Flat and Fabulous

One thing is certain when you’re getting married: you’re going to spend a lot of time standing on your feet. Because of that, it’s vital to have comfortable shoes on your big day. After all, sore feet do not improve the post-wedding festivities in any way, shape or form.

Unfortunately, more and more brides seem to be solving this dilemma by wearing fashionable high heels for the ceremony, and then changing at the reception into decidedly non-superfantastic footwear for the party. Sneakers with lace and sequins added are still sneakers, and the less said of flip-flops at formal events in my hearing, the better.

The upside of this practice is, of course, an ability to boogie the night away and still leave the party under your own power. I cannot deny this as a positive thing. Alas, the downsides are myriad. Extra expense, unfortunate glimpses of those monstrous wedding sneakers, and a pool of gown that was hemmed for three-inch heels cascading across the dance floor tripping all in its path really do cancel out the comfort factor for me.

There is, however, another and better way to handle the question: wear low-heeled or flat shoes that you can be comfortable in all day and all night long.

The good news is that flat shoes are very fashionable just now, so there are plenty of pretty, flirty, elegant flats to choose from, like these sigerson morrison beauties.

sigerson morrison flats

available from Barney’s New York for a mere $345.00.

The even better news is that there are more budget-friendly shoes that are both flat and fabulous, such as these gorgeous gold Nine West shoes

Nine West kitten heels

available through Amazon for a whopping $49.99.

When comfort and fashion are both served by making one purchase instead of two, why fight it?

6 Responses to “Flat and Fabulous”

  1. Portside says:

    I agree completely with you Twistie! Also, just think about the amount of work that would go into cleaning the dress and the potential and highly probable repairs to the hemline!! That being said, I’ve had friends peel of their flats early in the evening with similar complaints that they have had while wearing heels.

    For my wedding, I splurged and picked up a pair of Mary Jane Stewart Weiztman’s with a 4″ heel – wearing them all day and long into the night. I think it’s all about your level of comfort and certainly the quality of the shoe. The Manolo has routinely said, there is nothing like a pair of beautifully made shoes, whether high-heeled or flats.

  2. Handmaiden says:

    That second pair of shoes is SO CUTE!

    Concerning the topic at hand, I’ve been to two weddings recently in which the brides wore slippers (as in house slippers) for both the ceremony and the reception–but they were the kind that look almost like ballet flats, so unless you actually knew beforehand that that is what they were, it was hardly noticeable that they weren’t real shoes. Maybe it’s not for everyone, but it still beats flip-flops any day of the week in my book.

  3. Sarah says:

    My big problem is finding flats or near-flats with some decent arch support. I have plantar fasciitis, and if I walk around even a day in shoes without support, I feel it! Unfortunately, pretty and supportive are not easily, or cheaply found.

  4. Pencils says:

    I HATE the trend of brides wearing flip flops. I don’t understand it, some of these brides spend $5K on their gowns, and then wear $20 rubber shoes underneath. Some for the entire thing, not just the reception. And, yes, people do see your shoes. It looks awful, IMHO. And unnecessary, as there are comfortable, beautiful bridal shoes out there.

    I had my heart set on a pair of Peter Fox shoes–I had planned on wearing them for my wedding for years. Then, my husband asked me not to be taller than he on our wedding day. He’s only about an inch taller than me (I’m just under 6′.) And Peter Fox no longer has any attractive low heels or flats. My quest for shoes took forever. I wanted very low heels, as you walk differently in a heel, no matter how low, ivory to match my gown, with something shiny or decorative, in a size 11. I ended up in a gorgeous pair of Benjamin Adams shoes. He’s a British designer. They cost a bit over $200, so not cheap, but they’re the most beautiful shoes I’ve ever worn, and they were so comfortable I never put on my bridal Chuck Taylors.

  5. Anusha says:

    I’m South Asian so I’ll be wearing a sari at my wedding. My sari’s ivory and gold, and I had the hardest time finding matching shoes because I can’t wear high heels at all. Even low heels are pretty much out of the question as I’ll be doing a LOT of standing at our wedding. I had to find flat or low-heeled gold shoes, which was proving to be surprisingly difficult.

    Until I found a pair of Hollywould tie-up gold and silver sandals (“Dillon”) on clearance at shoes.com! They are perfect.

    I found that endless.com, amazon.com and shoes.com have a fab selection of comfortable, low-heel or flat shoes that would be perfect for weddings, on sale. The sale prices are really good on all those sites. You might have to do a lot of searching through the selections to find a good pair, but it’s really worth it.

  6. Elisabeth says:

    I actually saw a picture on a flickr professional wedding photography site of the groom taking off the brides garter…and she was wearing baby. pink. crocs. I wonder if I could hunt it up again.

    I about gagged. Anything, even flipflops, would be better than that.