Monday, March 23, 2009

One of Those Mondays - so, My Wedding Dress

Sorry I haven't been around visiting your lovely blogs much lately. Life's been goofy and weird, and I finally got sick. I woke up this morning and went right back to bed. Ugh. I feel like crap.

So, no Monday outfit, since only my nearest and dearest are "lucky" enough to see me in my robe. Instead, since it was our 12th anniversary yesterday, here's a few pictures of what L and I wore on that fun day. I wish I had a picture of Mom and Dad in their wedding finery so you could see the dress on her. (edit: here's a link to a picture of Mom and Dad: click here)
This is our "official" wedding picture, the one we have framed in the hall. I look ecstatically happy and L looks calm (if you could see his face, which I have obviously cropped out for his privacey).

L wore a vintage Nehru jacket and I wore my mom's wedding dress from 1965 (from the sale rack at Miss Frith's, I'm told). I squeezed into it with the help of a scuba suit, aka control undergarments. The picture above doesn't really do the dress justice, since the train is the coolest part:
Isn't that awesome? I love that it's a long skinny skirt with the train stuck on at the back. The only decoration is the cord and beading at the waist. Just nice and simple, and really, considering this is in 1997, it's not too dated looking.

I went with an ivy wreath with a couple of white roses in it for my head-piece (Mom's Jackie O veil was a little too costumey/vintagey overall with the dress for my taste). Yeah, what I got was nothing like what I ordered, and I ended up with this massive cake on my head all day and night. It weighed a ton.
My shoes are little Louis XVI numbers. I still have them somewhere.

The back of the dress:
My dad stepped on the train...after we teased him and teased him about stepping on it at his own wedding. *smile*

A close-up of L's jacket. The turquoise is raw silk, and all the black is hand-embroidered. If you look closely you can see that there are peacocks in the pattern.
A story about the jacket. L wasn't sure what he wanted to wear for the wedding - I'd know all along that I'd wear Mom's dress and that it had that 60s vibe to it - until we walked into a 2nd hand shop and saw this. The tag said "Mr. Gill" and it was priced at $89.99 (a lot of money to us!). L tried it on, and it fit perfectly. The shop clerk came over and said that Mr. Gill had ordered the jacket to be made in India in the 1960s, and to have it shipped over to Canada when it was done. However, by the time it arrived, Mr. Gill had gained quite a bit of weight, and it didn't fit. He never wore it, just stored it in his closet until he decided to consign it. He told the shop, "If someone walks in and it fits him, he can have $20 off." So we got it on sale, and thanks to Mr. Gill, L had an amazing wedding outfit. He's worn it several times since.

And here I am looking a little droopy several hours later, but still happy:
Yay, Happy Anniversary, L! Here's to another 12 years.

Dress (Mom's, Miss Frith's), shoes (some wedding shop), purse (Eaton's). On L: Jacket (vintage Nehru jacket, Mr. Gill's).

21 comments:

  1. Wow, very beautiful. Love L's jacket. What a special find for such a wonderful day. I wore my Mom's dress too. I had to have it altered. Our waists were the same, but I was 4" wider across the shoulders than she was. My dress was from late 1958 and silk. Very pretty. My hubby wore a non-traditional color too. He was in a navy blue tux. We've been married almost 15 years.

    Happy Anniversary!! I hope you both had a great day and I hope you get better soon!

    Ciao!

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  2. Congratulations. I love that you both went with what you each fell on love with, no gimmicks. Here's to many many more than 12 years as well!

    Hope you are feeling better to celebrate this milestone.

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  3. Hope you feel better soon!

    Lovely wedding photos.

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  4. What a gorgeous wedding dress. I love the train. I've always wanted to wear a vintage wedding dress. If I get married some day, I'd love to wear my grandmother's gown from the 1940s or my mother's gown from the 1960s. I just hope they fit since I am several inches taller than both of them.

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  5. Miss Ephemera you look beautiful (as always)...congratulations to you both!
    c.

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  6. Happy anniversary Sheila! What a neat post, I really enjoyed the pictures. Your wedding dress was truly stunning. I just love how happy you looked - lit from within.

    Hope you're on the mend today!!

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  7. Thanks everyone for your good wishes. I'm off to work today, even though I still feel horrid.

    Alison, that's so cool - congratulations to you!

    Thanks, Wendy, Mervat and MM.

    Cat, hopefully, you can alter one of the dresses so that it fits.

    Celia, is that you? Thanks!

    Thanks, Trace! Feeling okay.

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  8. you are feeling better. Thank you for sharing your lovely wedding pics.

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  9. Thanks so much for sharing these, Sheila, and the WONDERFUL accompanying stories. And my gosh, congrats on 12 great years!

    Take care of you and feel better soon.

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  10. You two look so great! That train is fantastic. My mom has said a few times that she would like me to wear her wedding dress when it's my time to walk down the aisle, but I don't like hers as much as I like your mom's!

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  11. Oh my gosh! You looked gorgeous, and the stories behind your dress and L's jacket is so lovely.
    i wish you both the best and many more years of happiness :-)

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  12. Thanks, Jane.

    Lain, thanks - it was fun going through them.

    Sal, no problem. Hey, haven't killed him yet, haha.

    Thanks, Kelly! Yeah, I lucked out that my dress was a pretty classic style.

    Thanks, Diane. I really appreciate it.

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  13. Happy Anniversary(slightly belated)!
    You both look gorgeous and how awesome that you fit in your mum's dress! I wish I had even a chance of fitting into my mum's but she's a very very petite 5'3" and I'm a monster comparatively at 5'7" and broad shouldered (among other things). Oh, and L's jacket is to die for!

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  14. Thanks, Leigh-Anna! I barely fit into the dress (she wouldn't give it to me until a week before the wedding!), so I was lucky it fit. Maybe you'll have a daughter or niece one day who will wear your mom's? Or you can start a new tradition with your own!

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  15. I wonder if Meghan Markle found your blog, her wedding dress has the same clean lined elegance as yours/mom. You looked lovely!

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  16. Oh how beautiful! All of this! You two are so much fun!

    Shelbee
    www.shelbeeontheedge.com

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