Thursday, January 24, 2013

Some wedding dish: the dress!

I'm back from my hiatus!  It has literally been 2 months since I've visited my blog myself.  In some ways time has flow by, and in other ways 2 months seems like forever ago.

So much has happened!  Most importantly you can now officially call me Mrs. Wright!

It was so difficult to hold back sharing details during our wedding planning.  Of course I wanted to keep some of the mystery alive for Derek and our wedding guests.  But now that all is said and done I can tell you all about it!  So exciting.

Let's begin with the most important (and maybe the most secret) detail.  The dress!

I feel as though I was lucky when it came to dress shopping.  Since I knew I wanted a short dress, and Ottawa has limited stores that carry the style, I didn't have many options.  I know that I would have had a more difficult time choosing a dress if I had a larger selection, so the fact that things were automatically kept simple was good for me.

We threw around the idea of travelling to Montreal for a day trip, but again, I lucked out and found exactly what I wanted in Ottawa.

I am so happy to say that I purchased my dress from Luxe Bridal Boutique on Dalhousie Street in Ottawa.  It was such a pleasure working with the owners Madeleine and Lisa.

Here's a pic of them from their website where you can read all about them.


They made my dress shopping experience so enjoyable.  First of all they have impeccable taste and have stocked their boutique with amazing designer dresses; always keeping a variety of styles on hand.  Their store is stylish and pretty without being prissy or making you feel like you can't touch anything.  Lisa and Maddy are down to earth and even have a dessert table with homemade cupcakes for clients to enjoy.

Luxe was really the only store I shopped at, since they offered the largest selection of short wedding dresses.  When calling around other boutiques to inquire whether or not they carried the style I was looking for, most people I spoke to assumed that because I was looking for a short dress, I wanted something casual and suggested going with a bridesmaid dress in white.

Not the case.  And Maddy and Lisa understood that.

So without further ado, let's take a look at the dresses.  Photos are compliments of my lovely Maid of Honour, Ashley.

First off we have 3 dresses by Dolly Couture.  Dolly Couture specializesg in short, vintage inspired dresses and the great thing about her designs is that you can customize them any way you like.

Dress #1



Quite a lovely dress, in my opinion.  I loved the lace detail at the bottom and I think the sleeves are great for a winter wedding.  It just wasn't glitzy enough for New Year's Eve and it sort of made me feel frumpy.  

Dress #2



Cute, right?!  We liked it so much we added the belt and bird cage.  Let me just tell you - once I saw the belts and tried on the bird cage I had to have one!  This one was a top contender.

Dress #3



Doesn't the belt add so much?

Dresses #2 and #3 are the same style but with different finishes and details.  We all agreed that we liked dress #2 better.

Dress #4



When I started my fitting I told Maddy that I would try on every short dress she had.  Even if it looked like lingerie!  Doesn't this look hilarious on me?!  You can even see Maddy in the mirror of the first photo having a little chuckle.

Sorry, I don't remember the designer.

Dress #5


I actually can't believe I'm sharing this picture.  Isn't that the most unflattering dress you've ever seen?  I look like a sad kid on Halloween, wearing a costume 5 times too small.  So bad.  But I had to try on at least one longer style and this is the one my mom chose.

Again, I'm not sure of the designer.  I undressed and threw it out of the fitting room too fast to see the label.

Oh, and maybe I should confirm: no, I was not pregnant.  

Dress #6



I had looked at this dress by Amy Kuschel before and had really fallen in love.  I loved how soft it was, and in all the photos I saw the tea-length hem looked just beautiful.  But the style just wasn't for me.  Maybe the fit had something to do with it, but we just couldn't envision it, even with the tailoring.

On the other hand, I actually know a girl (another Meaghan) who wore this on her wedding day and it suited her to a tea!

Dress #7 (the one!)


This is my very excited face!



I was so excited when I found this dress, you can't even imagine.  It was the most perfect New Year's Eve wedding cocktail dress.  I fell in love immediately.  The fact that it had straps was a huge bonus.  The fact that they were beaded was a dream come true.

Here are a few photos from our wedding.  We had some alterations done like lengthening the hem line and adding crinoline to the skirt to keep the bubble hem's shape.



I'm only slightly less excited about my dress than I am about marrying Derek.


As for the specs on my dress.  It is by Eden Bridal, style number 1405.  The total cost was $400, my belt, by Kitty Chen, cost $250 and alterations were just under $180, bringing my total dress costs to around $1000 including the taxes.  

Now this doesn't include my accessories, however I feel that they need a post all to themselves.  I will do a budget breakdown then.

Now a question for you: should I dye my dress?  I would love to wear it again, but don't think there are any occasions in my future for a wedding dress (even though it isn't traditional).  I think it would look beautiful in midnight blue or a silvery gray.  I'm going to do some research on the subject.  It is satin, which I know can be dyed.  I think I'll probably sleep on it for a year or so first.

I am looking forward to finding a dress to go with my belt though!  Something black and sexy perhaps?  I'll keep you posted!

I'm looking forward to sharing more wedding details with you and I hope you are excited too!