And if there’s one thing I know from my many misspent years in retail sales, it’s that miserable feet make it extra-difficult to keep up a picture-perfect smile. When it came time to plan my own wedding, comfortable feet were among the less traditional priorities I chose. It paid off, too. When I got ready for a quiet evening of basking in being married to Mr. Twistie, my feet felt as good as they had that morning when I rolled out of bed.

The funny thing is, it wasn’t all that difficult. If you’re thinking about how to keep your feet happy all day, I’ve got a few tips to help you in your efforts.

Wear a heel height you’re already comfortable in. I’m not going to try to tell you what that is, because some women live in flats, others in four inch heels. Each of them looks at the other as some sort of bizarre biological experiment, utterly unable to fathom that it works. Me? I get a nosebleed in one-inch heels. I opted for dancing shoes. Specifically, my Scottish dancing ghillies. They’re built a bit like ballet slippers, only with more laces up the foot. And they were bright scarlet. And since I already owned them, they saved me money, too.

Speaking of dancing shoes, consider some of the dance shoe manufacturers. Makers like Capezio and companies that specialize in ballroom dance shoes are a great place to look. Their shoes need to look great and feel comfortable for hours of dancing.

Even if you decide against a dance shoe company, look for some of the same features, like padded insoles, that will help you feel light on your feet while you’re dancing ’til dawn. Even a pair of good old Dr. Scholl’s inserts can make a huge difference for your feet.

Make sure your shoes fit properly and break them in well before the wedding day. When you go in to choose your shoes, consider asking to have your feet properly measured before you even begin. A surprising number of us assume we know what size our feet are, and are wearing the wrong size shoe. After all, weight gain or loss or pregnancy can change the size of your feet. Or it could simply be that the rest of you stopped growing several years ago, but your feet kept on for another half size or so that you never really noticed. Believe it or not, that happened to me.

As for breaking them in, we’ve all bought pretty shoes for some special occasion and then left them carefully in the box until the big day only to find that they rub our heels or pinch in some odd spot. If you’re wearing white or ivory shoes and fear getting them scuffed or dirty, wear them around the house with a pair of socks over them for protection. Then step carefully! The socks don’t have the same traction as the soles of your shoes.

Take care of any foot issues in advance. Bunions, heel spurs, plantar fasciitis, ingrown toenails… feet are prone to a lot of potentially painful issues. If you’ve got one, try to schedule an appointment with a podiatrist well before your wedding to see what – if anything – can be done to fix it. If you can’t fix it, or it can’t be done right then, ask for advice on handling your particular issue for your wedding. Trust me, you won’t be the first person to ask a similar question.

Ask someone to make sure you sit down once in a while on your wedding day. It’s easy to wind up in a wedding day fog going from one activity or photo op to another without really being in the moment. In fact, a good 85% of all brides I’ve known have wound up on automatic pilot at some point in the proceedings. So ask someone you trust to keep an eye on you and make you sit and pull yourself back into the moment if that happens to you. You don’t want to spend seven or eight hours without having gotten off your feet for more than two minutes, and you want to have some clear memories of the day. Also, you will want to eat. All three of these issues are well served by one person keeping half an eye on you.

If all else fails, a hot bath helps a lot with tired, sore feet. It happens. You do everything right, and still wind up with aching feet. If that turns out to be the case, consider a warm bath for two with some soothing lavender. After all, there are worse ways to start a honeymoon!

The simple fact is that on your wedding day, you’re likely to spend a lot of time on your tootsies. Standing around in your wedding finery trying not to let anything get wrinkled, walking up the aisle, the receiving line or table hopping to greet guests, dancing, and so on and so forth… chances are at some point your feet are going to get mighty tired.

And while I can hear plenty of brides to be chorusing ‘no problem, I’ll have flip flops!’ I happen to think there are a plethora of better ideas for foot happiness that would not make the Manolo weep into his favorite pair of peeptoes. Hey, it’s your wedding and I can’t stop you, but I can offer alternatives to consider.

Pick a heel height you’re used to and comfortable wearing for long periods of time. Note that this will not be the same height for everyone. Some women can wear five inch heels all day and not be troubled with pain or agony. Others (such as yours truly) get a nosebleed from an inch and a half. Really think about what heel makes you comfortable for long periods of both dancing and standing around. And while you’re at it, think about other style options that make your feet the most comfortable. Do you need extra arch or ankle support? Find shoes that will give you just that.

If you’re worried about a significant height difference between you and your intended, don’t be. Look, you know how big the difference between your heights is. So does he. So do all of your friends and both families. I barely come up to Mr. Twistie’s shoulder, and on our wedding day I wore flat shoes (dancing shoes, in point of fact, so they had really thin soles, to boot, as it were) and he wore a tall top hat. The photos look great, because we had a good photographer and because we were entirely ourselves. Let your photographer worry about getting good angles on you as a couple. That’s why you’re paying a professional.

Consider wearing a pair of shoes you already own. Yes, I know a wedding is a great excuse to go out and buy a new pair of expensive shoes, and if that’s your decision then I say have at it and enjoy. But don’t simply rule out the idea that the perfect pair of shoes is already in your closet. After all, the shoes don’t have to be a perfect color match to your gown, and the shoes you already have are already broken in for maximum comfort.
(Image via Love the Schultzes)

If you do buy new shoes, get them enough in advance that you can break them in properly. The last thing you want is to discover on your wedding day that your new shoes are giving you a nasty blister or rubbing your foot raw somewhere. So make sure to wear those new lovelies around the house until you have them as comfortable as… well… old shoes.

Make sure you have places to sit at your reception, not to mention opportunities to use them! Enough chairs will make a huge difference, so make sure they’re handy. And don’t over schedule the day. Give yourself some breathing room to simply enjoy your own party. That way if your feet start feeling tired or sore, you can do something about it. If necessary, deputize someone to make you sit down every couple hours during the day.

Take good care of your feet in the days leading up to the big one. Pamper them with a nice pedicure or massage… if you’re not too ticklish! Frankly, I can’t have either one done to me. But whatever you can do to make your feet happy, whether it’s having that massage or simply putting them up for a while, go ahead and do it.

Your feet are not fashion accessories. They are an important part of your body. Make them as happy as you can on your wedding day. After all, you want them happy for your honeymoon as well!

Merrily mismatched red shoes from Ampersand Photography

Balloons and blue dresses via Green Wedding Shoes

Works with darker blues, too, as proven by Josh Liba

Leg warmers! Eeeee!

From Heather H. Photography

It even works on flower girls!

From Martha Stewart Weddings

Should I be a little ashamed to admit that I didn’t ever once thought about after-market bridal shoes add-ons for my own wedding day footwear? Or that of my bridesmaids? Maybe not. But I am entirely ashamed to admit that I have gone my entire life admiring this shoe or that, never realizing that the pretty baubles adorning the back or the front of said shoe might not have come with the shoe itself. So hello, bridal shoe clips!

Shoe Clips for the bride are basically jewelery for your bridal shoes – any shoe that doesn’t already have decoration (or maybe just doesn’t have enough decoration for your tastes) can be transformed with shoe clips. Keep in mind that while I did say jewelry, shoe clips don’t have to be blingy. I’ve seen amazing peacock feather shoe clips and shoe clips with gorgeous felt flowers… not to mention shoe clips that look like miniature nests and adorable bows and more.

Popular in the 1940s – I’m thinking thrifty chicks who wanted more variety – shoe clips have made a massive comeback and are becoming the wedding footwear accessory of choice for more and more brides. What I can’t figure out is who was the target market in between the 40s and today’s brides since quite a few of the mass market shoe clips I’ve found have been baubles that one associate with sexy Halloween costumes.

Isn’t that weird? No matter. Want to know my favorite source for beautiful and fun shoe clips for the bride, bridesmaid, or regular gal? I love all the shoe clips at Fink Shop! Definitely give them a look if you’re in the market for this particular wedding accessory.

(Images via: 1, 2, 3)

Now as a child of the 80s, I am dying with desire over the Speak & Spell save-the-dates. Beyond Bespoke is happy to design more traditional wedding stationery, but brides and grooms can get more traditional wedding stationery anywhere. It’s the fun stuff that really tickles me. I mean, come on, 3D wedding invitations? Bachelorette party invitations that are shoes? Oh em gee!

What would *you* put on your anything goes custom wedding invitations?

Brides who are committed to employing vintage bridal shoes as their “Something Old” may still have a hunt in front of them, however. With vintage, what you see is what you get, and that includes size. Better to have a pair of vintage style bridal shoes made for you by a shoemaker, I think, as these could still serve as your “Something New” and if made beautifully, will fit your feet like a dream.

Which brings me to another way to do bridal shoes, namely the humble bridal slipper meant to be stored in the wedding day emergency kit until the bride’s poor dogs are barking. Fit in Clouds sells slipper-like shoes that fold flat and fit into a pouch for portability, cost about twenty bucks, and have a ballet shoe-esque split sole.

For those brides and bridesmaids happiest walking barefoot, I can see a pair of slippers from Fit in Clouds being the perfect solution to tired tosies. However, brides and bridesmaids who require some degree of support to feel comfortable on their feet might want to just stick to the well-made shoe.

(Photo via)

Here we have two examples of shoes, both being marketed toward the bride. The first pair of clear bridal shoes differentiates itself with a silver toe, while the second appears to have been bedazzled to within an inch of its life. In case it wasn’t clear, I hate both.

What say you?

Photographer Mark Wallace snapped this pic of bride and groom sneakers from Adidas somewhere in New York — no surprise there — and I’m wondering what the readership thinks.

My take: At least they’re not covered in hot glued lace and glitter, like some bridal sneakers I’ve seen. What should we call their companions, groomal sneakers? You could wear them for a long time, since Adidas sneakers tend to last. And if you’re the kind of gal or guy who has spent practically your whole life in a pair of three stripes, then why not? I don’t love ‘em, but I sure as hell don’t hate them as much as I hate most bridal sneakers.

What say you?

Shoes, more than any other wedding accessory, can tell a tale in wedding photographs because shoes (unlike earrings or the bridal bouquet) are to some extent utilitarian and they tend to be a very expressive piece of attire. Here are four examples of wedding photographs that show nothing but the shoes, yet convey a lot of information about the wedding itself and the bride and groom.

Rain on her wedding day? Or a bride by the bay? We can’t be sure of the circumstances that led to this photo taken by photographer Steve Holcroft without some digging, but it certainly invites a great deal of speculation. I can’t help but think of this bride as being playful, however. She didn’t have to wear wellies, after all. She could have gotten someone to carry her.

The bride wore All Stars in this photo taken by Shutterbug Mama, but the groom chose more formal footwear. Opposites attract, perhaps? In any case, it’s lovely that the groom was down with his fun loving bride wearing sneakers instead of traditionally feminine shoes.

Brrr, winter weddings can be chilly! Emily G Photography captured this shiver-inducing moment in time. Tromping around in snow boots was probably a lot of fun for this couple and something that will make their wedding photos that much more interesting in the years to come.

All right, so fishnets aren’t shoes, but I just can’t help but include a photograph that includes fishnets and platforms and what looks like work boots on the groom. Chelsea Elizabeth Photography snapped this shot of what strikes me as a very quirky couple who probably did their own thing on their wedding day… because oh yeah, what about that sweet dress?

To conclude, love them or hate them, when accessory photos are bad they’re terribly boring, but when they’re good they tell a story. That’s why I recommend that brides and grooms let their wedding photographers take the photos of the jewelry and the flowers. In this, the digital age, if the snapshots don’t turn out, newlyweds can reject them or delete them without costing the wedding photographer anything but a few moments of time.

So what do we have here? Traveling in a vaguely clockwise pattern, there are natural branches studded with tufts of fluffy garden stock blossoms from a party hosted by Tracy Metz, a striking pearl and bird necklace designed by kgarnerdesigns, a lovely soft pink wedding dress by Alisa Benay for 100 Brides for $100K, a pink wedding cake with delicate gold embellishments from The Wedding Cake Shoppe, a gorgeous handpainted wedding invitation from Momental Designs, freaking amazing shoes from Haberdashery Boutique, a delicate rose gold filigree bracelet, and a snapshot from a real wedding that included antique gold bridesmaid dresses from Vera Wang.

The pink and gold wedding palette is truly as sweet as can be!