Pretty much the first thing anyone thinks of when they think of a wedding is the bride’s dress. It’s a fairy tale moment – the chance to wear something so iconic and special that you’ll never wear anything like it again. Everyone waits to see it and speculates what it will be like, until the moment the bride walks down that aisle. I tried my very best to keep my dress under wraps until the big day but it’s hard! It’s so exciting and it’s all anyone wants to talk about. My whole family was in on it – they either came to appointments and saw it in person, or were shown photos. Besides my maids of honor, none of the bridesmaids saw the dress until the morning of the wedding! This was a fun way to add an element of surprise for them on the morning of the wedding. Being able to reveal it to them as we were getting ready was such a fun experience. I’ll never forget the looks on their faces – so sweet! The whole process of picking my dress, and dresses for my bridesmaids, was a dream! The looks came together exactly how I imagined. Stay tuned for next week – I will be breaking down Andrew’s and all of the groomsmen’s looks.
My Wedding Dress
When it came time to find my dress, I was over the moon because I had dreamed of going wedding dress shopping for what felt like forever. The first time I tried on wedding dresses was the day after we got engaged! I know, I know – it sounds like I was just over-excited, which I was, but I also wanted to make the most of my parents’ surprise trip to San Diego. If you haven’t read about how Andrew proposed, read it here. My mom and I made the first available appointment at a bridal salon and hit the ground running. Pro-tip: I highly recommend trying every silhouette and style; since you’ve probably never worn anything remotely similar to a wedding dress, you’re never going to know what silhouette looks best on you until you try it. You might be totally surprised with what you choose! Months before we even got engaged, I spotted the Chandon gown by Hayley Paige on Instagram and nearly fainted. I took a screenshot it immediately – this was the first time I’d ever done this to a dress because I’d always wanted to save the wedding dress hunt for wedding planning. Everything about it just spoke to me – the texture, the shape, the movement.
Once I was officially in the market for a wedding gown, I hunted the dress down at The White Flower Bridal Boutique and made an appointment for when my mother-in-law would be in town. I tried a bunch of different styles and kept the Chandon gown for last. As soon as I put it on, I just knew I had to get married in it. It was glam because of the shape but also simple because of the lack of embroidery or embellishment. All of the detail was in the use of fabric – how it was layered and draped. The scooped back was low enough to be sexy but not so low that I’d be uncomfortable all night. Side note: I decided to leave the layer of “sparkle” out of my finished dress. The original design comes with pieces of glittered tulle throughout and it just wasn’t my style, especially in the ivory color I chose. Keep in mind that you’re usually able to make changes like this when purchasing a wedding gown so don’t be afraid to ask! My bridal consultant, Brittany, is a designer herself so had so many great ideas for little tweaks and changes to be made. The alterations were done by Mary – she works in-house at The White Flower Bridal Boutique and she was above and beyond amazing. So incredibly talented, precise, and kind. My whole experience at The White Flower Bridal Boutique was fantastic – from start to finish. Highly recommend them if you’re in the San Diego area!
The dress turned out to be exactly what I had envisioned. It was spot on with the vibe of the wedding – the silhouette was formal while the layered tulle lent an organic, raw style. Despite it looking super full and fluffy, the gown was ultra comfortable and insanely lightweight. I didn’t find myself fidgeting with it at all, which I’m sure is partly due to the design and partly due to the impeccable alterations. I was definitely able to dance in it, as I’m sure any of the wedding guests would attest to. It was simply the perfect dress for me!
For accessories, I wanted to keep it really simple. I wore diamond earrings with a subtle touch of gold, a dainty gold bracelet (it was my something borrowed from my aunt, Patti!), and my every day stacked rings on my right hand. I toyed with the idea of a dainty belt with my dress but preferred it completely bare. The only thing I added to my dress was a small scrap of floral fabric to the inside – it was the dress I wore the very first time Andrew and I met. Mary was able to add a small piece of the dress to the inside – it wasn’t visible to anyone once the dress was on. Having that little reminder of where our love story began was so special – this was my something old! For shoes, I wore these from Betsey Johnson’s wedding collection. Every part of our wedding was outdoors, on grass, so I chose a chunky heel out of necessity. The bottoms of the shoe were a beautiful shade of blue (my something blue!) and the shoes were exactly what I was looking at. However, wearing heels was one of my biggest regrets of the entire day. Although I’m used to wearing heels and these were relatively “comfortable,” I was absolutely dying by the time we were halfway through photos. You can see the misery and pain on my face in so many of the pictures. I ended up completely ditching them and wearing Old Navy flip flops for the reception. Good for dancing, bad for my dress that was now dragging on the floor. In hindsight, I wish I would have just surrendered to flats and picked a pretty pair from the beginning so that my dress was altered to fit me in flat shoes. I would have been a much happier bride! Pro-tip: Even if you think heels are comfortable, chances are, they won’t be after 18-hours of standing, dancing, and lots of walking. If you just can’t imagine your wedding day without a pair of heels, buy a pair of shoes for getting ready photos and flat lays!
Bridesmaid Dresses
I’m not sure what I did to deserve it but I was blessed with literally the hottest bridal party in history. Seriously – every last one of my bridesmaids is a total babe so they weren’t hard to make look good. When choosing dresses, I wanted to be mindful of not making the girls look too bridesmaid-y. I wanted them to feel pretty and even be able to wear the dresses again! From the get-go, I knew the color palette needed to be neutral and that I wanted some variation in the group. Definitely wasn’t after the “super-uniform, every detail exactly the same” bridesmaid look. Although neutral sounds like it’d be easier to choose than a color, it’s definitely not. I struggled so much with undertones and different neutral shades. I finally landed on the Show Me Your Mumu collection, in the shade Show Me The Ring Crisp. It’s the perfect neutral beige – not too blush, not too brown, not too cool, not too warm. Exactly what I was looking for! I let each girl choose their own style, as long as there weren’t any repeating styles. My two maids of honor, my sister, Kristen, and my cousin, Taryn, ended up both choosing the Hacienda style but that was totally fine with me since they were both MOH! In total, the full bridal party featured the following styles (from left to right, above): Caitlin, Ava, Jenn, Hacienda, Amanda, and Heather. They all paired perfectly together – I loved that the color and fabric united them but the styles were totally different!
To go along with the bohemian vibe from the mismatched dresses, I opted for floral crowns by Blue Ladder Botany instead of bouquets! Not only did the girls look stunning in them but also, they didn’t have to carry heavy bouquets around with them all day. I’ve been a bridesmaid before and carrying those things around is a serious workout by the end of the day. Also, they’re super expensive (usually $200 and up, each!) and bridesmaids set them down at their table the second they arrive at the reception. It just feels like such a waste of money and beautiful florals. With the floral crowns, the girls were able to keep them on all day and night – it was gorgeous! To complete their looks, I asked the girls to wear any nude shoes and dainty gold jewelry they wanted. For their hair, they all wore it down and straight. This was the perfect foundation for their floral crowns and saved money so they didn’t have to get it professionally done. They were stunning!
Venue – The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe | Photography – Charissa Magno Photography | Videography – Audrey Alba Films | Month of Coordination – Kelsey Rae Designs | Florals – Blue Ladder Botany | Chair Rental – APR Boutique Rentals | Flatware and Charger Rentals – The Chiavari Guys | Lighting and Boxwood Walls – Bright Event Rentals | Laser Cut Signage – TheConfettiHome | Acrylic Signage – Details, Darling | Placecards – BetterWeddingDecor | Cake – Laura Marie’s Cakes | Donut Catering – Sensational Treats | Donut Bags – HH Paper Co | DJ – Bryan Thrane at Pacific Entertainment | Acoustic Guitarist – Austin Ellis | Officiant – Vows from the Heart | Watercolor Artist – Chasing Linen | Wedding Dress – Hayley Paige “Chandon” gown | Bridal Shop and Alterations – The White Flower Bridal Boutique | Bridesmaid Dresses – Show Me Your Mumu | Hair – Tommy Tisso | Makeup – Makeup by Kandice | Groom and Groomsmen Tuxedos – The Black Tux
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