Here's the story...
I purchased a beautiful floral ball gown that I love. It is quite heavy but my venue has AC so I thought it was an okay idea. Then, last week I broke my ankle which needed surgery, screws, and a plate. I will be on my feet and out of a boot/cast at the time of my wedding, but still going through physical therapy and will not be at 100%. My wedding is in June but this was a multiple fracture in a spot that I had previously fractured years back so recovery time is really unknown until I get the cast off and begin PT in a 6-8 weeks.
I am wondering if my dress will be too heavy to endure for the entire night with the recovering ankle injury. My Dr said that we really won't know if it will be a problem until about 2 months out. He said I might be hurting by the end of the night solely due to the ankle alone. Or, I might be fine! I was thinking about purchasing a short reception dress to have if I need to go that route.
Are reception dresses tacky? I found one that I love from BHLDN. Or, should I sell my original heavy dress and buy another one that is lighter that I can wear the entire night. (I don't even know if dancing will be an option depending on the healing process.) Lastly, should I wait until a month before the wedding to make the call before I do anything so I can see what progress I've made with recovery? What would you do given all the unknowns? I've got the big-girl panties on, so throw your ideas at me.
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Re: Reception Dress Change?
Sorry about your ankle...hopefully you recover fully and swiftly!
I think you should definitely get a second dress. It works be way worse to need it and not have it than to have it and not use it. No one should side eye you for making sure your recovery is smooth and as painless as possible.
As long as the dress change isn't affecting your ability to host I don't care. At the wedding I attended with a dress change, the couple went all out with their hosting down to a second dessert and fabric totes that served as the welcome bags. If you did an AWish dress change and I had to pay for my alcohol then I'd give you major side eye.
Another option, you could talk to a seamstress about your original dress to see if there's anything you could do to lighten it. Like hoops vs crinoline or something.
banana468 Plenty of food, plenty of free booze, dessert choice, and room for all. We did have a small budget but budgeted for the important things. A couple quick sales on ebay has payed for the reception dress, which I also purchased on ebay. It's crazy how cheap people resell wedding/reception dresses. I got a beauty for 49.99 that is a BHLDN originally for 370. At least I am having some luck lately!
Im in a boot right now and I feel your pain. It wears me out even though it isn't that much extra weight
my wedding was last year so I'm good
I don't know why people give a shit whether someone changes their clothes before the reception. I've been to two weddings where this was done and it was NBD.
One was my sister's - she wore a knee length, white-ish spring dress she already owned for the ceremony and spent her money on a party dress for the reception. Hardly "AWish".
The other was an Indian wedding - the bride's ceremony dress was an extremely heavy, traditional Indian wedding dress. It was beautiful, but she said there's no way she could have danced in it. Her husband also changed out of his traditional clothes. Again, hardly AWish.
We already pay boatloads of money for one-time-wear outfits, and most of us get, what, 6 hours of guest-facing time in that dress? So to cut it down to 2 or 3 hours seems even more wasteful.
I've never seen it done. As long as the dress isn't at the expense of hosting well, I wouldn't care. And OP definitely has a concern that makes a second, light dress very logical.
And FYI, a cash bar is ALWAYS tacky. It doesn't magically become tacky because someone has two dresses and a bad host doesn't become a bad host because she owns two dresses.
If someone has a cash bar, I'm judging the shit out of EVERYTHING at their wedding.
But a lot of the reasons I see on here are simply that people judge because it's "AWish". So someone decides they want two dresses? Ok. Someone else wants a limo. Someone else wants 3 flavors of cake (who doesn't?). Someone else wants their wedding in Vegas. It's all relative - everything could be considered AWish by somebody.
So I'm with you thisismynickname and GlamQueen...As long as guests are being hosted properly, who cares?
This is the dress that I chose for the reception. (Great deal on ebay!) Now I am on the hunt for some super duper comfy footwear that has arch and ankle support. I would do flats or sandals. I was going to buy some sneakers for under the big poofy dress, but now that you will end up seeing them with this dress I need something a bit more dressy. I have heard about tieks but the non-leather options aren't very cute. Any other suggestions of footwear that you've actually worn?
They sell shoes- their own brand- and they are quite well made with sole and heel. A ballet flat is not going to give you ankle support regardless, but if that's still something you want (just a nice, flat shoe), a store like above would be a good way to go. Most fashion flats make my feet and low back sore when I wear them (I have flat arches), but I have flats and boat shoes from Naturalizer, and I have no problems in either pair.
If you want actual ankle support, I would suggest a gladiator sandal that you could wear a basic nude coloured ankle brace under and it wouldn't be too noticeable.
The only time I ever care is if you do something to please yourself at the expense of pleasing your guests. I don't care if you arrive at your wedding in a fighter jet as long as I have plenty to eat and drink.
If I had a long dress, I would have found a nice short dress {obv not same price} to change into.
http://www.naturalizer.com/Mobile/ProductDetail.aspx?p=EC0217062
If the link doesn't work, do a search on their web site for "Joanie" and you should be able to find them. They're faux leather, have a slight heel (not too high), and look more supportive than the average flat or sandal.
http://www.modcloth.com/shop/shoes-sandals/twists-and-head-turns-sandal-in-petal
http://www.modcloth.com/shop/shoes-sandals/lark-who-goes-there-sandal