Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Say Yes to the Dress!

This post is SO not about the movie Bridal Wars which I knew for a fact the first time I saw the trailer had to be written by a man. Yeah. I’m right. Though a couple women worked on the screenplay, a man came up with the idea and was part of the screenplay team. Note to Hollywood dudes: All women do not become bridezillas!

However, I started thinking about weddings (particularly wedding dresses) when my gym friend Cheryl told me about her two daughters who got engaged last fall within five days of each other and who are marrying within four months of each other. Note to others in these circumstances: You quit thinking about the bad economy and only think about darling daughter’s dream day.

Cheryl’s girls found their dresses at the second place they visited, but I’ve not been so lucky in finding the perfect gown for a character in my latest project. Or maybe I’m not trying too hard, because looking through bridal magazines is such a blast. And because I’m going to actually get to dress someone at no cost, what a fantasy! (I loved playing paper dolls when I was a little girl, and dressing characters is much the same.) Note to self: Procrastinating by playing like this is not getting the job done!

So help me out, friends. (Or just have fun looking at the dresses.) Any of these catch your eye? Do you have a favorite wedding dress style?

23 comments:

Courtney Milan said...

Christie,

I just got married a few months ago, and so I looked at pictures of hundreds of wedding gowns. I discovered that while I think lace is very pretty, it doesn't feel like it's "me"--and that the mermaid-type gowns make my hips look enormous. <g>

Ultimately, I have to admit I found my dress on eBay. It was brand new, $80 (originally marked at $1750), and only needed minor tailoring to fit perfectly. I don't have a good picture of it, but it looked something like this:

http://www.lakewoodconferences.com/direct/dbimage/50107857/Wedding_Dress_FE40260.jpg

Helen Brenna said...

I love the one with the cowboy. Very classy and sexy.

That does sound fun to plan a wedding without any cost! Lucky you.

What's your heroine's personality? We can come up with some ideas today.

Helen Brenna said...

Very pretty, Courtney!

Unknown said...

Yeah, Christie, I'm in for the cowboy-girl one, too. Very chic and very feminine. The sheath on the lower right looks too much like the 30's to me. . . or like an old fashioned slip. In fact, I think I had a slip like that once.

And, yes, I'm old enough to recall when women actually wore slips on the INSIDE! lol!

Unknown said...

I forgot to mention that I LOVE the strapless look on modern brides-- though I could never carry it off myself. And I like a semi-natural silhouette, nothing too slinky or too pouffy.

Really not crazy about the crinoline-on-the-outside look of the strapless number on the right.
Luxurious satin does it for me. Maybe some embroidery and pearls. But the dress on the cowboy-girl doesn't seem to need much embellishment. . .

Michele Hauf said...

I do love the mermaid style. I've been receiving some Bride magazine for free ever since my daughter announced her engagement over a year ago (they've pushed the date back until 2010). I love looking through those magazines! I especially like the all-lace, tight fitted dresses. So elegant and rich looking.

I look at my wedding dress and cringe at those 80s poufy sleeves. I want a do-over! :-)

Christie Ridgway said...

Oooh, very pretty Courtney, with that sheer over skirt. And I think a dress with straps like that would be easier to wear than strapless. I love how you got it from eBay.

Christie Ridgway said...

I like the one with the guy who is a cowboy best too, I think. And I don't think the dress would like "Western" if the groom was wearing something different.

My heroine had this dress for when she was supposed to marry at 20 (didn't) so I think she might have a very princessy, poufy-skirted dress. Not that mermaid style like the one in the picture. That's pretty, though.

Unknown said...

Just as I suspected, I simply love gowns. Love 'em all. Want 'em all. And the cowboy. :) But I think it takes a different kind of person to pull off each type, so your heroine's personality and build will dictate which style suits her.

Keri Ford said...

Wow. Can't believe I found my dress so fast. It's the big skirted princess style. Something that looks like it could have came straight from a Disney Movie:

http://www.capitalregiondresses.com/inventory_photos/wed13_large1122.jpg

This dress has the corset bodice that laced down the back. Only the front center peice was satin. the rest of the dress was a heavy linen like material. It came in ivory/gold (which I think is how it's in the picture), but mine was white/silver

I found my dress in a magazine when I was a Sr. in HIGH SCHOOL. Couple years later when I got married, I looked for my dress, found a store nearby who carried it, tried it on and knew that was it. Mom made me try on one other dress just to make sure. But that other one wasn't right. I knew the dress I wanted.

ah...that was a nice trip down memory lane!

Keri Ford said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Keri Ford said...

Let's try that link one more time:

www.capitalregiondresses.com/
inventory_photos/
wed13_large1122.jpg

(no spaces - had to break the link twice!)

Helen Brenna said...

Wow, Keri! That does look like it could come from a movie. Amazing!

I wore my Mom's wedding dress. We saved our money for the honeymoon in England. I wanna do-over too, Michele!

Christie Ridgway said...

Wow, Keri! That's beautiful. Was it heavy to wear?

I think I found the dress for my heroine in Brides magazine. It's not an actual ad for a dress, though, so I can't link to it. It's just a photo to go along with an article about a book on weddings. And it's just the back of the dress, though I love it. Strapless, sweetheart neckline, with a zillion buttons down the back. Layers of tulle for the skirt and a pretty satin ribbon at the waistline.

Cindy Gerard said...

I'm for the cowboy - I mean, for the dress on the girl with the cowboy :o)

Christie Ridgway said...

That cowboy is cute, isn't he Cindy? On that note, I once attended a wedding themed on the movie Urban Cowboy. Really.

Kathleen Eagle said...

Can you guess? I'm for the cowboy. The dress is cool, too.

Don't be confused by Urban Cowboy, folks. They were called drugstore cowboys when I went West. (I don't know what they called me. Dude. City girl. Easterner. Something like that.)

Now, the Indian cowboy, he's the real thing.

What were we talking about? Oh yeah, wedding dresses. I made my own. In terms of style it was 180 degrees from my daughter's. We were both beautiful brides, if I do say so.

I do like that cowboy.

Christie Ridgway said...

Kathleen: I love it that you made your own wedding dress! Maybe one of your grandgirls will wear it some day.

My mom sews beatifully, but she said right away she wasn't up for making a wedding dress. I think it was just the intimidation factor.

catslady said...

My daughter got married in July. Had her dress picked out (form fitting but not mermaid with a gorgeous train that you could see through with the lace standing out) and after 3 alterations and promises of fixing everything (NOT), she had to pick out another dress. I did like the front better (corset style) and aline so more full but the train wasn't as pretty. Still, she made a gorgeous bride :)

There was one other dress that I loved the most, also aline but the entire dress had this lace that somehow sparkled when she moved, also had the corset style front. Unfortunately it weighed a ton and she's a little thing and it was an outdoor wedding.

Estella said...

I like th dress on the girl with the cowboy.

Keri Ford said...

Christie, yeah, if you just picked the dress up, it was heavy. Like I said, most of the dress material was really heavy. Think like heavy curtains. But wearing it, no not at all because the corset fit so snugy and that held up the dress. The weight of the dress wasn't on your shoulders. (was a september bride and it was a cool summer, thank goodness)

The full of the skirt is the result of a slip--or two in my case because the dres was a touch too long!

(Betina, I know about slips! Wore them ALL the time as a kid-the big poofy ones. I do still wear the sexy looking ones when the dress calls for it!)

Anonymous said...

When you're finished with the cowboy, send him my way. Please? I have a yen to go riding. ;)
Susan

GunDiva said...

My wedding dress is going to be my boots (cowboy), Wranglers, and maybe a new shirt. If I could figure out how to get my horse into my Mom's lodge, she'd be there too :)

Seriously, I love to look at wedding dresses, but can't ever see myself in any of them. The ones I love look great on six-foot tall, size zero models and since I'm five-foot-nothing and, while there's a zero in my size, it's not my size.