Since I created a Wedding Inspired Pinterest board in July of last year, I have been fielding questions left and right about “my engagement”. I’ve had to politely remind folks that when I am engaged they will most definitely know, and oh, by the way? Nearly 99.9% of the girls that have a wedding board on Pinterest aren’t engaged. So, friends, followers, readers, and concerned citizens: I am not engaged. I just like pinning wedding stuff, because…well, I’m more ridiculously obsessed with weddings than I previously thought.
I’ve had several readers send me tweets and emails requesting modest wedding dresses, preferably dresses with sleeves. I personally shun shrugs, boleros, jackets, and cropped tops; I’m a huge advocate of having a seamstress adding sleeves to a dress if a dress with sleeves is difficult to find (the are). Of course, price and the bride’s personal preference are generally the deciding factors when finally purchasing a wedding dress and if you want a shrug or bolero–so be it!
Married ladies, were you pleased with your wedding dress? If not, what changes would you have made? Unmarried ladies, what does your “dream” wedding dress look like? Me? I’ll know it when I see it. I’m too picky and fickle to have a dream wedding dress.
As seen on this Chinese based website; this website offers dresses inspired wedding dresses. I searched high and low for the true designer of this dress and my efforts were in vain. BigDayDress is another site that offers “knock off” wedding dresses. Their reviews seem okay, but dealing with an overseas seamstress seems a lil’ scary to me.
Elie Saab Haute Couture (S/S 2012); the style of this dress is elegant and I love the sleeves, neckline, and train. Blue wouldn’t be my color of choice (this is not a wedding gown, by the way); a true seamstress could make this vision come to life.
Augusta Jones, Elle as seen on Hephzibah Bride
House of Micaela, Emma; Michelle Gonzalez of HoM also makes custom wedding dresses and she ships internationally.
Tracy Reese GreenBow Lace Gown
Dalmacia Wedding Gown
My friend Carissa in an Eve of Milady trumpet gown
Lana wearing a lacy Victoria’s Secret top underneath a Maggie Sottero dress.
Girlfriend you're speakin my language....I've been married for 3 years and I still love weddings! So it's especially okay for you to be obsessed without being engaged yet! :-) I personally can't wait to see what kind of soiree you'll be having one day.
I know you detest boleros; I never though I would have one either. I can't stand the bulky ones with shoulder pads that you find at David'd Bridal and Alfred Angelo. Those are the only ones I had ever seen. I ended up finding a beautiful Shantung Silk gown by Watters & Watters, and was able to order extra material from Watters. Deciding to have a bolero made was a leap of faith! I love how it turned out; I think the difference was that I had it custom made to fit ME, by a MARVELOUS seamstress whom I trusted (she made two of my Bridesmaid dresses); and the fact that it was shantung silk and I had silk lining. It wasn't bulky, rather it was slimming. She made it so fitted to my gown and my body, it lined up perfectly with the dress. And the fact that it was the same material. This I think is the ONLY exception for bolero's.
If I had a dress with sleeves, it would have been similar to Kate Middleton's. Lace was my second option, and her's was perfect. I personally love your friend Carissa's gown. The sleeves are amazing!
Three years! TIME HAS FLOWN BY! See, my top heavy frame in a bolero is just NOT good! I'm going to visit your blog and sift through your pictures to refresh my memory; shantung silk is one of my favorite "wedding" materials. I think you have a point--the boleros MUST be the same material as the dress. MUST.
Eeee! I made the cut! :) Thank you Brittany Rivers for the sweet comment on my dress. <3
:-) Been looking forward to this post!
Much to my chagrin, I had a bolero (must do a post on that soon), but thanks to Kate, sleeves are in vogue now, so there's more choice.
I love the last picture - ingenious idea!
Oh, and I'd steer clear of the Chinese (no offence) websites!
I had been working on for two weeks, and I just couldn't find the "right" pictures. I'll have to keep checking out your blog because you continue to feature modest wedding dresses. I'll have to refer readers your way!
I love these dresses!!! I'm married now but didnt have a wedding. Im planning one this year and these dresses are great inspirations!!!
~ApostolicModest
Thanks, Lydie! Do you have a blog? You'll have to fill me in on your wedding plans and let me know when you choose your dress!
I've never been someone who was obsessed with weddings, so I didn't have something that I *had* to have when the time came. I tried on a Pronovias gown, it was gorgeous, but the entire top would have had to be redone (No boleros or anything of the sort for this girl), so I skipped it. If I had done a huge church wedding, that would have been the dress, and I would have just bitten the bullet and had it redone. For my wedding though, the style definitely called for a more playful dress. Enter Dolly Couture, and their vintage inspired dresses. They made it to my measurements and it needed very slight tweaks when I got it from a seamstress. Couldn't have been more perfect.
Bekki, I tried to contact you to get your permission to use a photo of your Dolly Couture dress (discovered them last year), but failed! I guess my phone lost reception midsend and the message did not send. I like their vintage inspired dresses. I might make Modest Wedding dresses a "thing" on here, so maybe I can show your picture on here, too! Your weddinig was fun, intimate, and perfect. Your dress was very you.
Oh yeah, feel free. I've been meaning to finally upload my wedding pictures to Facebook, but obviously, we're 1.5 years past the date and they're not there yet. lol. If you end up doing something again, I'll email you a pic to use.
Any dress can be modest. You just need to find the right seamstress and material. I used the dress Jessica Simpson wore to her wedding with Nick Lachey. I showed my seamstress a picture and had her change the plunging neckline to a straight neckline went right below my collar bone. I also just had her make a light bolero to cover the rest. My only issue concern with choosing the bolero was that it was going to be too "see through" and let's face it, if it's too see through, I might as well have gone without it. By the grace of God, I found a busy, lace material just enough to make my dress and jacket. It came out perfect. So you can have whatever dress you want, just change it up a bit.
That Augusta Jones gown and the first one featured are my favorites. Lace is so feminine. And pretty much anything from Elie Saab.
Elie Saab? Winning!!! ;o)
I wore a dress by Eternity by Millennial Sun when I got married. It was ready to wear when I bought it with 3/4 quarter length sleeves and a higher neckline. I accidentally stumbled across the idea of looking for a temple-ready gown when I was looking for a modest wedding dress. I'm not Mormon; I'm Pentecostal, but the temple-ready wedding gowns were made very modestly with sleeves and no plunging necklines and were perfect for my special day.
I've found that many non-Mormon ladies seeking modest wedding dresses often search for/purchase temple ready gowns. It's definitely another option! Thanks!
Chandra,I love this.You are so creative,sweet work girfriend!! <3
Chandra,
I know I am a little late but here goes. First, you are now engaged, WOO HOO! I am so excited for you! Good luck with all of the planning.
Now here's a little bit of info about me and my dress: I got married 6 years ago so of course things and styles have definitely changed. I found my dress via a catalogue and then found a boutique in Beverly Hills that made it from scratch. My dress was a Casablanca (here is the link --> http://www.casablancabridal.com/collections/view/9.) I was grateful for the already high neckline and I loved the paisley pattern and the sheer overlay of the train. My biggest mistake was that I didn't wrap some kind of sash in a different color around me or carry colorful flowers. I felt like my dress was a little plain (and I wore a crown which I would definitely change now, but oh well that was the style back then.)
I got so tired of shopping around that I chose this one because the company would sew it with sleeves so there was no adding onto an already made dress, which I didn't like the looks of. So, I guess I am one that wasn't exactly "thrilled" with their dress.
Good luck with your planning and I hope you don't settle on the easiest thing you find, like me, and that you get exactly what you want! ;-)
I am SO engaged now! LOL So, so, funny! Okay. Not hahahaha funny, but amusing! Crazy! Thanks for the link to your dress. I plan to share it in a future post.
By the way, my dress is the 1761. That link went to the wrong dress. ;-)