Dressing the Gents

Now that we've covered my bridal clothing ad nauseum, it's time to share the spotlight with the men.

Mr. Rucksack is quite a dapper dude. He's a lover of all things preppy so his closet is very full of oxford shirts, bow ties, and embroidered pants. Since he's definitely a man who knows what he likes and because he has such great taste, I've left it up to him to choose the attire for the guys side of the bridal party.

Luckily being on the beach, it was an easy decision.

Peppermint Bliss Real Wedding via The Shoreside Bride

Our boys will be all prepped out in Nantucket Reds - an item which I'm pretty sure at least half the boys already own. They'll pair those white button downs, navy blue blazers and a playful patterned bow tie of their choice. We're trying to keep things as simple and inexpensive as possible for our entire bridal party, and that comes with the added bonus that they get to feel comfortable with their choices. Plus, I think it'll be really cool to see a bunch of cute boys with mismatched preppy bow ties.

Mr. Rucksack chose this tie from Country Club Prep

I'm so happy with his choice and I think our boys will look great. I'm also happy that they won't have to spend much money, an issue we may have had if we had gone with tuxes or Mr. Rucksack's second choice: seersucker suits.

What are your guys wearing? Did your man choose his own outfit?

Silk and Organza and Tulle, Oh My! (Part 2 - or the one where I actually do find a dress!)

Day two of shopping felt much more relaxed from the beginning. I had learned a couple of things from my first day of dress shopping. Namely, that I wasn't going to spend $4,500 on a dress. Also, that it didn't really matter what I wore to my appointment because I was going to get naked anyway. This time I nixed the leggings, but opted for full bottom underwear. I also wore a full bra with hopes that the bridal store would provide a long line bra for me. (They did.) Lastly, I did my hair better than the previous day. While I had blown my hair straight the day before, I opted to curl my hair and style it similar to how I'd want to wear it for the wedding - half up with loose curls along the lines of this:

Dianna Agron via Fine Art America

It totally helped me visualize the whole look together, especially once we added accessories and the veil.

We went to The White Dress by the Shore to see one dress in particular: Ivy and Aster's Sweet Pea.

Sweetpea via Ivy and Aster

Sweet, isn't she? Similar to the day prior, I naively assumed I would be done when I tried her one. Nope. Turns out, the style just doesn't work on my figure. I ended up looking less Beach Princess and more Beached Whale. Not exactly what I was going for. We put her aside and tried on a slew of other dresses. Seriously, there were so many perfect dresses that within two minutes we had picked out 10! We were politely told by our Consultant, Ennike, that maybe it was time to start whittling down our choices by trying some on.

After trying all 10 dresses on, we narrowed it down to 3 very unique dresses.

1. Jenny Yoo Riley. This really reminded me of the dress I loved in Westport at a fraction of the cost. It was the first I tried on at The White Dress by the Shore and immediately went into the "yes" pile.

Via Flair Bridesmaid

2. Anne Barge LF161. I loved the preppiness of this dress and the pockets! I also liked that the fullness of the skirt was more what I had envisioned in my gown.

Via Wedding Inspirasi

3. Anne Barge LF214. This dress fit like a glove and had the coolest details. I just loved the ruffles!

Via Fashionable Bride

After trying them on again with accessories, I got even closer to a decision and narrowed it down to two. My mom and aunt were no help at all as they sat there with a smirk saying "We know which one - but you need to decide for yourself."

I asked to be put back into the first dress and came back out with a huge smile. "This is it!" I exclaimed and then quickly turned back to them for approval. "This is the one, right?"

They said they knew right away because every time I put it on I started dancing. Everybody hugged and teared up a little and Ennike went and got us champagne to celebrate. She even let me stay in mt dress while she filled out paperwork so that I could be smiley and happy and champagney in my dress a little longer.

Do you all know which one I picked?

It's..........................Dress Number 1!

Via Flair Bridesmaid

As soon as I put her on the first time I said "I could go home with this dress right now and be happy." Of course, that didn't stop me from making Ennike put me in all 9 other dresses multiple times, something I apologized for as soon as I officially said yes to the dress!

Looking back at pictures from the day, I'm even more sure about my decision. While the other two dresses looked amazing in person, they photographed kind of weird.

All of the lines and ruffles came out strange in pictures and if the lines weren't perfect I ended up looking lopsided. I love the simplicity of my dress and the fact that I can dress it up with accessories! It's modern and timeless at the same time - exactly the look I was going for! It even looks like one of my inspiration pics that Mr. Rucksack and I (sort of) agreed on!

Dakota Trumpet Gown via Nicole Miller

I promised my mom I wouldn't put up a picture of me in the dress, but I never said anything about showing off my excited face!

Oh and I guess a little sneak peek of the top won't hurt either....

The dress is not at all what I originally thought I wanted, so I'm really glad Auntie Rucksack pushed me toward those curve hugging dresses. I'm thrilled with my choice and even happier that I stayed under budget! (Seriously, you guys. The dress ended up being a SAMPLE so when I say under budget, I mean way under budget!)

Did you end up with a dress that was completely different than your original inspiration too?

Silk and Organza and Tulle, Oh my! (Part 1)

To be honest, my first experience with trying on wedding gowns was a total nightmare. I had seen an ad for a sample sale, dragged my mom along to check it out, and had a big fail whale of a moment. In addition to the lack of staff help and the tremendous amounts of tulle and fluff, my mom and I got into a whopper of a fight. The details aren't so important, but my mom was stressed about her upcoming move into her boyfriend's house and I was being a bride, and I'm learning that those sorts of mother-daughter conditions nearly always lead to tears.I ended up trying on itchy scratchy tulle dresses while blotchy and hivey from crying. Not so fun.

Needless to say, I was not looking forward to getting back on that horse. I did plenty of online research and put off dress shopping until the last possible minute. (Apparently that last possible minute is 7 months from your wedding day. It takes a long ass time to order a wedding gown!) Finally, the moment of doom arrived. I really was convinced that dress shopping take two would be horrific and would result in me a) crying b) yelling and/or c) getting drunk.

Armed with Mr. Rucksacks's dos & don'ts list and an iPad full of ideas, I set up two appointments for one weekend and asked Momma Rucksack and Auntie Rucksack to join me. I was almost certain that I would choose one of these beauties:

Theia Style 890022 via Misses Dressy

Sweetpea via Ivy and Aster

Stop one was The Plumed Serpent in Westport, Connecticut. Our appointment was at 9:30am (Alison was a sweetheart and opened early for us!) and since I had read up on dress shopping etiquette, I arrived with no make-up, simple hair, a strapless bra and leggings. I quickly learned that it didn't matter since I was naked within seconds and in a borrowed long-line bra.

In addition to the Theia dress that I "knew" was the one, I allowed my mom and aunt to each pick one dress. Momma Rucksack leaned toward huge princess ballgowns while Auntie Rucksack chose curve hugging dresses.

Well, it turned out that I was very wrong about Theia. It hit my curves in all the wrong places. Insert sad face here. Luckily, I was in a store full of beautiful dresses and with some urging from my aunt I finally tried on her choice:

Romona Keveza A-Line Gown via Kleinfeld

And I fell in love. Unfortunately, that feeling quickly dissipated when we learned that the price was way over my budget!

I left the store feeling extremely conflicted, especially after Momma Rucksack and Auntie Rucksack assured me we could make it work. I just couldn't fathom spending so much money on a dress!

Luckily, we still had one more day of shopping ahead of us.

Did you fall in love with a dress that was way over your budget?

Mr. Opinionated Chooses a Gown

Perhaps this is odd, but I actually showed Mr. Rucksack pictures of the gowns I was interested in. He's my best friend and he has impeccable taste, so I didn't think much of it. Plus, he's the one I want to impress on our wedding day so he had better like the dress I choose!

As it turns out, he surprisingly had a lot of opinions about dresses. It helped narrow down my choices a lot because my ideas were all over the place. So let's take a look at some of the choices that were quickly nixed by my opinionated guy.

Grace Gown ia Watters

Part of me wanted a dress with straps or sleeves. I'm rather busty and I live in constant fear of looking like I'm trying to show them off - or worse, having the top come down and actually showing them off! However, Mr. Rucksack did not agree. He thought the sleeves and halters were kind of weird. That knocked off about 1/4 of the dresses on my list.

Blush Style 1104 via JLM Couture

This gorgeous dress has two qualities that Mr. Rucksack disapproves of: lace and a keyhole back. I know. He is insane. I kept showing him this dress in between others hoping maybe he'd changed his mind, but he's too smart for that kind of tomfoolery. In the end, I actually agree that it doesn't fit the mood we're going for, but that didn't stop me from trying on a couple of lacy numbers just to be sure!

Dakota Trumpet Gown via Nicole Miller

This was one we were split on. He prefers a more flowy style (which I informed him is called A-line) but he didn't dislike this, he just hadn't pictured something like this. He also doesn't understand the whole sash thing - something I explained he better get used to because I knew I would want some bling in the form of a bridal belt.

Sweetpea via Ivy and Aster

Theia Style 890022 via Misses Dressy

Then there were these two beauties. I loved loved loved these in the photos, and bonus: so did Mr. Rucksack! To me, they just screamed "Beachy Princess Bride" and I loved that they were traditional, but still had their own funk. (Noticing a trend here?)

While I kept my mind open when dress shopping, it certainly was helpful keeping Mr. Rucksack's wishlist in the back of my mind while trying on dresses.

Did you involve your fiance in picking out the dress?