The Bride’s Look

The Dress

Both of my sisters found their dresses at Emily Hart off 119th and Metcalf, and that was the first (and, in the end, only) place I went.

I brought my mother, her wedding dress, my grandmothers’ wedding dresses, and a Pinterest page with dress inspirations. Our attendant Sarah immediately got excited and filled with ideas and whisked off to return with 6 dresses to try on.

“The dress” was the first one I tried on. I was just staring at it and finally like, “there is absolutely nothing wrong with this dress…but it’s the first one! It can’t be ‘the dress.’”

I tried on all the others, but we put my dress back on at the end. She placed a veil on my head and had me walk toward a mirror imagining John at the end of the aisle.

Ah! There are the sparks! Beautiful!

I said yes to the dress!

It was a very fun and nerve wracking day. The process is different for every bride. I was just happy to have found a dress within budget that I adored.

Practicalities: Emily Hart dresses generally range from $1800-$2200, but they have options that get closer to the $4000-$5000 mark. Their attendants are very respectful of your budget from the beginning, asking about veil plans, jewelry, etc. FYI, depending on the veil, you could be looking at $500-$1000, especially if you’re in love with a cathedral or a statement veil (lol like me).

Unsolicited advice: budget out what you’re willing to pay for the dress, shoes, veil, jewelry, etc. Then when you come into a dress shop with your budget, you’re not crammed for the other items or looking at (and potentially falling in love with) a dress that is going to push your budget.

Accessories

1) Pendant: I asked my two sisters for help choosing my jewelry, as they have a better eye than I do. Well, I was still being picky as they sent picture after picture of all sorts of options. Eventually, one of them brought her jewelry box, and we tried her silver, pearl, and diamond items. The pendant was STUNNING, and I could just imagine it complimenting the sweetheart neckline perfectly! I borrowed it for my wedding day. It ended up being more special to me because it was a family member’s than if I had purchased something.

2) Leaf and Pearl Crown: originally, I wanted to go with a crown of live flowers like my great grandmother. However, the more I looked into it, the more I found that brides who had live flower crowns only had one or two really good photos, and the rest either had a wilted flower, or they looked ragged from the day, etc. Having a wedding in Kansas during the middle of the hottest month of the year… I decided to go with something elegant, with a touch of BOHO instead. I loved it and am so happy I changed! My hair stylist Natalie really made it look beautiful!

3) TOMS: Leading up to the wedding, I was regretful and waffling about the decision to wear TOMS all the way up to the day of the wedding, thinking I would feel silly or not sexy or they would ruin the look. Now, post-wedding, I would never change it. They were beautiful, sweet, comfortable, simple, matched my BOHO vibe. I simply loved them! They weren’t selling the bridal TOMS on the official site, so I purchased mine on the Poshmark app (another suggestion from my helpful sisters).

4) Brides with Glasses: when making the decision to wear glasses or not on your wedding day, ask yourself, “When I get to heaven, is God going to hand me a pair of glasses because that’s what I fu***** look like?” If the answer is “yes,” wear those glasses girl!! I would have felt like I wasn’t myself without them, even though it would have been gorgeous either way. In anticipation of the wedding day, I bought my yearly pair from my insurance with the wedding in mind.