Tag Archives: wedding

White by Wang

I got a little too hasty after Tuesday’s posting.  After following up on visa paperwork in the morning, I had a little time to kill before work.  Where else could I celebrate the wedding excitement other than David’s Bridal!  Now for those readers overseas or those not familiar with David’s Bridal, it was the epitome of middleclass, Midwestern elegance in my 5th-grade mind. Growing up in the city of Chicago, David’s Bridal had the mystique of something only found in suburban strip malls.  Although I am a chick, I am not the type of girl who has obsessed over planning my wedding since the days I thought David’s Bridal was haute chic. Hence, that’s what inspired my first stop on the wedding trail.  As someone with no budget, no set date, and no idea of what I am seeking out in a wedding dress, I figured I would start my search generically at David’s Bridal.

And generic is more or less what I got.  However, Vera Wang is producing a very urbane and modestly priced collection for the bridal chain, White by Vera Wang.  Every designer has attempted to design for the masses these days; last time I checked, she was unfortunately designing mattresses at Kohl’s.  But thanks to Vera, I didn’t need to try on any pieces from the strapless taffeta graveyard surrounding her collection at David’s Bridal.  I tried on a very demure ivory, v-necked, a-line gown with appliquéd lace on net. And heck, at $800, if I had money, I might be able to afford it!  The second gown was an ivory, one-shouldered, drop waist satin gown with a cascade of organza “flanges”.  This was definitely more in my world.  Although this dress was a little more formal than the modest courthouse affair our big day might become, I learned a few things from the experience.  I want to look more fashion than bridal!   And I never knew it before, but ivory is much better on me than white.  All things considered, although I had a pleasant trip to the bridal factory, my heart belongs to all things vintage!  And the search must go on!

En Vue de Mariage

Although I had initially set out of the make this a bi-coastal New Yorkaise/Parisienne food blog, my interests are slowly moving more permanently overseas.  My boyfriend and I have started the process of getting hitched Parisien style!  And a process it is!  Before I can start gushing about boutonnières and Jordan almonds, like all things French, there is an endless stack of paperwork that needs to transpire before the wedding plans can begin.  At this rate, I’ll need a notarized letter to get the handful of rambunctious Kaneloses into the country for the wedding. Although there’s a bevy of ‘How to Marry to French Guy!’ and ‘Yikes, I married a sexy Frenchman’ websites, none of them spell out the actual process.  Falling in love is the easy part.  Not to put a damper on the exciting prospects ahead by being so damn practical, but I will try to consolidate the months of the process into one whirlwind blog.  But I promise it will be much more amusing than French bureaucracy alone.

So in brief, I moved to Paris weeks after college graduation!  It was my way to learn a new language and escape the inevitable recession.  I worked as a jeune fille au pair; the domestic right of passage for any wide-eyed expat girl!  More on that later.  When I wasn’t blow-drying this small child’s hair or cutting her chicken cordon bleu into small pieces, I was out-and-about in the fine city of Paris!  Just months before I had planned to return to the States, I met C at my favorite little indie bar in the 11th arrondissement.  There was beer in plastic cups and the Smiths were in the background.  It was love at first sight.  But more on that later.  After two years of togetherness and several periods of long-distance, we are ready to take the next step to be together!  And that’s where you find me here now pondering out loud how to get Sarah Burton to design my wedding gown…