Informal reception... looking for dress help!

[xiuying]

Helloooo!


I will be getting married this summer in my hometown, which is roughly five hours away from FI's hometown. Because of this, and because we're trying to keep costs down, some of FI's more distant relatives and his parents' relatives and friends probably will not be able to /invited to attend the wedding. (FYI, the numbers of close relatives and friends of myself and FI are about equal for the guest list currently... I'm definitely going to make sure everyone important to FI and FI's family is invited!)


My FMIL (who is WONDERFUL) told me that she'd like to throw a party of her own in FI's hometown, some time after the wedding, as a way for all the guests who couldn't come to still be a part of the celebrations. I LOVE this idea. One thing that stuck in my mind, though, was what am I going to wear? My wedding dress is so. beautiful. but would probably not be appropriate to wear again... plus it's quite fancy (Maggie Sottero's Rhianna Royale) and not exactly informal.


I found this dress/outfit the other day and I LOVE it. I'd love to buy something like this, but it seems silly to want to buy ANOTHER dress when I already have a perfectly good wedding dress. I'd also want something a bit lighter and casual, since it would be in the summer and more, I don't know, informal? Arrrrggh... Does anyone have any ideas about how to find a relatively inexpensive dress that looks somewhat similar to this one? Or if I should be looking for another dress entirely?

 

[Erin]

I think it''d be just fantastic to be able to wear my wedding dress at two separate occasions. That''s part of the downfall of wearing such a nice gown on your wedding day. The dress is beautiful and you never get to wear it ever again - but it''s so beautiful. Unless your MIL throws you a party.

I say get that elaborate romantic Maggie back out and change your accessories or minimize your accessories and bask in your beautiful glory once again!

 

[laine]

You might want to ask FMIL what she is thinking in terms of formality. My BF's sister recently had a similar reception in her hometown, and most guests were in jeans. The bride wore capri pants and would have looked ridiculous in a long wedding dress (though a white sundress would have been cute). My point is, if FMIL is planning a backyard BBQ, you may want to scale down your plans a bit. If its going to be more formal, then a long white dress would be fine, but I'd probably skip anything with a train or veil.

Personally, I'd probably wait until more summer dresses are appearing in stores, and just pick up a cute white dress from a dept store or jcrew or something similar.

ETA: if the event is going to be formal enough to justify a long dress, then I totally agree with Starset! Tone down the rest of your look and get a second event out of your beautiful dress!

 

[xiuying]

Starset Princess, I so so so would love to wear my wedding dress again! But I''m just afraid it''s going to be overkill. I''ve also been thinking about doing a Trash The Dress picture shoot, and I KNOW I couldn''t trash my Rhianna!

Laine, I''m definitely thinking along the same lines you are. I''m wondering if a long dress would still be ok... I know it''s going to be somewhat casual, but I don''t think she was thinking jeans. I''ll definitely have to talk to her next time I see her and ask what she had in mind.

By the way, I''ve attached my dress (whee!) below. The real thing is heavy, and has lots of sparklies over it... I think that anything less than formal makes it a bit overkill.

 

[partyjewels]

First I have to say, I love that dress you posted, it's beautiful, if I could pull off white white I'd be searching all over for it!

And I agree about finding out what the FMIL has in mind for it and go from there.

ETA: I see now after I've posted that you posted your dress as well and wow! I see why you want to wear it again, but I agree that it might seem a bit much in anything other than a formal setting. I hope you can figure something out that makes you happy!

 

[Angel7]

Any of these from J.Crew? They are so pretty! They seem so light and airy for summer (some at least)

http://www.jcrew.com/ms/weddingshop/wedding.jhtml?id1=cat280504

http://www.jcrew.com/ms/weddingshop/wedding.jhtml?id1=cat280503

Ann Taylor has some beautiful ones as well!

http://www.anntaylor.com/catalog/editorial.jsp?pageName=BridalGowns

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

It seems to me you want something full length, a little more formal and with some pop. With that in mind, here are a few suggestions:
http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2956390/0~2376776~2374327~2374331~6001837?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=6001837&P=1
http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2887751/0~2376776~2374327~2374331~6001837?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=6001837&P=3
http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=260084&CategoryID=27230&LinkType=EverGreen#
If you do decide to go this route, look at wedding dress companies as any of them make other gowns as well.
By the way, what does your username mean? I have been trying to figure it out but without the characters I can''t tell.

 

[neatfreak]

J.Crew, Nordstroms, Preownedweddingdresses.com, and Ebay!

Try searching for something in organza or chiffon which will be light and breezy. Good luck!