seeing the photos as well, and so I hope you will indulge me as I walk you through my shopping experience and the many many many pictures I have from it.

Get ready for a whole lot of dress photos to come your way. And one more thing, my posts on Weddingbee won’t always be so…like this. I hope you’ll like to hear about my adventures in Italy and Poland (including a bridal shoot in front of the Trevi Fountain and Coliseum), my inspiration board, and the cake buffet idea I am developing!
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