Mrs. H went to a vintage clothing store on Melrose in Beverly Hills and got a 1920’s silk velvet wedding dress. I won’t do it justice by trying to describe it but it wasn’t at all frilly and she looked gorgeous.
Haj
http://www.richmangroup.com/madison5.html
There’s a pic of my wedding gown from a place who sells it. It was beautiful, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I only wish I could wear it more often!
You can’t exactly see them in this picture, but there are tiny little porcelain roses on this wedding dress. See the little rose on the bodice? It’s porcelain! They were all along the hemline of the dress, and going down the back of the dress. They were very tiny, and hardly even noticeable, but I fell in love with it as soon as I tried it on.
I knew this was my dress as soon as it was zipped up. My mom made me travel around to several other places to try on other dresses, but we settled on this one like I knew we would. Haha
$99 at the discount bridal store. I loved my dress and I’d get the same one again. It had spaghetti straps with tiny white beads on them. The bodice had about a two inch “fold-down” part with beads on top and bottom, and a swirly pattern around it. The back had buttons down it, about to my rear end. The rest was straight, plain material.
I made my dress. At the time, I did quite a bit of seamstressing work for costumes (mostly Renaissance Faire stuff), and I found a really gorgeous pattern for a dress–it was an 1830’s style day dress. This gives you an idea of the style (although mine didn’t have all the bows and things like the drawing): http://www.costumes.org/history/regency/women/fashionplates/1834casket.jpg
I made everything for the outfit except my shoes, stockings and hoop skirt–the corset, chemise, and bloomers. I made the dress out of a very gorgeous ivory brocade fabric (and **GingerOfTheNorth can attest, it’s really a lovely dress. I sent it to her because I didn’t want that sitting in my house anymore).
Would I do it again? Heeeeell no. I’m getting married again in May. I’m wearing something comfortable that I like and will be barefoot if I can. I want this wedding to be much more fun and casual this time around.
I wore my mother’s wedding dress. It was a simple white satin A-line, with a small bit of lace at the waist, cuffs, and hem. The train is what made it beautiful, long and thick, and lined in creamy silk. I had my veil made custom, a three-layer deal trimmed in pearls and ribbons that I absolutely loved.
I’ve never been a big “shopper” or thought much about what my ideal dress would be, so when mom’s dress fit, and I liked the way it looked, I was all for it. Plus I got the added bonus of knowing how much it meant to her. I’d do it that way again in a heartbeat.
bella
I got married last October, and I still love my dress. It’s ivory satin (but not the shiny kind), a-line, with short sleeves and box pleats on the skirt. The bodice is beaded in kind of florets, with faint taupe and peach embroidery underneath the beads. The hem and the sleeves have a taupe band around them, and the hem is beaded, too. I had it altered to take off 2 of the 3 butt flowers, and to make it lace up the back. It has about a 3-foot train. Scoop neck, v-bodice, and I would choose it again in a heartbeat. It’s definitely wedding-y, but not froo-froo. And I hadn’t expected to choose a dress with that much color, but once I tried it on, I knew it was the one. 
Oh, my dress. My dress. Gorgeous. It was designer, I went to a bridal shop on a tree-lined avenue in New Orleans to try it on, you had to have an appointment to go into the store.
It was on the cover of the first bridal magazine that my husband and I bought together, when we were just deciding to become engaged. I discovered this fact after the wedding. It was in advertisements in later magazines, Demetrios, so beautiful. I pulled out the photo and said, “do you have this?” and the owner said, “oh yes, come upstairs and try it on.” The other stores had said no.
It looks like snow, when the sun shines on it. The dress is an A-line style in white satin, I guess, but you can’t tell because of the overlay of chantilly lace, accented by clear sequins. All over the dress. No ruffles. So beautiful.
It had a v-neckline, accented with the sequins and some bugle beads. It was a confection. So was the veil. If I had it to do all over again… I’d get the dress. If I had the money again! A girl needs at least one designer dress in her lifetime.
Ok… so, I’m not a female Doper…
A picture of Mrs. Apollyon’s wedding dress. Made by her, inspired by the 16th C German paintings of Lucas Cranach the Elder (such as his Portrait of a Princess of Saxony).
It’s a beautiful dress (IMO), though I had reservations (actually a minor panic attack) the morning of the wedding when I found that it was still all in pieces all over the floor… and in fact the bride-to-be and bridesmaids were still hand-sewing at the hair-dressers. In the end, the bride was a few minutes late… half an hour or so… but she swears that car trouble contributed to it… that and taking 20 minutes to lace her into the dress.
I love all of these different dress descriptions and seeing the photos! It would be so wonderful to be able to sew like some of you can.
I so need to be doing a bunch of other things… but I found a photo of my dress (with me in it) and wanted to post it…
sigh I love sparkly things.
An ivory off the shoulder simple bodice ( with a little ruffle on the poof sleeves.) A poof skirt with - this is what I bought it for - embroidered flowers in ivory thread on and along the hem.
I would wear it again in a heart beat - if I could zip it up - and I would go to the bar and see how many drinks I could get playing either the ‘jilted’ bride or the " hey it’s been nearly 10 years and thought I should take it out of mothballs and go have fun in it.
**Scarlet ** I can easily picture your dress in my mind and I just love it. It seems to fit your vivid screen name. 
Married in 1995. mrs beagledave bought the dress at a local bridal shop. have no idea how much it cost.
Pic here.
Wedding 1: 1800’s riding jacket with long tails and tons of buttons, all in periwinkle with cream coloured lace trim. Cowboy boots and a funky vail I made to match… Western themed wedding.
Wedding 2: Camel coloured suede skirt and a champagne silky top.
Much preferred the camel coloured outfit. At least I can wear that outfit for a nice night out.