whee!

[rainbowtrout]

Today was a day for firsts:

1) I tried on my very first wedding dresses ever.
2) I bought my FIRST wedding magazines in my whole life (except for one I bought for a class on feminism, but seeing as I cut it up and did a presentation on it, that doesn''t count).

L''Elite (what a pretentious name!) didn''t want pics, but I needed some gals to share my excitement with!!!

My two favorties were: A mermaid Pronovias gown with an Alencon lace overlay and light beading (sooo sexy and fun!) and an A-line Cymbeline gown with silk organza on the skirt, a corset lace top, worn with a lace edged mantilla veil.

I don''t know how to explain this exactly, but I look bad in most clothes. My proportions are wrong. But they were so right for these dresses...I looked GOOD for once.

Of course they are way out of the budget (2600) but the family is making noises about overriding and paying for X percent and then I pay X percent, so we''ll see.

 

[rainbowtrout]

Also, I was angry with the lady who managed the store. She kept almost shoving a jacket on me to cover up my tattoo, and not listening when my mother told her "Hey, she looks lovely, we don''t really want a jacket." Very obnoxious.

 

[rainbowtrout]

Picture 1:

 

[rainbowtrout]

2, or something almost the same (the one I tried had a silk organza skirt):

 

[Mannequin]

These are gorgeous dresses, RT!

Too bad about not being able to take pictures, but I am sure they looked beautiful on you.

 

[rainbowtrout]

thanks! You''ve looked so great in all the dress pics of yourself so far..between Luke and yourself, perhaps a modeling agent might be in order

 

[San Diego Bride]

i think #1 is gorgeous! i love alcenon lace, but i''m biased since my dress is alcenon lace.
how cool is it that your mom doesn''t want your tattoo covered?! i''m forever having to hide mine.

 

[rainbowtrout]

mom is a little worried about the grandparents, FI is worried about his Jewish family...but I decided recently that it is my back, this is who I am, and it's not an offensive tattoo in any way. But yeah, I am kind of proud of her for backing me on that, she is pretty conservative.

I love the mermaid style (1) and I never though I would! Can you put up a pic of your lace dress?

 

[E B]

Oh, swoon...those dresses are GORGEOUS! The mermaid style doesn''t really work on me (I''m more straight up-and-down vs. va-va-VOOM) and I envy those body types they look great on, like yours.

What kind of a wedding are you having?

 

[rainbowtrout]

garden wedding, early morning (thinking 9am). Small, only 40-50 people. In my grandparent's backyard outside Boston, late May 2008.

I'm still holding out hopes of at least giving sewing the dress a fair shot, but after looking at the level of construction in these...I don't know *looks dubious* I'd do a run through in an inexpensive fabric.


Anyway, fairly tight budget so the dress might work in a less expensive version, taken to a seamstress, or made myself. The mermaid one was "va-va-voom"-y and the A-line very "bridey." I think I want one silouette or the other.

I also offically asked one bridesmaid. My planning is so off right now--like Equestrienne, I will have no time once the school year begins for 07-08...and I certainly can do nothing from Morocco next year. So I need to get a few ideas so I can hit the ground running when I get back to the USA.

EBree: I tried one of the sheath with a sash dresses that looks lovely on slim svelte ladies like yourself--oh dear. Make me look like a bit of a cow, I must say!


Have any of you been pressured to buy immediately when you've made it VERY clear that this is your first look around? They wouldn't even write down the dress model numbers for me, and I had to push to get them to write down the designers!


ETA: Another dress option, since the mermaid dress is done by a Spanish designer, is to just pop up to Madrid for a weekend this coming year. It surely must be less expensive without the import fee. Might get some lace for a veil too (if I make nothing else I am determined to make my own veil).

 

[E B]

The Pronovias is on ebay for $713.00, new (sizes 4-16):

Pronovias "India"

I figured this might be quite a bit cheaper than what the bridal store quoted you!

 

[rainbowtrout]

haaaayyyyyy now! That''s getting a little more towards the realm of possible! I''ll go check it out. Thanks

 

[SoonIHope]

OOOOOOH I love that Pronovias!!!!!!

(Full disclosure: My dress is a lace mermaid Pronovias which is extremely similar to that! It''s the Jaguar, which has an ugly neck thingy up top, but we''re cutting it off since I liked the lace pattern better on it than on the other similar ones)

Get it, get it!!!!!!

 

[rainbowtrout]

Does anybody know what sort of a price discount I''d be looking at if I buy it in, say, Madrid or Cordoba this coming year? It''d be a bit of a weekend trip to get up there from Morocco....


Thanks Albie! I love it too--and it looks like I flit pretty well into their size 10, which made me SO happy because I was afraid "the girls" would rebel at such constrictions.

Are there pics of your dress up that I missed or is it not in yet?


*bops self on head* must not spend too much money...must not spend too much money.

 

[SoonIHope]

Date: 8/15/2006 3:16:00 PM
Author: rainbowtrout
Are there pics of your dress up that I missed or is it not in yet?

Nope.

A friend of my fiance''s randomly stumbled across PS and saw the picture I posted of us when we got engaged and sent the link to my fiance. Sooooooo I''m paranoid. That is actually the most detail I''ve ever posted about it here - PLEASE DON''T SEND IT TO HIM, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!!!!!

So yeah, no pics till after the wedding.

(But if you want to do some searching, it''s on the pronovias site in the dreams collection - called "jaguar"

- I''m getting it altered to be strapless with a faint sweetheart curve in the middle, and I''m sure you know the lace/fabric is sooooooooooooooo much nicer in person! Even the crappy pictures I took in the dressing room (AFTER I ordered it, they wouldn''t let me take pics the first time either) show the fabric better than their ad pics!)

Also, I would just like to note again how jealous I am that you''re going to be in Morocco so long!!!!!

 

[rainbowtrout]

hehe, I understand why you got paranoid then! I don't think I'll keep mine secret but it must be fun to have it as a big surprise.

I was very impressed by the lace as well. Does the Jagaur have the light beading inside the lace that the India does? (I can't tell from the pics).


Re: MOrocco--I'm excited as well--but I have to say leery of 12 mo of squat toilets! And I will miss FI so very much.

 

[SoonIHope]

Yeah, the Jaguar has light beading too! And my favorite part is that it sort of alternates between lace and this meshy sort of stuff? I wish I could PM you pictures b/c it''s sooo pretty! But the alternating effect is totally my favorite part of it! And the beading is really subtle so you don''t even really SEE it, you just notice a teensy bit of sparkle. Ahhhh.

And I just love the weight of it, and the way it hangs! Okay I miss my dress too much, I''m totally going to have to make an appointment to visit it soon. (To visit the sample, that is, my actual dress isn''t arriving until APRIL 2007!!!!)

As for Morocco...yeeeeeeah I hate squat toilets! In Jordan we used to go way out of our way to the few places we knew had western toilets if we had the time.

So hopefully you''ll have some nearby you can visit when you start getting too fed up! When do you leave again??

 

[rainbowtrout]

sept 3rd (breathes in and out slowly in order to not freakout). I''m desperately trying to get my life in order for a year away before...eeeeeeep!

RE: toilets. I leased an apt with a western style facility. It''s a little extra but it is WORTH IT to me, especially since of the -er--"travelers disease" which everyone gets for at least a little while.

Alternating effect? Hmmm..I''m going to go stare at the Jaguar a little more closely. As far as I can remember "my" dress (hah) is lace with just the subtle beading which yes, is FABULOUS! Just a touch of sparkle!

When were you in Jordan?

 

[SoonIHope]

Yeah, you really can''t tell what I''m talking about in the picture on the site...

But I THINK it looks like the India does not have it.... It''s this sort of gauzey open mesh in these vertical panels on the skirt, connected by lacey panels? I''ll see if I get up the nerve to post a photo one of these days.

As for Morocco - I think that was a good move!

That''s totally the type of little thing where I would get gradually more bitter about it and it might make me homesick eventually and if just having a nice bathroom could keep that from happening, it would be 100% worth it to me!

September 3rd is SO SOON!!!

I''m so excited for you! I hope you''ll have a digital camera and internet access to keep posting from over there!!

I was in Jordan for the UVA Arabic program (~2 months in Irbid) in the summer of 2000, and travelled around a bit during and after the program (Jerusalem, Damascus, Cairo, Alexandria). I''ve wanted to go back soooooo much since then but can''t get up the courage to leave my fiance for that long, so I really am soooo envious that you''re actually going through with what I wish I would just make myself do!!!

 

[San Diego Bride]

rainbowtrout, i don''t have any pictures of my dress yet. i actually haven''t seen it. and the wedding is less than 4 weeks away! i love alcenon lace, but didn''t want to spend a fortune on a dress. i found gorgeous lace relatively inexpensively after much searching and am having it made. i have a family member who is a seamstress. i have my first fitting this weekend. i really hope i love the dress since i don''t really have a backup plan.

i''m not sure if buying the dress in spain will save you a lot of money. madrid is a beautiful city and definitely worth the trip, but clothing tends to be very expensive there. their wedding dresses are also quite different than ours. i''ve never gone fabric shopping there so i don''t know how fabric is priced.

it sounds like you''re going to go on a great adventure!

 

[rainbowtrout]

The Spain idea was because the company that makes the dress is based in Barcelona...but point taken. Might save a few hundred on import taxes but that's probably it.

Good place to buy lace though.


ETA: Good luck with that first fitting..whew, no pressure there or anything

If you don't mind, do you know how much the fabric+labor would have cost you if you had had to pay the family friend? Others on PS have said that getting a dress made isn't necessarily cheaper.

 

[San Diego Bride]

i''m not sure about the total costs. i bought the fabric and materials (thread, etc.). that came to about $300. the labor costs for me were free. i imagine that she would charge a few hundred dollars to make the dress so you''re probably right. it may not be cheaper to go custom. especially if you can find the dress on ebay for $700.

there''s a lot of pressure on this fitting unfortunately. the dress is different from what i asked for. (this is one of the problems with having a family member seamstress instead of hiring someone that you don''t know. they may take some "liberties".) she''s convinced she made the dress "better". i wanted the dress the way i wanted it. we''re both pretty sensitive about this so the fitting should be interesting.

 

[rainbowtrout]

ugh, novia, that sounds like a headache. I'm having worries about the family friend caterer we will probably use as well... ah well, can't have your free food and eat it too--or in your case, free dress and wear it too I guess.



Like I said, I'm still holding out hope that I will be able to teach myself to make a decent dress. I was discouraged by the level of complexity in the dresses I liked (internal boning, multiple layers of fabric, lace, etc) but LadyKemma said the boning is easy, it's sewing the silk and satin that is hard. So maybe I'll make some nice shirts until I get the hang of it.

Of course, I have to include the "startup" cost of buying a sewing maching, tools, etc! But then I can use it for clothes for a long time after. Still, expensive. But I really, really don't want to settle for a dress made of polyester or the like. I know it's snobbish, but I have a thing for natural fabrics.

And I'm totally obsessed with making the cake, which, thank goodness, I have the SKILL to do, just not some technical goodies I will buy.

 

[rainbowtrout]

Also, if anyone is interested, the dress that tied with the pronovias one is at:


cymbeline.com under their "2006 collections" and it is called Trianon. Beautiful dress, I loved the silk organza.