Damsel in Dis Dress

17 thoughts on “Damsel in Dis Dress”

  1. You know until I saw this written it didn’t occur to me, but your wedding is in March in Tofino. HARDLY tropical. I’m not sure what your current plans are insofar as being indoors/outdoors, but if you do want to be outdoors at all, chances are you’ll be needing some kind of wrap or outer layer, ESPECIALLY with the lighter dress. So… add the weather factor into your deliberations, maybe it’ll tip the balance? Oh also – there is no way you’ll get around to dying and using that dress for anything, m’dear. Dying dresses is expensive and hard to do well, and if you DID have a black tie event to go to, just TRY to convince me you wouldn’t want to go shopping and get something that is a current style at the time of that particular event. Uh-uh. You’ll be shopping.

    Now, you could always SELL the dress you don’t use (or both of them for that matter).

  2. My first thought when you said the 2nd dress would need double-sided tape and special lingerie is that it may not be as comfortable as the 1st dress. You don’t want to be worrying that you’re showing more than you want and readjusting yourself all night. πŸ™‚

  3. You can’t take pictures in bridal stores? That’s total BS! You should tell them it’s for your blog and you’ll post a link to their store if they let you take a pic. And if one says “yes” and the other says “no”, then go with the store that lets you take the pic. That’s a nice, completely arbitrary way of deciding.

  4. Sue: the plan is for pretty much everything to be indoors (because yes, it’s damn cold in Tofino in March, and – as my Uncle so delicately put it – I’d rather not turn my husband-to-be into a eunuch), but the dress might look just plain out of place considering the fright temperatures.

    jen: that was my biggest concern. That, and the moment I forget to stand up straight, all the photos are going to show is belly-jelly city.

    Beth: it’s not so much the salons, as the designers. The problem they’re trying to avoid is having people try on a dress and take it to a seamstress to have it recreated. It’s also part of the reason most salons remove any identifying tags showing the designer and/or the name of the dress. Sadly, I don’t think any promises of link clout will change that.

  5. I think if you’d be willing to dye the second dress and it will require lots of fidgeting (which you won’t want to do before every photo op) you may as well wait ’til you next need to buy an evening gown and get it or something like it then – you’ll also pay a fraction of the price if you can manage to buy it in non-white.

    I also agree with jen that you should go for comfort, and be practical as well as budget-conscious. I don’t think you’ll want to have to spend a half hour or so mid-wedding day trying not to mess up your hair & makeup getting another dress over your head anyway πŸ˜‰ You’ll want to be at the party!

  6. Weeeeird… I have a whole folder of pictures of wedding dresses from both my wedding planning, and my old roommates wedding planning… granted, that was 8 and 10 years ago, but has it really changed that much?

    I say take the pictures, and if they tell you off for it, tell ’em to fuck off, it’s your wedding and you’ll photograph if you want to. πŸ™‚

    Anyway. I have no other suggestions, but … wanna buy my old dress? πŸ™‚

  7. I say try on the undergarments and doublesided tape and go dancing in a different dress for an evening, and see if it drives you crazy. If you’re comfortable enough to dance in it for an evening, go for the second dress. If you’re ready to scream and bite people’s heads off, go for the first dress.

  8. Maybe I’m thinking of this a little weirdly: but which would want to see when you’re 80? Do you want to see something traditional, or do you want to see how freaking hot you were when you were young? These are photos of an event you will have with you for the rest of your life. Do you look at your parents’ photos or your gradnparents’ photos and think about how wonderful they look, or how dated?

    Also think about are you wanting to make everybody in the wedding (the priest, even? or whatever, you probably know what it’s from) a woody? I know a lot of brides who simply don’t think that something so revealing or sexy is what they want to say on their wedding day.

    So.. I guess I’m trying to say what do YOU want to say, and what do you want to see when you’re old and feeble and remembering the day you married the man you spent the rest of your life with?

    … *whisper*: buy them both.

  9. i think what everyone has said so far makes a lot of sense, so the only thing i would add is that i don’t think you should buy two dresses! i think that’s overkill, even if you really love them both.

  10. Mel: I am definitely thinking comfort – and thanks for the donation link, I’ve been wondering what to do with the dress afterward.

    Derek, Hannah: after hearing of the horror story of a friend who spent the better part of a year looking for underwear to go under her chiffon dress, I’m definitely taking the underwear issue into consideration.

    knemesis: honestly? While I always envisioned looking at my wedding photos and seeing how stunning I was, my first thought on the pictures of the second dress was that it’s got the potential to look a bit hoochie for the solemnity of the occasion. And I’d like to think I have ample opportunity to get pictures of my hot young bod for quite a few years to come.

    col: I wouldn’t actually buy two dresses – it seems pretty insane. According to what I’ve seen on wedding boards though, it’s not actually terribly uncommon.

  11. Well, you certainly wouldn’t be alone if you ended up with both: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070826/ART04/70825017

    I have to agree with the comments about the tape and the dancing though, for the less-structured dress. The last time I was a bridesmaid the dresses were strapless and we tried the tape and everything, and I still was pulling the thing up all evening on the dance floor. I looked like I was constantly groping myself. I wouldn’t buy it unless you’re certain you can actually enjoy your reception in it πŸ™‚

  12. I’m all about comfort, myself, and the choice between no underwear (or a small thong or whatever) and crazy control foundation garments would be the deciding factor for me. I say go for the first dress.

  13. Also consider ease of use of the toilet. Will you need your bridesmaids to be in the stall with you so you don’t pee on your dress? Can you wriggle out of your control garments with relative ease? I ended up taking off my dress every time I had to go, which was actually faster and easier than it sounds.

  14. Take the undergarment situation into serious consideration, for sure.

    If you really can’t decide, my vote is for you to go with both. After all, if you’re THAT torn between the two, it seems like the most logical decision. And, after all, you only get married how many times in your life?! Go for it, get both!! I almost did the exact same thing (the only reason why I didn’t was because I’d had to have lugged it across the globe – to Italy – and back!).

    Do it! Do it! πŸ˜€

  15. I’m so enjoying living vicariously through you planning your wedding. Although I don’t want to do one again myself, I did so enjoy the planning of it all.

Comments are closed.