My gown.

Detail of the bodice.

Photo taken the actual day of the wedding.

My favorite candid photo of the dress.

Could you imagine a ninja bridezilla? The whole bridal party would be scared for their lives, always looking behind them to see the errant ninja star *yeesh*

On the other hand, though, I suddenly have this fetish to see a ninja wedding.

Also, what is up w/ that bucket? Why would one be fetching water in a wedding dress? Or even worse, it could be the poop/piss bucket. I get that they’re trying to go w/ some kind of an Orientalist theme but come on, a bucket? Hopefully they’re not trying to pass off carpentry in lieu of a nice clutch.

I looked like I stepped out of a Scottish production of Pride and Prejudice. The neck was high, the sleeves were long with ruching and a lot of shoulder detail, the waist hit my natural waistline…which just happens to be directly under my bust. There was a lot of ruching on the bodice, too, which works really well for me because I’m very small busted. The skirt was A-line and plain except for a VanDyked self ruffle with silver grey embroidery about knee-height.

The collar, ruffled cuffs, neckline and ruching over the bust were all trimmed with silver grey silk bobbin lace, all handmade by me. And like Jane C, I wore a Dress MacDonald arisaide held in place with a silver brooch. Okay, so the brooch was of a very bizarre dog with spines and huge teeth, but it was my mother’s and I’d always loved it and she was a fierce lady at heart. It was like having her there with me.

I woke up on my wedding day, and about my second thought was ‘holy crap! I never decided what to do with my hair!’ I didn’t want a veil, so I’d bought several hair ornaments to play with and never got around to deciding which one(s) to use. About five minute’s experimentation produced a solution, though. I made two very small braids with some hair at the front (it’s very long and very straight) which I looped under my ears and brought back to join the rest of my hair. Then I put the hair into a large, white snood and topped it with a big silver grey straw bow at the base of my skull.

The coolest thing of all about my wedding gown? It took second prize at the county fair.

I still think it should have taken first place.

I have an elbow length, single-layer veil, a headband with rhinestones and red crystals, red crystal earrings, a garnet necklace (borrowed from my grandmother), and red leather peep-toe shoes. The tartan sash is dark green and blue, with a red stripe and a white stripe.

The dress is so plain because I will be wearing an over-the-shoulder sash in the groom’s family tartan (he will be in a kilt) and I didn’t want there to be “too much going on” visually. Also, sort of traditional Scottish formal wear, when the husband is wearing his kilt and formal jacket, is for his wife to wear a white dress with the tartan sash. I anticipate having occasion to wear my dress again, with the lace removed (possibly adding colored trim of some kind, or ruffles at the collar and cuffs).

For my wedding I bought a chinese made wedding gown off of Ebay. It was strapless, and white with a long train. It had black accents and black flowers embroidered on the train and down one side. It was also machine washable which was excellent because I dragged it through the mud all day.

I had a different dress for the reception, because I saved so much money on the other dress. It was a tea length, strapless dress that was white with a black overlay. It also had black embroidery on it. I’m crazy for black embroidery.

My bridesmaids all wore black dresses that they chose themselves. It was too hard to figure out something that would make sense on all 12 of them since they ranged from 4’9 and elfin to 6’0 and well endowed. I also took volunteers for my bridesmaids. I was tired of wedding drama and that seemed like the best way to handle that.