Wedding Trivia 1/15 - 1/29
Jan. 29th, 2004 12:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
charlottezwebSo, I had the whole thing planned. The flowers would be hydrangeas and we would carry that theme through the decorations and the cake and dress the bridesmaids in hydrangea color accented dresses of their choice. Casual, that was the idea. Then I bought a dress. Oh, this dress.
The weekend of my new niblet's baby shower, I went to a recommended bridal salon in the city that was supposed to have a million plus size dress samples to try. (For anyone who may not know the process, when you want a wedding dress you "get" to visit various bridal salons and try on sample dresses, all of which are a size 10. When you find the gown you want, the store places an order and it arrives 5 or 6 months later, ready for the month of alterations ahead. It's not the most efficient process.) Since holding up a size 10 dress to my size 22 body doesn't give me a very good idea of what the dress would look like on, I had refused to consider any dress whose sample I couldn't at least slip over my head. This left me with a few options here in town and even two dresses that I liked well enough. While I had the chance though, I figured a little shopping in the big city wouldn't hurt, so I headed out to the salon that Friday.
The salon was amazing--it was the best clothes experience I've ever had. The very helpful salewoman (who did not work on commission) asked me questions about the kind of dress I wanted and then picked out some dresses for me. She took those, plus the ones I had picked to an enormous dressing room, and then proceeded to undress me, and put me into an approriate bra and crinoline. The only thing I had to do over the next two hours was lift my arms so she could get the dreses on and off and walk out to step on the pedestal and look in the mirror. She even added shoes, veils, and flowers to each dress so I could see what it would look like all together.
I ended up with three dresses that I really liked of varying degrees of formality. I wanted the very pretty informal dress (strapless, wrap skirt, sweep train) because it would fit with everything that had been planned so far, but. there was this other dress. Color: spun gold (a very warm ivory); Bodice: beaded, strapless sweetheart neckline, corset back; Skirt: full satin with an organza overlay; Train: cathedral length (95")with a wide satin band around hem and beading above.
It's one of the most beautiful dresses I've ever had on--I look like a princess. I cried when I saw myself--suddenly the wedding seemed liked more than just a big party, which is why I put it back. For two days. I wasn't sure I wanted to be so overwhelmed or to have to replan the whole shindig. But I couldn't resist, so I am now the proud owner of an incredibly beautiful, very formal dress.
The weekend of my new niblet's baby shower, I went to a recommended bridal salon in the city that was supposed to have a million plus size dress samples to try. (For anyone who may not know the process, when you want a wedding dress you "get" to visit various bridal salons and try on sample dresses, all of which are a size 10. When you find the gown you want, the store places an order and it arrives 5 or 6 months later, ready for the month of alterations ahead. It's not the most efficient process.) Since holding up a size 10 dress to my size 22 body doesn't give me a very good idea of what the dress would look like on, I had refused to consider any dress whose sample I couldn't at least slip over my head. This left me with a few options here in town and even two dresses that I liked well enough. While I had the chance though, I figured a little shopping in the big city wouldn't hurt, so I headed out to the salon that Friday.
The salon was amazing--it was the best clothes experience I've ever had. The very helpful salewoman (who did not work on commission) asked me questions about the kind of dress I wanted and then picked out some dresses for me. She took those, plus the ones I had picked to an enormous dressing room, and then proceeded to undress me, and put me into an approriate bra and crinoline. The only thing I had to do over the next two hours was lift my arms so she could get the dreses on and off and walk out to step on the pedestal and look in the mirror. She even added shoes, veils, and flowers to each dress so I could see what it would look like all together.
I ended up with three dresses that I really liked of varying degrees of formality. I wanted the very pretty informal dress (strapless, wrap skirt, sweep train) because it would fit with everything that had been planned so far, but. there was this other dress. Color: spun gold (a very warm ivory); Bodice: beaded, strapless sweetheart neckline, corset back; Skirt: full satin with an organza overlay; Train: cathedral length (95")with a wide satin band around hem and beading above.
It's one of the most beautiful dresses I've ever had on--I look like a princess. I cried when I saw myself--suddenly the wedding seemed liked more than just a big party, which is why I put it back. For two days. I wasn't sure I wanted to be so overwhelmed or to have to replan the whole shindig. But I couldn't resist, so I am now the proud owner of an incredibly beautiful, very formal dress.
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no subject
Date: 2004-01-29 10:17 pm (UTC)if i ever end up having another wedding, i think i'll fly to the city to shop. i cried in nearly every bridal salon in the city about my size 24 ass. (which i like just fine, i just wish they made wedding dresses to fit it more often...)
i ended up at a consignment shop locally, which had two or three dresses in my size, one of which i loved. it had a short train, but we stapled it to my butt as a grapefruit carrier. er, i think there's a technical term for that, but you know what i mean.
Re:
Date: 2004-02-03 05:38 pm (UTC)And the grapefruit carrier term you're looking for, I think is bustle. :)
no subject
Date: 2004-01-30 03:15 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2004-02-03 05:42 pm (UTC)Re:
Date: 2004-02-03 06:42 pm (UTC)I was hit by an unexpected reaction to this load: I threw up, because I don't actually want to affirm all the customs of my community. In order to reclaim and redefine the role I had to do some cognitive and emotional work, and I did at least some of it kinesthetically (that is, by literally throwing up the assumptions I'd been fed).
Re:
Date: 2004-02-10 04:33 pm (UTC)Which is exactly why I'd been wavering about the whole marriage thing for a while beforehand. I'm not so sure I want to affirm all of those customs, and part of me doesn't want to participate in something that isn't an option for everyone. People I know, people in this C, have actually been surprised that I'm not changing my name. On the other hand, I'm looking forward (somewhat nervously) to making a public commitment with the support of our community.
Several of my friends who've already gotten married have told me that there's not really a difference from living together, but I want it to have more meaning (for us)--we're making a public affirmation of our relationship.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-30 03:34 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2004-02-03 05:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-30 05:54 am (UTC)And I, of course, am a guy who will probably never marry, so I have no perspective to say this. But have the kind of wedding that you (and your young thing) want to have -- the dress should have a non-voting seat on that committee. I suppose you need an aisle longer than 95" now, and perhaps beach weddings are out, but if you want a big party, then be the exceptionally glamorously formally-dressed honoree at a big party!!
Re:
Date: 2004-02-03 05:46 pm (UTC)And I do plan on having a big party, but now I feel like it about more than just the party--it's an important day.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-30 02:58 pm (UTC)*peectures?* *web link?*
no subject
Date: 2004-02-20 10:25 am (UTC)