Wedding Dress Runner-Ups

So, yes, my wedding is over, but I still like to think about it. How do you stop thinking about your wedding day when you're only 5 months in?  It might be the only day in my whole life that is centered around me and my favorite person in the world, and that is just fun in itself. I loved picking out invitations, doing food tastings, deciding which flowers I wanted, coming up with tablescapes, designing the cake - but I think one of the most important things was picking out my wedding dress.  So much inspiration comes from the wedding dress!  It sets the tone for everything. My wedding dress shopping experience was short - we walked into the store, I saw the dress on the manequin, and I said "I want to try that one on."  And that was it.  The hardest decision after that was what belt I wanted to wear.

Paloma Blanca - Style 4202

There were dresses before Paloma Blanca Style 4202 though.  The original dress that I lusted over was the Rivini Camellia:

Rivini Camellia

This model doesn't look too happy about wearing it, but I LOVED this dress - I saw it in a magazine ad, tore it out, and carried it around with me.  Hmm, it actually looks pretty similar to the Paloma now that they're side by side. But, I mean, it really is stunning. The one negative about this dress that my matron of honor made me aware of is that because there is no ruching in the bodice, it would show wrinkling after sitting.  GREAT point. Still love it though.

Vera - you know who I'm talking about.  Her name is synonymous with wedding, except for the fact that she's getting divorced, but that's probably why her Fall 2012 Bridal Collection is all black, but I digress.  Her Fall 2010 line was perfect. There's one dress that stands out for me, and that was this one:

Remove the fluffy vest, and you have Vera Wang Ethel

Vera introduced the black accessory with this line and this trend is still going strong. Negative on this dress? I can name 3 people that have worn it.  And I don't want someone else to be wearing MY wedding dress.

In January before the wedding, I had a minor meltdown that I had picked the.wrong.dress. I only told my friend Darlene, because 1. I knew she'd be honest and tell me which one was better and 2. I knew she'd probably snap me out of it.  This is the dress that caused all the problems.  I introduce you to Winnie Couture Fawne:

Winnie Couture Fawne

There's a Winnie Couture in Houston, so literally 4 months before the wedding, with my dress already hanging in my closet, I thought, maybe I could drive down to Houston for the weekend, sell back my Paloma, and get this dress rush ordered.  As I knew would happen, Darlene knocked some sense into me and told me I was ridiculous. Sure this dress is pretty, it has some ruching and a little sparkle, but it wasn't as special as the Paloma.  Crisis averted.
Okay - so you're saying, Nikki, all these dresses look the same.  Sweetheart neckline. Trumpet cut. Fluffy bottom.  Apparently I had a look I was going for.  There's one more dress that I d.i.e. over, and this one is different, I promise!  Its by Oscar de la Renta, and let's be real, does he ever do wrong?  I think not:

Oscar de la Renta Fall 2010 - Style 12n23

He was doing peplum before peplum was even back on the scene! Genius. I love.love.love this dress, but it wasn't what I was going for. Now if I was 5'11", that would be a different story.

So at the end of the day, I still love all of these dresses, and I love bridal fashion, and I'll probably still look at dresses long after our wedding day.  I think I picked the best dress for me - afterall, it was waiting for my when I walked in the door to the bridal boutique!  Love you Paloma!