October 2001"As we are getting married and having our reception in an English Castle, we felt that our outfits needed to be rather grand and reflect the venue."
by Gill Cheshire
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So far so good. Everything most definitely seems to be running smoothly and to plan. Anyone who knows me knows how fastidiously organised I like to be and that I like to plan a long way in advance. So, looking for wedding outfits a year in advance of the wedding seems normal to me.
Andy and I are both looking for a simple and elegant wedding, without the frills and the wedding tack that seems to be par for the course these days.
Bear in mind that Andy and I are organising the whole thing ourselves. Therefore, it seems only right that we chose our outfits together. We don't have any secrets and when planning something together as special as our wedding day, I want him to be totally happy with my outfit and likewise mine with his.
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I have ignored my friends who keep telling me it's bad luck for the bridegroom to see your outfit beforehand. Believe me, I have had so much bad luck in my lifetime that it would be difficult to have much more.
As we are getting married and having our reception in an English Castle, we felt that our outfits needed to be rather grand and reflect the venue. We started off looking at wedding dresses. The assistants were impressed to see Andy with me and are becoming quite used to men coming along with their brides-to-be. They only wished more men would come along.
Andy picked out all the outfits that he liked and then a mammoth trying on session began. What looks great on a hanger can look terrible once it's on and you really do need to know what suits your body shape and what doesn't. We narrowed down to a few outfits and made a note of what they were, although none of them were quite what I had in mind.
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We turned our attention to Andy's outfit. Much that applies to the female body also applies to the male. Andy is dark haired, and when he tried a cream jacket on it did absolutely nothing for him at all (apart from make me laugh). We didn't want the traditional morning dress as it really wasn't appropriate for our venue and we were looking for something a little more regal. There were a number of velvet jackets in various colours and I picked out a bottle green one. The assistant picked out a cream wing collar shirt, gold cravat and Fleurs de Lys waistcoat, pocket watch and black trousers finished off with a green tiepin and he looked the part. His outfit was sorted before mine!
A few weeks passed and we decided to tackle my dress again. In the meantime, I had made up a storyboard. I had ripped apart the wedding magazines I had purchased and stuck ideas of outfits I liked on the same board showing the look I was after.
Armed with my board we went to an all under one roof wedding shop specialising in invitations, dresses, photographers, etc. Andy was with me and again the shop was delighted to see him (although some of the other brides didn't seem so keen). The pair of us selected items by placing a coloured disk on the ones we liked. Then, an assistant assigned to us systematically helped me try on different outfits. We spent four hours in this shop whittling down the choices, but again nothing was quite what we were after. We then started to look at separates and came across a really nice strapless bodice in cream with gold embroidery. I tried this on with a cream skirt but it was too plain and I felt it needed a gold skirt to pick out the embroidery of the top. Fortunately, the assistant managed to find one. It lifted the outfit completely and was absolutely perfect. It was just the look I was after. It was elegant and simple - a full gold skirt and a cream bodice with gold embroidery. It looked more like a ballgown which was definitely what I was after. I felt like a princess.
The assistant, also, appeared with a gold organza cloak (with hood) and, as I wasn't intending to wear any headress, this completed the outfit. The outfit is very romantic but also absolutely perfect for an evening wedding in a castle. Complemented by embroidered boots I can honestly say I had found my outfit. So much so that I spent the next hour in my outfit before taking it off. I really felt good and comfortable in it and it looked good on me. Although it was expensive it was worth every penny for the look I was after on my special day (besides which I can probably wear it again to a ball).
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