Another Wedding, YAY!

Well, my sweet grands are in the “marrying” stage of life, which means we are having one or two a year. That means, for us mothers and grandmothers, choosing another dress from the “mother of the bride” selection of evening wear. If you have ever done this, trust me, it will test your last nerve. They all look alike, and none are that flattering or current. But here we go again. It’s time to pick a new dress. 

And our next wedding has an added twist to it. 

For our upcoming wedding the bride has decided that all guests, including the grandparents, are to wear white. I know. This seems very strange to a population who has been told “no one can wear white to the wedding, except the bride.”  Raise your hand if you have ever tried on a dress and thought it would be perfect for a summer wedding only to remember it is white and no one wears white except the bride. ME! So, adjusting to the news of wearing white has taken me a minute. 

When did this tradition begin anyway? I asked myself. So, I googled it and, apparently, this all happened when Queen Victoria wore white to her wedding in 1840. The story goes that after her pictures were circulated to the public, the “bride wears white” tradition began. Most wedding planners of today realize many weddings traditions can be broken, but this is one they agree should be kept. The only exception being if the bride and groom request it. 

Well, they did and it was off to find a white dress for a fall wedding.

On a side note about current weddings, I want to touch on the bride and groom requesting a dress code for their wedding. Again, this was never done during my wedding years of the 1970’s or my children’s wedding years of the 1990’s, but it is acceptable today. Many invitations I receive will say “semi-formal” or “evening elegant” or “casual country” on them, indicating a wedding theme the bride is going for; however, requesting a color choice was new to me. Probably to you as well. Still, I am happy to oblige and look forward to seeing beautiful pictures of an all-white wedding. Now on to the dress options. 

 Here’s the good news. The wedding is in the fall, so white dresses are on sale. I think I got the deal of the century with this beauty on the BHLDN website. BHLDIN is the wedding site of Anthropologie. The dress was originally $899.00 (which I would never pay) but I got it for $199.00!! How about that deal? I love this site and always check the sale page first! I was over the top excited when it came in and fits perfectly. 

Next on the agenda is helping my mom find a dress. It’s not my job because she’s perfectly capable of doing this herself, but it’s fun to look together. The last two weddings, mom has “settled” for dresses she did not like. Mom is a very classy dresser. Even on her “dress down” days, she has on perfectly ironed linen and is always stylish. So, finding age-appropriate, classy, AND unique evening wear is a challenge for her. Unique is the main challenge. She doesn’t like to dress like the crowd. Not having much time, we went to all the normal shopping spots in town, but no luck. She was determined to not settle again. So, she got home and got on the internet, like all 90-year-olds do when looking for clothes for a wedding. (Yeah, right! She’s not normal, I’m telling you.) Well, she found the perfect dress from a seamstress in Lithuania. Yes, that’s right. Lithuania. And she ordered it. 

I wasn’t around when she did this, so understandably, I wasn’t so sure and offered up the possibility of a backup dress in case the million things I was thinking about could do wrong, did. But mom communicated with the seamstress a few times and within three weeks, the most beautiful dress appeared in a very tattered and over-handled box.  Mom is thrilled! No more “settling” for this stylish lady. 

 I’m only showing you the top half of the dress so you can see the beautiful detailing on it. This is only a quick snapshot she sent me to tell me it had arrived. I’ll post some from the wedding so you can see her all glammed-out. In any case, the whole process renewed my faith in humankind. I had my doubts about a seamstress in Lithuania, but she came through. 

I guess the moral of this story (or post) is shop sales and, if you can’t find anything, consider a seamstress in Lithuania.