when to wear reception dress?

CaylaSummer

Hi everyone.

So i was thinking of wearing my reception dress during the dancing portion of the night. However I was also debatig whether I should wear it earlier. I was thinkingof doing wearing it after the first dance, bouquet and garter toss then wear it for the cake cutting. I would like to have pictures of my dress too before my photographer leaves for the night.

Thoughts?

Littlin

So you have two dresses if I understand correctly?

If you want pictures in two dresses, then make sure your photographer knows it so you can schedule it in.  I know some brides who wear one dress for their ceremony and pictures, then change for their reception entrance.  I would change early just in case, or make sure your expectations are clear in your photographer instructions!

achiduck

Definitely make your photographer aware of the two dress issue and time it accordingly.

if it were me, I would wear the ceremony dress for your grand entrance, dinner and first dance (maybe do the first dance right after your entrance but before dinner). If you're doing speeches right after dinner I'd change directly after your speeches (and maybe wait until after your Father-daughter dance if you're doing one) and then go change and be in the reception dress for the rest of the party, cake cutting, bouquet toss, etc.

naomikb

Ditto achiduck.

In the end it's up to you but if it were me, I would wear my ceremony dress until after the dinner, speeches, first dance.  Then switch into the party/reception dress for dancing, cake-cutting, garter/bouquet.

CaylaSummer

Thanks ladies. My reception dress is short and totally different than my gown so I don't think I want to do the garter toss with it on. By the way how high on my thigh is the garter supposed to be? Does it have to be hidden under the dress? haha..if it's suposed to be under my dress i don't think that will work with my reception dress...

@ achiduck...yeah i might change then for the cake cutting and bouquet toss.

Do you ladies think it's too much to have two dress for one day? I didn't plan on getting one at first but then I realized how uncomfortable (hot) I would be in my gown if I wear it all night. I love to dance so I want to defintely be able to move around and party you know what I mean?

naomikb

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_canada-toronto_wear-reception-dress?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:613Discussion:15c7ec04-948e-4427-b12e-8103ba95f2b8Post:8b5e9d11-f512-49cb-b63e-9ca8e75b4f53">Re: when to wear reception dress?</a>:
[QUOTE]Thanks ladies. My reception dress is short and totally different than my gown so I don't think I want to do the garter toss with it on. By the way how high on my thigh is the garter supposed to be? Does it have to be hidden under the dress? haha..if it's suposed to be under my dress i don't think that will work with my reception dress... @ achiduck...yeah i might change then for the cake cutting and bouquet toss. Do you ladies think it's too much to have two dress for one day? I didn't plan on getting one at first but then I realized how uncomfortable (hot) I would be in my gown if I wear it all night. I love to dance so I want to defintely be able to move around and party you know what I mean?
Posted by CaylaSummer[/QUOTE]
I'm paying a lot of money for my dress and I love it so I will definitely be wearing mine all day.  But I can understand if it's hot, and it's becoming more common for girls to have a second dress so if it's what you want to do and it's in your budget then go for it.

Usually the garter is worn about halfway up your thigh, but I've heard from other brides that before the garter toss you should pull it down to just above your knee (or at your knee) so it doesn't take quite so much effort/time/embarrassment for your FI to retrieve it.

CaylaSummer

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_canada-toronto_wear-reception-dress?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:613Discussion:15c7ec04-948e-4427-b12e-8103ba95f2b8Post:fee7802a-cb91-4862-aeb2-71da50985907">Re: when to wear reception dress?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: when to wear reception dress? : I'm paying a lot of money for my dress and I love it so I will definitely be wearing mine all day.  But I can understand if it's hot, and it's becoming more common for girls to have a second dress so if it's what you want to do and it's in your budget then go for it. Usually the garter is worn about halfway up your thigh, but I've heard from other brides that before the garter toss you should pull it down to just above your knee (or at your knee) so it doesn't take quite so much effort/time/embarrassment for your FI to retrieve it.
Posted by naomikb[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>Yeah I paid a lot too for my gown but honestly we are having 17 kids at the wedding and I'm scared one of the kids is going to run into me with a drink in their hand and spill it all over the gown. I want to sell my gown after the wedding so I don't mind paying that extra money for a reception dress rather than spending the money on having stains removed. Plus I'm scared that I would spill stuff on it too and it's covered in tulle so...</div><div> </div><div>Yes the dress is hot because when I had a fitting about 2 months ago, it was 22 degress outside and I was in an airconditioned place and I was sweating a bit. </div><div>I might lower the garter just above my knee because my FI is going to have to find my leg under the dress...lol!</div><div>
</div><div>I think it would make sense for me to do the dinner and speeches part, bouquet toss then gartess toss, first dance, change into the reception dress then cut the cake? Does this sound ok?</div><div>I think I would rather do the gartess toss with my gown but I know that the boquet toss has to come first before the garter so I that would not make any sense if I wore the reception dress anytime before that.

</div>

Littlin

I also loved my dress so much that I wanted to wear it forever.  I was hot in my fittings as well (its tight, there's pins, lots of lace, etc.), but I was fine on the day of once it was on (although I was sweating as my mom zipped it up - I have a picture of me cooling off with the freezer door open, lol).  My now SIL actually ran into me at the end of the night with a glass of white wine, but it came out with some club soda from the bar and I can't see it at all now.  I was so high on happy and love that I did not care one bit!

My garter itched a lot so I didn't end up wearing it past the ceremony, but we didn't do a garter toss at the reception.

Go for the reception dress - if you budgeted for it, it's not a problem, and to each their own.  It will make for great pictures!