The ladies, enjoying some hot cider around the bourbon tree.

Joe was our intrepid MC. Though it looks like he’s taking off his pants in this photo, he’s displaying a swanky pair of khakis.

 Even Chief immensely enjoyed himself!

 This outfit incorporates 4 of my new items: a basic gray skirt, a gold striped sweater, a blue jacket, and a tortoiseshell necklace. I wore this the rest of the day!

I took pictures of the rest of the stuff I got, but the lighting wasn’t right and they came out terribly, so here’s a list instead. I got (not including the items pictured above):

• a pink J. Crew halter sundress
• a brown dolman-sleeved top
• a basic olive green dress from Forever 21
• a gray Banana Republic sweater
• a vintage navy houndstooth skirt
• a headband
• 2 belts 
• a black short sleeved sweater
• a pale pink scarf
• hoop earrings
• a necklace
• a brand-new Michael Kors silk shell
• a gray felt hat

This Saturday, I went wedding dress shopping. My sister, my mom, my aunt, and my sister’s friend all drove down from Rhode Island for a shopping expedition. My sister got engaged a week before I did, and is getting married 4 months before I am, so it was a joint mission to find a dress for both of us.

When I was little, I lived for the J.C. Penney bridal catalog. I would pore over the wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses, not because I was dreaming of my own wedding, but because everything looked so pretty to me. I hadn’t given much thought to what I wanted my own dress to look like by the time I was engaged, though. I started looking at more and more wedding blogs and designer websites after I got engaged, trying to pinpoint exactly what I wanted. I didn’t think it would be so difficult.

At first, I didn’t want to wear white. I wanted to wear something that stood out, and preferably had some color. But the more I investigated, the more it became clear that most of the options in my price range would look like a prom dress or a bridesmaid dress, and I did want it to be somewhat clear that I was the bride on my wedding day. Perhaps I could have persevered through this bit of thinking, but the white dresses just got me in the end.

One of the things that bother me most about wedding dresses is that they all look so similar. I wanted to wear something truly unique, something that would communicate my sense of style, something that I would feel comfortable in. This was not the strapless a-line white dress weighted down with ruffles and pearls and lace that I kept seeing in all the blogs I was reading. I pinned a couple of dresses to my wedding inspirations Pinterest board, but I found most of the dresses I was drawn to were vintage, hand-made, or designer gowns that cost well over $5000. In other words, they all seemed to be beyond my reach.

So basically, I was discouraged before I even started looking, and I had convinced myself that nothing out there was going to be what I wanted. Still, I wasn’t going to get married in a paper bag, so I made an appointment at The White Gown in DUMBO, a shop I happened to walk by one night after it was closed and looked up online to see if it was a bridal shop. It was, so I made the phone call, not having any idea what to expect.

When Saturday arrived, I was inexplicably nervous. We went to my sister’s appointment in SoHo first, which went really well, and she was able to get the dress she wanted, so we were all in pretty good spirits after that, but I was still apprehensive when we got to my appointment in Brooklyn.

I met my consultant, and she took me into a large dressing room and asked for an idea of what I was looking for. I didn’t have any pictures, so I just told her that I wanted something unique that wasn’t strapless, wasn’t pure white, and wasn’t too simple. With those few directives, as well as what my budget was, she pulled 5 dresses, and we went from there. I tried on seven dresses total, and really liked two of them. What most surprised me was that I actually felt pretty in almost all the dresses I tried on, even when I wasn’t a huge fan of the style.

When I put on the dress I eventually bought, I knew that I loved the style. It felt like me, and it had some detailing that made it a little more unique. My family loved it too, and after trying on my second choice again just to make sure, it was clear that this dress was “the one.” Is it perfect? Maybe not.  But I felt pretty and bridal and loved so many of the details that I couldn’t take the chance on trying to find something better. Maybe my “perfect” dress is still out there somewhere, and it may even be in my budget, but it just wasn’t worth agonizing over it for the next three to six months.

In the end, the process was remarkably painless AND I ended up spending a fraction of what I was willing to spend because the dress was  a sample and drastically marked down from the original price. I couldn’t be happier that I can now focus on all of the other loose ends of the wedding, like finding a photographer and choosing readings.

All of that being said, I thought it would still be fun to round up a few of the favorite wedding dresses I encountered during my online search:

Snippet & Ink

The Broke-Ass Bride

Wedding Bells 

Have you gone wedding dress shopping? What was your experience like? Even if you’re not in the market for a wedding dress, what are some of your favorites?

*image above: Monique Lhuillier

We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island. This is the breakfast buffet. It was out of this world.

Outside of a random house in town before dinner Saturday night.

Sweet-tea-brined pork chop with blackberry sauce and mac n cheese (Amazing)

Another pretty house in town

View of the beach from our room

My happy face on our arrival

Joe in his summer casual look, outside the fudge shop in town

A new dress and vintage beads on the balcony

Racy back–highlighting my back and shoulders for Academichic’s Dress Your Best Week

New sandals, purchased at a surf shop in town. I love the coral details, and they’re Reefs, so they’re super comfy!

We closed out our trip with fireworks over New Smyrna beach–here’s a gorgeous photo Joe took of the action.

Do you have any vacations in store for the summer?

We kicked off the weekend (after vintage browsing and S’mac in the East Village) with rooftop margaritas

On Friday night, New York (finally) became the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Coincidentally, it was also Pride weekend in NYC. We celebrated by checking out the Lesbian Herstory Archives in Park Slope–lots of fascinating stuff to browse through!

Following that adventure, we walked through Prospect Park to the Brooklyn Museum, where we saw some feminist art and a cool exhibit on Vishnu and Hinduism.

Sunday was another glorious day–started out at a wedding shower in Prospect Park, then followed up with a trip on the Staten Island Ferry

Unbeknownst to me, apparently the SI Ferry is one of the coolest things to do in NYC. It’s free, runs every half hour, and has amazing views. Highly recommended!

I got a little artsy with my nails, and I love how they turned out!

An adorable pub we found right off the ferry on Staten Island, where the beer was cheap, the bartender was friendly, and the music was 90s.

Returning to Manhattan, where we found Stone Street, a little-known Financial District enclave, a tiny street full of restaurants and open air tables.

How was your weekend? Did you discover anything new about your city or town?

I took the day off on Friday and went to the Frick Collection with Joe. It was beautiful and inspiring, and a nice way to spend a day I would have otherwise been inside an office. Friday night, we took the night off from the play and went to a free Andrew Bird concert at Prospect Park, where I proceeded to guilt a man into buying us beer for cutting us in line. There was never a truer saying than “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” I was so happy to get to see Andrew in concert–his music is so innovative and beautiful.  Unfortunately, we didn’t stay too long because of the disproportionate number of available bathrooms and food to the massive crowds, so we escaped to Henry Public for burgers and turkey leg sandwiches. Mmmm.

Saturday was a busy day–we had friends visiting from Boston to see the play, so we had lunch with them and hung out before attending the last night-time performance of the show.

A beautiful cake one of the actors made (Big Rodent is the name of Joe’s production company)

Early Sunday morning we journeyed to the Upper East Side to go see the Alexander McQueen exhibit, Savage Beauty, at the Met. I’ve been anxious to see it since it opened, and I was not disappointed. I am planning a separate post, but here’s a teaser–it’s superb. Go see it if you’re in New York this summer.

I wanted to wear something semi-fun to go see a fashion exhibit, so I experimented with tying two scarves together. I was pleased with the results!

Finally, it was time for the last performance of the play, after which we cleaned up the set, packed up the costumes and props, and headed to Koreatown for a couple of hours of karaoke to celebrate a great run.

Most of the cast and crew, doing our best impressions of being serious.

How was your weekend?

Saturday was an eventful day–early morning bagels, followed by a stint waiting in line for tickets to Avenue Q at the Downtown Brooklyn TKTS booth (worth it to avoid the Times Square crowds!). After our fifth row tickets were acquired, we strolled back down Smith St., stopping in some shops along the way (I bought a new bag and a turquoise necklace) before hitting up the Brooklyn Flea for lunch, people watching, flea market window shopping, and ice cream sandwiches from The Good Batch. After the Flea shut down for the day, we took the train into Midtown, walked around Times Square, did a little more shopping (though neither of us ended up buying anything), and grabbed dinner before Avenue Q. All I’d ever heard was that it was a funny play with puppets, but I really enjoyed it, and would recommend to anyone looking for a purely fun and entertaining show.

When the show was over, we walked down a few blocks to Rudy’s, one of my all-time favorite NYC bars. The beer is criminally cheap, the people are friendly, they have a great jukebox, and also, free hotdogs. It was a pretty late night, so we took it easy on Sunday, although we still made time for brunch at the Clover Club, where we feasted on the bacon sampler and indulged in champagne cocktails.

Here’s a random assortment of photos from the weekend–what did you do?

A classic taxicab at a wedding in Midtown

My new vegan leather purse from Shiraleah

The Empire State Building lit up for…what I thought was the Knicks, but is actually Bronx Tourism? Joe had to tell me the Knicks have been out of the playoffs for weeks now. Whoops.

A margarita at Lobo

Avenue Q

Joe had a busy day on his birthday, with a long meeting at work. At least he looked good!

He got this excellent bulldog tie at the J.Crew outlet in Napa.

That evening, we went to DuMont for dinner, where we both got the brick roasted chicken. DELICIOUS!
Friday night, we headed to Broadway to see Arcadia, a Tom Stoppard play. I really liked the play, and Paul Giamotti was in the audience as well. Bonus NYC celebrity sighting!

We spent much of Saturday shopping in Manhattan for things to spruce up our apartment. We found this amazing pillow for the couch at West Elm, and I’m pretty excited about it.

We also snagged a new quilt and sheets for the bed. Banner day!!

For my birthday present, Joe surprised me with tickets to the New York City Ballet!!

It was really fun to get all dressed up and be fancy for the night. Joe even wore his fedora!

The inside of the theater at Lincoln Center. Joe explained that it’s designed to look like a jewel box, and the ballerinas are the jewels. Our seats were super close and the ballet was gorgeous (more details to come!)

Sunday morning, we picked up some flowers and herbs at the farmer’s market and Joe got a windowbox for the kitchen. Such a pretty pop of color!

Of course after a weekend full of decadent meals, we decided to skip dinner in favor of giant ice cream sundaes at Farmacy on Sunday night. It was a good decision.

I hope your weekends were as full of food and fun as mine was!

Basically, we spent our vacation drinking really good wine, taking in gorgeous scenery, enjoying perfect weather, and eating delicious food. Oh yeah, and also getting engaged.

Here are a few pictorial highlights from the trip:

My new Target trench coat in San Francisco–the fit isn’t the best, but it was right for the weather, and I was too lazy to send it back

The wine cave at Jarvis, one of the coolest tours I’ve taken.

The view at Kuleto Estates, where we got engaged

Betrothed.

Delicious steak and whipped potatoes at Ad Hoc

Thinking about selling this image to Napa Valley Tourism

The best pork chop I’ve ever eaten…twice (got it last time we went also)–Bistro Don Giovanni

My perfect antique ring, from Eerie Basin, an antique shop in Red Hook, Brooklyn

I’d like to go back now.  What are your favorite vacation destinations?

What did you do this weekend?

A fiery sunset from our fire escape

Crazy lights at the dance party

Upside down subway map on a 3 am ride on the G (I am the purple blur on the right)

Antique books line the walls at Milk and Roses

A latte and some reading

A very literary scene for an outfit pic–rocking my J. Crew “leggy denim”, an Anthropologie top, and my vintage blazer from the Brooklyn Flea.

One of the draws of Diamond Bar–a giant floating Michael Landon head

Kielbasa and mashed potatoes. Yum.

After the Flea, we strolled around the neighborhood and then had dinner at Frankie’s. So delicious, and we got a table right away! We followed up a leisurely dinner with cocktails at the Brooklyn Social Club, then headed home for some birthday cake and bed.

Sunday morning we took our guests to Clover Club (where else?) so they could experience the bacon tasting firsthand. Duck bacon, pepper bacon, and maple-glazed bacon all on one plate–it’s a crowd-pleaser. Since it was a sunny day, we then took the train out to Prospect Park to walk around and explore, and then finished up the afternoon with a stop at Brooklyn Farmacy.

It was a great weekend, and restored my hope that spring may actually finally be here. What did YOU do this weekend?

Pretty handmade dresses at the Flea

I got the arugula salad and linguine with fava beans. Mmm.

Crocuses= Spring!

BACON!

Mint Chocolate Chip Milkshake

My sister and me at a waterfall in Prospect Park

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