Wedding Style
I didn't really get a choice in the matter of what I got to wear to our wedding: white dress, of course. However, I did get the chance to choose what 12 other people wore...plus, I had some influence in the groom's outfit as well. The power! I chose to put some unique twists on the average wedding-wear. Here is what we wore...
With the groom, we let his clothing stand out a little (just like mine would). He wore the same bow tie, shirt and Vans as his guys, but wore a jacket instead of suspenders. He chose a 2-piece photographer suit from Express. Dapper.
As for the ladies, none of us had on the same dress as another. I wanted their dresses to fit their unique bodies and I wanted them to get something they may actually want to wear again.
These dresses came about after about 10 trips (at least!) to Ross: Dress for Less stores all over North and East Texas. Sometimes I was with my ladies, sometimes I was with my Mom, sometimes I was alone. We bought, returned, tried on, bought, returned, bought, etc. until we finally got it right.
The ladies were in charge of buying their own gray cardigan (again, something they can use after the wedding). The cardigans were to truly nail-down the causal feel that I wanted my wedding to have. The girls were a bit frantic about the cardigans not "matching," but I wasn't too concerned. They ended up getting pretty similar shades! The places some of the cardigans were purchased were Old Navy, Target, Ross & Wet Seal.
The shoes we chose were no accident. Coach owns about 7 pair of Vans. He's been wearing them since I met him way back in 2008. We knew before we even decided on colors that he wanted his guys to all wear Vans.
For me, I am a TOMS fanatic. Buy a pair, a child in need gets a pair. Perfect! I've been wearing them, constantly buying them & painting them for others in an Etsy shop for years. I had to have TOMS a part of my big day.
With the girls in gray cardigans, I thought the silver sparkle TOMS were the best choice for the bridesmaids. For my own, I used a pair of white canvas TOMS and some orange and glitter paint to create a unique pair. It really didn't matter what color they were...my dress was so long, it covered them up most of the time. But, now you know :)
I've always had a personal vendetta against wedding parties having to purchase their own clothes, so all of the outfits were put into our wedding budget. Most of our friends are full-time college students with part-time jobs. I didn't want them to feel like being in our wedding was going to be a financial burden. Their clothes and shoes were given to them as wedding gifts.
I've seen my bridesmaids wearing their TOMS out and about since wedding day. Makes me happy that my practical wedding outfits are actually usable after our day was over.
