Sassy Shoes

Online shopping has always been something that I would only do for non-wearable purchases, like books and electronics. I've always made clothing and shoe purchases at physical store locations. This is for a few reasons:

1. I don't like paying for shipping, especially if the item isn't already at a discounted price.




2. If something doesn't fit, match, or just look good when I get it home, I want to be able to return or exchange without a problem or the expense of return shipping.




3. I am an odd "smedium" size, and I almost always have to try things on to really be sure they fit. Generally, the best fit for me would be things like a "smedium" shirt or an 8 3/4 shoe.
   

For these reasons, I really went out on a limb when I decided to order my wedding shoes online. I've been looking for a very high-heeled (at least 3.75") wedding shoe. I had no idea how hard this task would be. Is there some unwritten rule that says wedding shoes must be lower than 3" in the block heel, and somewhat resemble the the first heels you ever wore when you were 12? Sure, you want a comfortable shoe, but does it really have to be the same one the flower girl is wearing? I'll get some comfort shoes as my backup pair, but I really wanted something elegant, but still a little sexy, especially for the garter retrieval portion of the evening. It may be a little paranoia on my part, but I just imagine that for that moment everyone will be looking right at my feet! So I sure better have on some great shoes! I have been looking at wedding shoes on the web and in stores for months, and just couldn't find THE shoe . . . . until Wednesday. I was on Zappos.com, and there they were:

I fell in love at first site! They actually have a 5" heel, but also a slight platform, so they really only feel like 4". I looked at Zappos because they have free shipping and a great return policy, which I just figure is insurance in case my purchase decision was just horribly wrong. The reviews all said that the shoes were surprisingly comfortable, so I ordered them. That evening, I received an email that my shoes were shipped. To thank me for my purchase, and since they had some flexibility, Zappos was upgrading my shipping at no charge. Instead of waiting 4 -6 business days, I got my shoes the very next day! They feel good, look great, and fit perfectly. FI likes them, too. I will definitely purchase from Zappos again. My first experience online shoe shopping was a great one. They had a very good selection of bridal shoes at reasonable prices.

Miss Capitol Hill Wedding Recap - The Big Reveal

Like many couples, fiance and I chose to see each other before the wedding so we could have more time for pictures and not take time away from being with our guests.  For us this was a good decision and I really like the moment we had to ourselves before we started out. 

All photos below the work of Linda Wallace 

^Fiance came and I got me in my room

^He looks impressed enough I think ;)

^Time for the twril

^Gotta check out the back

^This is my "i have on lipstick so don't mess it up" kiss

^Wow, we're actually getting married

^Time to go meet our families for pictures

^Here we come down the stairs to see our families 

^Look how happy everyone is!  This was as good as walking into the church for the first time

Vendors So Far:

Video- Monachetti

Photography - Linda Wallace

Hair/Makeup- Daphne Latham

Dress Designer - Vwidon

Dress Salon - Promise for the Saavy Bride

Shoes - Vera Wang new from Ebay

Bracelet- Carolee

Veil- Occansey Design 

Miss Capitol Hill Wedding Recap - Getting Ready

Now that you guys have already seen my awesome wedding video, I'll start the recap of the day in photos.  All the photos below are the work of our wonderful photographer, Linda Wallace. I've spoken before about how I chose my photographer and we were really happy with Linda's work. We got over 1,000 photos!  And for the price...I feel like we got the steal of a century. 

Much like my preferences with video, I really wanted a more photojournalistic style.  Not that I don't love all those photos of brides jumping in the air (actually I hate those) or everyone standing in a wheat field (yes I do like these), but I wanted more of a journal of the day as it actually happened.   I just feel that these photos will stand the test of time better.  

That's not to say we don't have posed photos...just not a ton.   

Of course it all begins with the getting ready....

Remember you can click to enlarge!

^Here I am with my great and incredibly affordable Charlottesville based hair & makeup artist, Daphne Latham.  She was so much fun to have around. 

^Daphne's kick-a$$ tattoo

^Talking with bridesmaids/family as I get ready

^I wanted a lot of curl since it's the opposite of how I normally wear my hair.  Daphne made the curls very tight so that they would loosen the closer we got to the ceremony. 

^I had a room all my own to get ready in that was next to my bridesmaid's room, my sister's room, and my sister-in-law's room.  I liked this cause people could come in and out and chat but everyone had their own space to go back to and get ready. 

^Here I am checking out the makeup in natural light. That's my dress behind me!

^There is my beautiful Vwidon dress from Promise for the Savvy Bride that I blogged about forever ago. To my knowledge this is now the only picture of this particular style anywhere online.  

^And here are my awesome Red Satin Vera Wang shoes (if you remember, I got these brand new on Ebay for a steal)

^ I got so many compliments on my shoes all night long.  If you are on the fence about colored shoes then all I can say is "DO IT!" It was so much fun.  And remember, your guests don't read wedding blogs all day, so they have no idea that this is a huge trend.  So many friends and family members thought I was so "original." Ha...if only they knew how un-original I really was!

^Now I've slipped into my dress.  And I got into my dress all by myself! I never really understood why it takes 8 bridesmaids to put on a wedding dress. Mine was easy to get in and out of.  

^Here I am putting on my wedding bracelet from Carolee that I loved. 

^Getting ready to put on my shoes.  

^ Look! I could put my shoes on all by myself too!  Though I did have proper bridesmaid supervision. 

^And now it's time to put the veil on

^Daphne getting things just right 

^I wouldn't say all that fretting I did over veil length was worth it, but I was pretty happy with the length of my Occansey Designs veil.  It was long, but not so long I felt like I had to keep up with it. 

^I must not look too shabby if I got looks like this from my bridesmaids. 

^Here I am...all done....ready for the big reveal.  

 Next up: the total look and seeing soon-to-be husband for the first time. 

Dress? Check; Shoes? ...

Since purchasing my wedding dress waaaay back in March, I've been on the look out for the perfect pair of wedding shoes. A long time ago before I even got engaged, I saw a picture on The Preppy Wedding of the most perfect wedding shoe EVER. Meet the J. Crew Big Bow heel: white dye-able satin, with a big flat preppy bow on it, and a nice low heel!

Beautiful, [sigh]...from J. Crew via The Preppy Wedding.

Sadly, J. Crew stocked this shoe so long ago and it was so popular, it no longer existed by the time this girl was in the market for white dye-able shoes. Boo. I cruise e-Bay for it occasionally, but no luck yet.

So with the perfect preppy shoes out, I decided I wanted blue shoes! Haven't much luck with shoes the perfect shade of blue either. Still contemplating dye-ables, but I'm not crazy about the styles.

On Zappos today, this little number caught my eye:

from www.zappos.com

They don't blow my mind, but they are pretty cute. Bow? Check! Low heel so I can look adorable and hit Mr. Fairfax's shoulder with my pretty little head in just the right place while simultaneously not sinking into the grass at our outdoor ceremony? Check! Check! Grosgrain trim? CHECK! Plus my dress has a horizontally pleated top and so I'm looking for anywhere I can incorporate stripes or the semblance of such. I'm ordering them tonight to check 'em out. Yay for free returns with Zappos!

One of the fringe benefits of having bought a dress on the cheap is it makes it really difficult to rationalize crazy wedding purchases. Example, in a world were the wedding budget had no limit, these would be my shoes of choice:

from www.myglassslipper.com

However, I cannot justify purchasing white shoes that cost roughly half what my DRESS cost. But believe me you, if I see these on e-Bay, Mr. Stuart Weitzman will be walking me down the aisle along with my dad.

A couple other shoes I've considered are these two pairs of flats from Blue Tux:

from www.bluetuxshoes.com

The Elise, above, is the closest thing I've seen to my dreamy J. Crew shoes. Pro: They are dye-able so I could have blue shoes AND shoes with a bow! Con: They might be a little too flat, I think my dress needs me to have a smidge of height above my 5' 6". Also they're pretty pricey as they fall in the $100 range. This would definitely be a splurge.

Below are the Sophie also from Blue Tux. Adorable right? Pro: BOWS! Love the bows. Con: Even flatter than the Elise...and maybe a little flower girly?

from www.bluetuxshoes.com

Have you purchased your wedding shoes yet?