The Dress

I love these dresses by English Department on Etsy. Not in my tiny price range and not a style I could possibly wear, but I think they're beautiful.

Edit: I also love to read the blog written by the designer, Elizabeth Dye. 

I ordered a dress on Ebay pretty soon after we got engaged - I'd fallen in love with the cut and the plainness of it and I could imagine me wearing it and dressing it up with some vintagey accessories (planning to stick a birdcage on my head etc). The dress did not deliver. It delivered on being pretty and nice and not pricey at all. But the colour was off and it just didn't look right, actually, it didn't make me feel right. I've since kind of revised my words of wisdom on wedding dresses - I am still not at all in favour of spending thousands of dollars on something that makes you look like a piece of cake. I am equally not in favour of spending a lot of money on a dress you'll only wear for 4 hours. But it's got to be the right one - and it's got to make you feel good - so if you're looking online or on Etsy, you need to budget for having the dress you order altered so that it fits perfectly. And you've got to be quite ruthless - if it doesn't work, resell it. 

And, even if you order online - no one should miss out on the fun of trying on cakey dresses (and maybe also getting your awesome and mildly mad sister in law (to be) taking pictures in the changing room).

We went to Brides of Melbourne and at one point I had to hold my nose and lean against the mirror I was laughing so hard. I found most of the dresses horrid and the fabrics all felt nasty and cheap. And of course these dresses are all "custom made" because they are sewn together and constructed in China or Thailand, where it's cheap. I don't like that at all. I found one pretty amazing and affordable dress in a little shop that may just be it - it's a lot more weddingy than I thought I was every going to go, but maybe that's a good thing?