Bridal Style Meets Katie Style

I think most wedding dresses are hideous. I have seen first hand that the thrift stores are a flood with yellowing 80's wedding dresses that you wouldn't look at twice unless you needed a Halloween costume to coat in fake blood. Wedding dresses just seem to date themselves quickly. I've certainly figured out a few things about my previously non-existent style in this process.

I think there are a lot of things that look amazing on other girls that I just don't like on me. Like antique buttons:

Maybe if I wasn't so short I'd have a different opinion, but I hate them. In general I'm opposed to fussy impractical garment embellishments. The sight of that makes my fingers ache. In my book they're right up there with fake pockets. You know the ones they sew into skirts that look like a pocket, but aren't. Ridiculous.

You've caught on by now that I am not a fan of excessive beading either. My bodice is a great example:

Before there was way too much for me.

Now it's much better. Cleaner and the eye goes to the main decorative element without being overwhelmed.

I don't like form fitting silhouettes. I feel like on me it just emphasizes my short stature and makes me look boney. Which isn't very feminine. I just don't feel sexy in something like that.

Beautiful on her, not so much on me. It would probably be a whole other ball game if I could walk in heels. At least two brides I know with similar builds to me pulled this silhouette off spectacularly, but I just don't feel pretty in something like this. Maybe it's all the fairytales, but I prefer a pincessier cut.

Last on my list of dislikes was the most confusing to the bridal consultants at the dress shops. I hate trains. Dragging extra fabric behind me, pass. I thought they all looked better bustled, but a bustled train is heavy. I wanted it hacked right off.

All that fabric designed to drag on the ground sounds like stains and missteps waiting to happen. Again, it might have appealed a little more if I had better balance and was planning an indoor ceremony. I can just see someone stepping on my train and then bride down!

Now that the picture's getting clearer I'll tell you what I love. Anything, fairy or ballerina inspired like tulle and a little bit of sparkle. Like my soon to be shortened reception dress:

This a good example of tulle and a little sparkle as well as bare shoulders. What can I say? I'm a Florida girl who's always had to rely on my upper body heavily. I love to have bare shoulders!

I'm pretty girly, but also (not just for the sake of being so, but because I truly am) unconventional. I like color on a wedding dress. This is what really got my wheels turning on the subject:

Amazing dress. I always describe it to people who haven't seen it by saying it looks like she waded through a pool of Kool-Aid. It also has my other favorite touch, a little asymmetry. Beautiful.

I enjoy a sparing use of lace or appliqué. If I had had an unlimited budget for a dress I would had bought this one:

It doesn't hurt a bit that it was inspired by Disney's Sleeping Beauty. If Mike didn't get a vote I'd have pursued a Disney wedding. I've decided it's ok because we'll just renew our vows there ten or so years down the road.

Last but not least, I love a simple sophisticated 50's silhouette. It's probably because I love Audrey Hepburn and am similarly built. How can anyone not love this:

Girly and fun without being to fussy. Hopefully I'll be able to weed out all the elements I don't want and incorporate all the ones I do between the two dresses on a budget.

Project Dress, Overwhelmed Bride

I went out in search of a second dress for the reception. Something short and pretty. Mike (who thought "everyone had two dresses.") asked I keep to a budget, but I was sure that wouldn't be a problem. So, Friday Lara and I hit a thrift store I'd never been to just to "see if they had anything I could use".

You won't believe me, but lightening struck twice. It wasn't a sample dress this time it was pre-worn, but it was beautiful! I walked right over and said that one. This time it was 75% off so it was well within budget at $30! Unlike last time it wasn't one size too big, but many, many sizes larger than my frame.

Here's the tulle spilling out of the dressing room:

Pay no attention to the dress beneath the curtain! And speaking of The Wizard of Oz don't I look like G'linda?

Ballerina Pose!

It's a whole lot of dress!

So, the plan is to separate the bodice from the skirt and then shorten the skirt. There's no way to make the bodice fit so we'll have to decide whether to use the bodice from the other dress or find a new one. In the mean time we have yards and yards of tulle for the flower girl dresses! I also, found a pattern for those so the "test dress" should be underway in the next two weeks. Hurray!

Here's something like what I'm looking for with dress number two, if only everyone could afford Vera Wang...

Simple, suggestive of a ballerina without looking like a recital costume.

Not as frilly up top as this, but this length or a touch longer so I can sit.

Overall I'm thrilled that both dresses are underway, but when you basically start from scratch the possibilities can be overwhelming. It seems like it would be liberating and for the most part I have a clear idea of what I want, but every time I decide on a detail, I worry. Now I have two wedding dresses worth of decisions to make. The main issue now is the bodice of the second dress. It seemed like a no brainer to use the bodice from the first dress. That was until I picked a very white dress for my second dress. My first dress is ivory and when you lay the fabric next to each other it looks yellow. Lara offered to darken the white fabric with tea to match, but I felt uneasy.

I was already tearing this beautiful dress to pieces. If I had that machine from Honey, I Shrunk The Kids I would shrink it down and shorten the skirt and be perfectly happy. Beggars can't be choosers and so we will use the skirt taken in and up. The rest will be used for flower girl dresses. Breath in, breath out one decision at a time. I hope it all turns out as beautiful as I imagine it. I guess I can understand why those rich girls on Say Yes to the Dress are always such a basket case when they go for their fittings.