Dresses and More Dresses: My After Party Dress and Shoe Options

Since I didn't want to have to wear my wedding dress all night, especially during the debauchery that's sure to go down at our after party (and it's an excuse to buy yet another cute outfit!), I decided I'd do a change after the wedding reception.

Our after party will be taking place in adjoining Loft Suites back at the San Mateo Marriott (I'll post more extensively about the after party later). It will probably be about 25 of our closest friends and family members, who, uh, like to drink. We're shelling out a huge load of money for an open bar at the reception, but as the hosts, I don't feel like we can really take advantage of it. So we're opting for a small-ish gathering after the big event, where we can get down and PAR-TAY!

So, I needed a comfortable, but still cute and wedding-ish dress, and here is the beauty I bought, for $138 from Nordstrom.

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It's a bit more formal than Mr. Cola's after party outfit, but I love that it is light gold, with some sparkle to the material, and think it will be a great follow up to my beautiful wedding dress. Now the problem is just finding the right shoes.

I ordered, but returned these shoes from Endless.com. The color of the bow on the back of the heel just wasn't the right color for the dress. It actually looked MUCH darker/more orange in person than it does in this picture.
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Next, I decided to do a survey on Weddingbee, to help me narrow down my selection from these five that I was considering (click the link on any of these for the source/product page):

Chinese Laundry Women's Mezanine Sandal:

Nine West Women's Mushu Dress Sandal:

Touch Ups Women's Alana Sandal:

Touch Ups Women's Jillian Sandal:

Touch Ups Women's Kendall Sandal:

In the Weddingbee survey, the Alana (3rd pair) won, followed by the second pair, and the first pair came in third. I'm thinking I might just order all three, to see which color really goes best with my dress in real life. Also, comfort will be a factor, because by the end of the day I'm sure my feet will be pretty tired.

What do you think, which of these shoes do you like best with my after party dress? Got any suggestions for even cuter shoes?

Dresses and More Dresses: My Rehearsal Dinner Dress

After the ladies stole the dress I was going to get as my rehearsal dinner dress, I had to find a back up. Finding my rehearsal dinner and after party dresses were so much easier than finding my wedding gown! And where did I turn, but Nordstrom.com! I love the extensive online selection they have, and it's so easy to search by the particular color you're looking for. In this case, I decided to go with white, instead of purple. How many times in your life do you get the excuse to wear a white dress, after all?

After narrowing it down to several choices (which I sadly can't share because they're no longer available), this is the one I picked, for $98:


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It has a similar cut to the bodice as the bridesmaid dresses, especially with the twisted straps, and I love the little pleats on the skirt!

And check out these hot Chinese Laundry heels I got to go with it, for only $35 from Endless.com! Miss Cheeseburger looked at these as well in her search for purple wedding shoes.


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The multiple straps on the heels go nicely with the waist detail on the dress, and they're the perfect shade of purple too!

How far in advance did you pick out your other wedding event outfits?

Dresses and More Dresses: My MOH In Her Bridesmaid Dress

Yay, my sister/MOH just sent me pics of her wearing her bridesmaid dress that just arrived, so I can share it with you all now too! Doesn't she look super cute?


(personal photos)

Her hair is covering the pretty gathered straps a bit in these pictures, but with a cute updo at the wedding they will be more visible.

Will your MOH have something on her dress to differentiate her from your other bridesmaids, or will they all look the same? I'm still not sure if my MOH needs something or not.

Dresses and More Dresses: My Bridesmaid Dresses

I had to hold off on writing this post for a while, since the dresses I ordered back in early September were back ordered a couple months. But, I'm getting ahead of myself, lets first talk about how the dresses were selected!

I started looking at BM dresses back in about April, not long after we got engaged. Fast forward until about mid August when I knew the time was ripe for getting summery dresses at a good price during the end of the season sales. Unfortunately, so many of the cute dresses I'd found last spring were no longer available, or only available in obscure sizes like zero and 18. So I started the search again, looking for cute purple dresses that were around $150 or under. (Mr. Cola and I are paying for the BM dresses, hair and makeup, and the groomsmen tuxes.)

Luckily, the one dress that had been my favorite back in spring was still available, a Calvin Klein satin dress in medium purple, from Nordstrom.com. Actually, a lot of my dress search took place on the Nordstrom and Macy's websites, since I didn't see the point in paying $100 extra for a dress, just because it was labeled a "bridesmaid dress." After enlisting my MOH/Sister to narrow it down to four choices from the multitude of options I'd found, I set up a Google Docs survey on our wedding website, with pictures and info on the four choices, and let the choice fall into the hands of my ladies.

Here were their choices (follow links below for picture sources):

Dress #1: Calvin Klein Satin Dress

Ruched charmeuse wraps the Empire waist of a classic dress. Braided straps draw the eye to a low V-neck in front, while the back is cut for a squared-off V-neck.

• Side zip with hook-and-eye closure.
• Slightly padded bust.
• Approx. length from shoulder: 39 1/2".
• Fully lined.
• Polyester; dry clean.
• By Calvin Klein; imported.

Fit: Form-fitting at bust; easy-fitting at hip.
Runs large; order one size smaller than your bust size.

View it online here.


Dress #2: Adrianna Papell Strapless Laser Cut Satin Dress

Overlapping layers of precision-cut satin shape a strapless dress with a gently flared A-line skirt. Soft edges are left unfinished for a delicate touch.

• Back zip with hook-and-eye closure.
• Removable shoulder straps.
• Approx. length from center front to hem: regular 34"; petite 33".
• Bodice is lined, with rubber gripper and padded corset.
• Polyester; dry clean.
• By Adrianna Papell; imported.

Fit: Order one size larger than your bust size.

View it online here.


Dress #3: Tahari by ASL Sleeveless Ruffle-Front Empire-Waist Dress

Charmeuse-backed ruffles cascade down the front of a sleeveless dress, simply shaped with an elasticized Empire waist and a flirty flounced hem.

• Slips on over head.
• Approx. length from shoulder to hem: 38".
• Fully lined.
• Silk; dry clean.
• By Tahari by Arthur S. Levine; imported.

Fit: Form-fitting at bust; semi-fitting at hip.
Use bust measurement to determine size.

View it online here.


Dress #4: Violet Pleated Collar Dress



Available made-to-order

To see pictures of this dress in action:
http://independentdesigner.blogspot.com/2009/08/ultra-violet.html

Pleated dress with fun pleated collar trim, Violet color cotton fabric
Center back invisible zipper, professionally made with care. Message your exact measurments for better accuracy.

Machine washable, care label included.

View it online here.

As it turns out, they agreed on Dress #1, the satin Calvin Klein that I'd had my eye on since April. Which was good and bad. Good because I know they'll all look HOT in that dress, but bad because I was (selfishly!) going to get it for myself if they didn't pick it. Oh well, it all worked out for the best, because I found other dress options for myself that I'll share in my next post.

Did you let your ladies have a say in which dress they would wear in your wedding?

One Of The Easiest Wedding Purchases: Mr. Cola's After Party Outfit

Wanna guess what the easiest purchase has been this entire wedding planning process? Mr. Cola's outfit for our after party! Seriously, nothing could have been easier. I, of course, will be wearing something much cuter, along the lines of a white sundress (which I'll share with you once I find The One). But for him, it was easy, fo-sheezy (uh, yeah, his words, not mine).

So, wanna see?

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Heehee! I love it! It's so him, since he's such a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy. And since he and the guys will be wearing grey tuxes, it's perfect. Even more perfect, it was only $7.99 on Amazon.com.

Did you have any super easy wedding purchases? And if you're having one, what is YOUR guy wearing to your after party?

The Stress Of The Dress, Part 3: The Happy Conclusion!

Let's see, where were we? Oh yes, I left you hanging right before my last appointment of the day!

But before I continue, on the off chance that Mr. Cola is reading this, STOP! Please no looking past this point!


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Ok, now that it's safe....

My last appointment was at Bay Area Bridal, which was probably the nicest looking of all the stores we visited on our marathon day. I entered my contact info into their computer system, and my super nice consultant took my sample photos to look for similar dresses while I browsed through their books for additional styles for her to pull. She loaded the dressing room with about 8 dresses, and we got started.

What dress did she pull out first for me to try? The Sophia Tolli Alexandria (Y1810) dress that had gotten me actually excited about dress shopping! And that's when the magic happened. As she pulled it on, it was about up to my belly button and I was looking in the mirror in the dressing room, and I just knew it was going to be THE ONE!

Apparently my mom and sister knew too, because I came out of the dressing room with a happy and determined look on my face. My sister took several pictures, even though I'm not 100% sure they were allowed, but there were no signs saying we couldn't!

And without further ado, here are some pics of me in my dress (except I ordered it in Spun Gold, not the diamond white that I tried on)!!!

(I do sort of have a smug, self-satisfied look on my face, don't I? All I was thinking was "I LOVE THIS DRESS!" over and over in my mind.)

I just love the beading on the bodice, and the crystals and pearls are going to pop even more in the light gold color, plus I won't look as pale. After trying on this dress, I tried on another Sophia Tolli in the spun gold color, and I was 110% set, not just on the dress, but on the color too.

I tried to PhotoShop it to the gold color, this is sort of close to what it will look like:

(ignore the white veil, I haven't gotten around to adjusting the color on that yet.)

After trying the gold dress, my consultant asked me what I thought and I said I wanted the dress! She responded, "don't you want to try any of the other dresses?" to which I replied "Nope!" I knew I'd found the perfect dress, as stereotype-ish as that sounds. Paperwork filled out, half down on $1,190 less the 15% discount they offered me and I walked (skipped?) out of the store, soooo super happy! (as a side note, I actually thought the dress was $1100, not $1190, but oh well. Every place we went seemed really good about rounding down the dress prices they quoted us. $90 extra isn't a big deal in the whole scheme of things, but might be something to watch out for if you're dress shopping)

And because I'm an all-things-wedding-related-internet-stalker, here are some more beautiful pictures of the dress I've found online:

{Source for pics 1-3, Source for pics 4-5, Source for pics 6-8}

The last three pictures show the spun gold color really well. I know my mom wanted me to get something in ivory, but I've had the idea in my head forever that I wanted a champagne/gold toned dress, and it looks so much better on my impossible-to-tan Irish skin tone! And as my sister said, the gold has so much more pizazz! I think, if possible, I'm even more excited now after finding these photos!

Did you "just know" when you tried on your dress that it was the one, or did you keep looking after trying it on, just to be sure?