Due to wearing too narrow pointy toe shoes as a young woman, I had to have surgery to remove a soft corn on my 4th toe (Pinky side) on the right foot about 3 months before my wedding (I had the same procedure performed on the left foot 3 months before that), but even the ballerina flats were too narrow and caused pain in that spot on both feet. My solution? I bought a cheapo pair of white canvas tennis shoes and put appliques on them that related to my wedding (pink roses and teddybears). I “laced” them up with ribbon. I was SOOO comfy during the wedding and reception.
I kept them in my office for the days that my feet started hurting and I needed more comfy shoes. I got rid of them when the appliques came off and they got dirty. Gotta do another one of those pairs, they were the BEST!
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I noticed that the pointy toed shoes are coming back into fashion again. Ladies, take my advice and don’t wear them too pointy or too tight. I used to wear them so tight that my toes would be NUMB when I would take my shoes off. My 4th and Pinky toes rubbed together and caused the soft corn. The pain was excruciating, and the surgeries were no fun either. All because I sacrificed comfort over fashion. If I could go back and do it again, I would think twice about wearing painful shoes… but I would still wear the tennis shoes at the wedding.
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Hell, I got mine at Wal-Mart, for ten bucks. My sister and niece (in the wedding party) got the same, in black. They were white satin with white flower embroidery. Quite nice, and I’ve worn them again.
In the OP, you mention wearing flats for the ceremony, then possibly switching to heels for the reception. If your dress is going to be floor length, as most wedding dresses are, you’ll need to wear shoes that are the same height the whole time, as otherwise the hem length will change; in this case, it’ll be too short at the reception, as it’ll be a few inches higher than it used to be! Most wedding dresses are tailored very carefully so that they’re just skimming the floor, and at a certain fitting (probably your next to last) you’ll be told that you can’t change shoes anymore, as the hem is going to be set. Personally, I opted for flats the whole way through, as I’d rather be comfortable. (White strappy sandals for the pictures and ceremony, and gold ballet flats (with arch supports) for dancing - my dress involved some gold elements.) I’ve actually seen high-heeled wedding sneakers that the bride can change into for dancing, after wearing formal heels for the pictures and ceremony! Of course, if you’re having a tea-length gown or something, none of this applies.
As a side point, you should also have your wedding bra lined up fairly soon, as the top will get tailored around your undergarments, and different bras will shape you slightly differently.
FWIW- My wife wore plain white keds type shoes. It satisfied the 2 main requirements
A> It was super comfortable
B> It was white
With her dress, there was really no way you were EVER going to see her feet. And should somehow, someway a toe or something popped out momentary and somebody saw- it was camoflauged.
Hmmm. There’s lots of good advice here. I’m afraid ordering shoes on-line is right out. I’ve got wide-ish, flat feet, and it’s hard enough finding comfortable shoes as it is. The dress won’t be floor-length, so I can’t rely on it covering the shoes, and I can’t bring myself to wear sneakers with a nice, elegant dress. The dress, by the way, is being made by a friend of mine who’s a seamstress. Here’s a link to the pattern for it. I’ll skip the dyables, and go with white or cream. Since the wedding’s set for a few weeks after Easter, there should be lots of choices out there. I do like the idea of ballet slippers, or at least something along those lines.
Oh, yes, I’ll be buying the wedding bra this weekend.
If you have odd shaped feet then I would suggest Naturalizer, that is where go when I want a pair of dress shoes that I could walk a few miles in. I get complements from the shoes I get there, from people who actually do have a good sense of style.
It’s a very pretty dress! I think round-toe flats would go well, perhaps in cream, silver or beige depending on the shade of green. Really I think any neutral color would work.
Yay! It’s bad enough that most womens’ shoes are uncomfortable, but I personally think the pointy-toed ones are ugly too. (I’m also planning for a wedding, so this makes me doubly happy–now to find me a non-strapless dress)
As far as colour goes, IMHO you can never go wrong with white, cream or black. I prefer black, but that’s just me.
Go with the Shoe Company ones. They are so freaking AWESOME!
If only I had money…!!!
I bought my wedding shoes at the tiny shoe store next to the grocery store we used to go to. They were off-white, as was the dress, not a 100% match but who cares; no one saw them! They were comfortable too; I went 12 hours in them and never had any pain at all. I’ve used them many times since with different outfits that I have.
I got a lovely pair of silver sandals at Payless for 12.99 for my wedding. I love them and will wear them again, once the snow melts and it’s not in the teens at night.
I second DSW. The strappy shoes I ended up with were from a department store, but DSW had a lot of decent options. (The purple tennis shoes actually did come from there, now that I think about it.)
Like several previous posters, I’ll recommend silver shoes. I had a pair for my wedding, even though I was wearing white. I knew I’d have more reason to wear silver shoes again than I would for white. My last pair of white shoes was for my high school graduation.
I just got mine at Hecht’s (before it became Macy’s). There are lots of sales this weekend, and with prom season coming up, you may be able to catch some deals.
Payless, bridal stores will have the dyeable shoes. I recommend not getting them, as I remember many a multicolor feet from high school dances when my shoes got wet or sweaty.
Go with a shoe you’ll wear after too. I wore my wedding shoes once, and I think I paid too much for them! Besides, I hardly see my feet in any pictures, and if they are - no shoes are on!
I’d also suggest taking a look at ballroom dance shoes if you’re looking for a one off shoe. (their soles will be ruined by wearing them on concrete) On the plus side they tend to be very comfortable, dressy, and are meant to be moved in.
Update
I found them! I had yesterday off yesterday, so I went to the local shopping mall in search of shoes. The only pair at Macy’s which looked remotely close to what I wanted were by Ralph Lauren and cost $90.00. Instead, I found the perfect pair at, of course Payless. Here they are. OK, so they’re cheap. They’re also comfortable and nice looking.