Cheap Wedding Dress Alert

One of my alternate wedding dress dream just came true 5 years later after my actual wedding day...found a sheer collared white dress that is under $30 at Forever 21 that can pass as an unconventional wedding dress. Just needs a better slip dress underneath to make it more elegant and church-appropriate. This dress actually looks better in person compared to the stock photo. 

Forever 21 Sheer Tiered Maxi Dress

(I fit size XS) 

Currently on sale $27.99

Best Wedding Fashion: Colorful Embroidered Wedding Dress

When I was younger, I loved browsing wedding magazines for fashion inspiration for my "dream future wedding" and of course that moment finally came in 2018, dream fulfilled!  But I find myself still mesmerized by wedding fashions, even though I have no intentions of ever marrying again. There's just something wonderful and intriguing about a bride choosing the "perfect" outfit to commemorate the day she celebrates her new status into the life of marriage. 

Lately, I've been getting some amazing wedding fashions showing up in my Instagram feed that I just want to archive and look back at these fashions again and again, like reading a favorite feel-good book over and over. I mean, whoever these women are....they have truly found perfection in fashion for their special day! 

First up, can we Google who this Sierra Tishgart person is? Her wedding was featured in Vogue and her man looks like the real life version of the guy from the Crazy Rich Asians movie. 

I love that the pink and red flowers embroidery makes the dress so "happy!"

Wha! She got married in a bookstore with painted ceilings!  

Man, the dreamy stuff from rom-coms really do exist in real life! 

The see-through puff-sleeves! Ah! I love a conservative, but not too conservative look.

And of course, when a bride has a perfect ceremony dress, she usually has a perfect second dress for the reception...

How cute are the butterflies and polka dots! And red for happiness and fortune! 

I am going to live vicariously through her in these photos! 

I'm inspired now, I think I'm going to start a new series on this blog documenting best wedding fashions from Instagram feeds. By the way, if you love Sierra's wedding dress, I think this affordable ASOS dress is a great option to try...

ASOS EDITION high neck maxi dress with wild flower embroidery

($213)

My Ceremonial Wedding Fashion

All those childhood fairy tale dreams came true a few weeks ago, as I officially became married in my most fashionable statement ever! 

THE CROWN: handmade by inspirationbyzlata on Etsy

• Inspired by Dolce & Gabbana (from Fall 2012) embellished headbands
• Because it also sorta Vietnamese style for my heritage 
• Possibly trying to bring back the puffy headbands from my youth in the 90's too

THE DRESS: Calvin Klein for Dillard's 

• Maid of Honor found the dress on a sale rack (under $90), a size too big and dirt all over it. 
• After hundred dollars worth of alterations/cleaning, it became the one.
• Totally enabled by Solange (go younger-sister style!)
• Someday, I'll look back and say "remember the time when cape dresses were popular?"

THE THEME: Asian-pop Game of Thrones

• The groom found a jacquard suit in the style of his favorite Tawainese popstar Jay Chou
• Flower girl transformed into a fairy-princess in the Bianca dress from Trish Scully 
• Since our outfits pass as costumes from Game of Thrones, we ran with the dragon-theme for our celebration. 

THE COLORS: red, white, blue, turquoise

• Red roses for love and luck
• White lilies/roses for the memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary 
• Blue and turquoise for "something borrowed, something blue"
• Walked down the aisle to Ave Maria by Bach/Gounod

THE BRIDESMAIDS: Glamorous Frill Maxi Dress from ASOS 

• In cobalt to purposely match the stained glass windows of the church
• Favorite detail is actually the tail-like ruffle on the backside (very dragon-like)

THE HEELS:

• My bridal shoes were from Kenneth Cole Reaction in rose-gold (size 6.5 with chunky heel was decent enough to walk/dance all day with the height, now on sale $29.99 online)

THE RECEPTION DECOR:

• Our grand entrance song was the Dragon Heart theme- The World of the Heart by Randy Edelman
• My favorite color is actually purple, but since majority of my friends already had purple-theme weddings, I decided to do something different, going for turquoise and red (because if you mix blue and red together, it does become purple). Plus, blue and red are lively, joyous colors for Asian traditions.
• Dragons were everywhere. Hubby even surprised me with dragon goblets. 

HAPPILY EVER AFTER: my magical prime fashion moment accomplished. 

Photography by Mike Chan and guests

Royal Wedding Ideas

I am super elated that Meghan Markle decided to wear sleek wedding gowns with no frills, beads, or lace, since one of my wedding dresses is also a solid white fabric. My alteration tailor had scoffed at my plain sheath dress for being too simple for a bride a couple of months ago, but look who is in trend now? haha!

I already have all my wedding costumes in tow (since my wedding is in 21 days, eek!), but if I had more time and better resources, I would have loved to try some traditional gowns like these...found out about them too late :( Maybe in another lifetime!

Oleg Cassini for Gene Tierney in The Razor's Edge (1946)

Thai Nguyen Atelier (2016?)

Wedding Dress Challenge Thoughts

~Unconventional Wedding Dresses Challenge~

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

After trying on a slew of clearance dresses purchased online (thank goodness for ASOS free returns), I learned a few things about myself:

1. Tradition: Even though I enjoy being cheap when it comes to clothing, perhaps being super frugal for one's wedding outfit is not a great idea after all. Besides the bad fit and off-colors, something else doesn't feel right. When I think about what a "wedding day" means, I think of a day full of love, for my family, and my future family. Wearing a "whatever" fast-fashion dress feels a bit meaningless. Thus I think I might opt for being more traditional (ie. stick to my cultural ao dai), or something borrowed from a loved one, or customized by people who are passionate in what they do, or having the family/friends involved in the choice of dress. When it comes down to it, it would be nice to have a dress with a good story behind it. 

2. The Shape: If anything, I learned that I'm not into the "puffy princess ballgown" (ironically, since I love viewing Victorian era fashion and watching Cinderella movies). I'm not into the trumpet/mermaid/fishtail gowns since I'm too self-conscious. Drapey or Grecian is more my comfort zone. Anything that highlights my upper-waist is flattering. 

3. The Fabric: My skin tone looks best in a cream/ecru shade. I love the luxurious bling of brocade/silk or sequins on top paired with tulle or something soft and flowy on the bottom. 

Alrighty, this completes my unconventional wedding dress challenge. No more buying random clearance dresses on ASOS. I'm going the traditional route, saving money/time for it. 

If anyone has any tips on having a customized wedding dress (any tailors out there?), or spot a dress I might like, or want to lend me your dress (haha, I'm not kidding!), please share in comments!

***

~The Local Bridal Boutique Experience~

So my next step was to visit my local bridal boutiques or discount wedding stores to see what they offer. Here are a few things I learned:

1. On-the-rack dresses size 4 or under are rare. There is only a small corner of selections to try on. 

2. It is disheartening to realize how much alterations one needs, especially with lace/appliqué placements.

3. The dress that looks the best, usually has a price tag around $1,500

4. If you don't buy off the rack, wait times for ordering the specific dress may be over 3-6 months. 

5. I cringe every time I try on a dress with those makeup foundation marks from prior wearers. 

6. Most dresses they carry feels old-fashion, repetitive, and the usual...lots of lace, tulle, strapless, trains, and mermaid-ish or quinceañera-ish. 

Luckily, I live in a city where there are lots of LDS /Mormon shoppers, so I was able to find some "modest" gowns to fit my personal comfort level. For fun, I first tried on a ball-gown. Man, it is hard to walk in! Immediately, I knew this was going to be the last puffy ballgown to try on in my entire lifetime. It is just "not me" and not for my age. I am definitely not wasting anymore energy trying on this style, no matter how enticing it looks on the rack or on other people. 

Then it was this sheath dress that everyone (sister and sales people) cooed over. I realized this body-skimming sheath style was more flattering. However, the dress made me self-conscious about my marshmallow arms. Do I have enough time to get my arms in shape? Too much stress thinking about that.  

Kate Middleton-ish with all-over lace, V-neck and sleeves....too matronly on me. 

Cap-sleeve is better, but still not digging the granny all-over lace. 

All the dresses I tried on were size 4 (smallest size available in-store), but this particular one below won points for a great fit in the body (hurray for no pinning in the back so I can see what the gown actually looks like from behind). If I was in a rush, I would have picked this dress and be done with it. However, my picky fiancé did not like the flare at the bottom. Evidently, he prefers a dress that makes me look more like a stick. Maybe he does have a good point about a slimmer silhouette to help elongate the body, whereas flare styles shortens the figure. What a smart guy I am marrying!

I am still shocked the dress fits well in the bodice. Would only need the expected hemming (luckily no fancy scallop lace), moving the belt up a bit, and maybe adding some padding for my sloping shoulders. If interested, this dress is by Allure Bridals Style M534 in Ivory. I am wearing size 4.

The tall stock model looks better in it than me though. My local boutique sells this dress for $1295.00. You can order this dress online for $1198.00 at Madame Bridal (with free shipping, free veil, and free shoes, wow!)

Lesson learned: need to stick to sheath/column silhouettes. Must save up to $2000 for average wedding dress with alternations included.