Or if you’re not married, what would you like your dress to be like? Or, you men, well, either your tux or her dress. Whatever you like.
Inspired by the ‘trash your dress’ thread.
If I ever get married, I’ll probably either get married in kimono (but probably not the traditional style) or something like this
My ideal wedding gown? This. I have a thing for vintage-y gowns, and I’m tired of seeing the same old strapless wedding gowns with the big skirts. (NOT that they’re all ugly, just too same old, same old)
My great-aunt is a seamstress who’s made many a wedding gown for the family. So I’m sure this wouldn’t be a problem.
I had two wedding dresses … two weddings … same groom. 
Both dresses were white floaty silky-type sundresses with a floral print. Our weddings were very casual, in a backyard setting … so the dresses were perfect.
20 years ago this July, it was Victorian, to fit in with our herbs and lavender theme. Sorry, but it was the '80s. my bouquet even had sage and Queen Anne’s lace flowers.
June 1974, in keeping with the Latter Hippie spirit, I made my own dress with a Simplicity pattern out of white polyester crepe, floor-length, cap sleeves, empire bodice. Made my sister’s matching bridesmaid dress out of light yellow polyester crepe.
I had this gown by Alfred Angelo, then had the veil shortened to fingertip length and had “sleeves” put on. This is a decent shot of the sleeves, and this is our “classic” wedding photo.
Cheap and simple. I wasn’t too into the whole wedding dress thing and was considering a pant suit or something like that. A few weeks before the wedding I finally checked out a couple of wedding shops in town and didn’t like anything really, so I just picked the cheapest one I liked best at the last shop and called it a day. I ordered it in ivory and went home, where I got a phone call an hour later or so from the shop telling me they didn’t have the dress I chose in ivory, but they had one similar. Similar?
‘Well, yea’, the shop girl explained, ’ the back is cut lower and blah, blah, blah, but it’s similar.’ Uhh, no. I chose the one I did because of the high back. I wanted it to cover my tattoo, which it barely did. Anything lower would not have. So I told them to just order it in white. I thought about having it dyed, but it was too close to the wedding by the time it actually came in.
Anyway, it was simple, white, A-line, with some beading on the top and middle and a pretty line of buttons leading down the back. Tiny train, and I wore a slip that added very, very little pouf. I had the seamstress lower the neckline an inch or so when she altered it, but I would have preferred it dropped another inch if I’d had the time. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it. Just a dress.
You can kind of see it here, here, and here. Don’t mind our bright red heads looking like they might pop. It was like 115 degrees in Las Vegas that day and wearing all that crap didn’t make things any more comfortable.
This is my wedding dress.
I am getting married on August 1st. I love the dress there is no train, which was huge for me and it fits like a glove. No alterations for me!
This was mine:
It came from Anne Taylor Loft and cost $75. It was perfect for our casual, yet classy, outdoor wedding.
This was mine. It was the second dress I tried on and I adored it. I think I got more compliments on the dress than anything else about the wedding.
Ivory silk shantung, with a relatively open neckline for an Orthodox Jewish wedding dress (it basically showed everything above my collarbones, in a modified boatneck, rather than being a tight jewel neckline) and half sleeves, to just past my elbows. The skirt was A-line, but the silk shantung overlayer ended right below my left hip to show an underskirt of a gold and ivory lace material (it looked like embroidery, but was technically lace, although I am not a particularly lacy gal) over a backing of the silk shantung. The overskirt cut down across the underskirt in a curve, down to below my right knee. The ends of the sleeves and the curved edge of the overskirt were edged in the gold edging taken from the end of the lace material, but the top portion was otherwise unadorned. I had a whole veil system, with a cathedral veil for the photos and the ceremony, a fingertip-length veil that I kept on the whole time, behind my updo, and an extra little veil that we tied in front of the updo to cover my face for the actual ceremony because slinging the fingertip veil over the updo looked pretty stupid. White strappy flat sandals for the ceremony and before, gold ballet flats for the dancing afterwards.
Most Orthodox Jewish women go with very heavy satin, lots of poofiness wedding dresses (two crinolines are common), and tons of lace is popular right now, so mine, two summers ago, was a bit different, and I had to get it made to get something I liked. I always thought of getting one’s dress made as a JAP-y, spoiled brat thing to do, but it was cheaper than even renting a dress at most of the places I went to, let alone buying. (To see typical Orthodox wedding attire, have a look at almost any of the weddings on www.onlysimchas.com, a popular website for posting photos of Orthodox celebrations. A few examples taken from weddings (of people I do not know) posted there in the last day or two are here, here, and here.) I loved the fact that my dress was very light, so I wasn’t drowning in my own sweat and could move freely, except that I couldn’t raise my arms above shoulder hight (true in any formal gown with sleeves, IMO).
I looked fabulous, if I do say so myself.
I’ve been married twice, so I’ll give descriptions of both.
My first one was very traditional. Sequins and pearls on the bodice, long train, short sleeves, and very pretty. I still keep my pics of me in it, just because it was so awesome.
The other one is as different as can be. Black and slinky, with spaghetti starps and a slit up the middle. It has a low neckline, with some ruching on the bodice. (It’s not actually a wedding dress, I just used it for one.) My mom freaked out when she saw it, but it fits my personality, and the look on my man’s face was priceless!
This is probably the current frontrunner, mainly because it looks lovely and simple and is easily alterable. It even comes in Petites! It looks more like a wedding dress, which is what my fiance prefers, but it has (or will have once I get it altered and dyed) the rewearability that I want.
Here’s mine.
Nataya? (One of my favorite designers)
My wedding outfit (not even a dress) was an ankle-length black skirt, black flowy top with sparkles down the v-neck and net sleeves and black sandals.
We got married at the registry office with 3 witnesses and no family.
Here’s a picture from my last fitting. My dress was two pieces, which helped with alterations a lot (I am a bit short-waisted). The beading has blue in it, which doesn’t really show in this picture.
Absolutely. My best friend is getting married next early year, (yay! new dress opp!) and not to hijack the thread, but I’m thinking about another Nataya.
Here are my current choices:
or (my fav) this!
Very simple. Double spaghetti straps with a sweetheart neckline. Empire waisted, A-line skirt. Simple white satin with a single layer of chiffon overlay on the skirt and some beautiful beaded lace on the bodice. The lace had a lovely scalloped edge that the seamstress matched perfectly at the back zipper. It was custom-made by a close friend, so I only paid for the fabric and other supplies. I bought my shoes for $20 at Value City, wore an old half-slip, and borrowed my SIL’s bustier.
Of course, now I can’t get my bridal photo CD to read, so I can’t upload anything.
My wife started looking through bridal magazines roughly two years before we were married. The first day she was looking through them, one pic caught my eye, and I immediately thought “That’s it…that’s the one”. She tore out the pic and put it in the “possibility” pile.
A year and a half later, she was actively shopping for her dress. She went to the store, found the perfect dress, and bought it. What she didn’t realize was that it was the exact one that I had picked out 18 months earlier. We pulled out the pile of “possibility” pics, and sure enough – exact same dress*.
*Warning: While pic contains a mind-bogglingly beautiful bride, it also has a kinda scary husband.
