With my uncle getting married this Saturday (and only telling us back in January!) both myself and my sister have expressed our annoyance about how flipping hard it is to dress for a winter wedding. We've trawled the internet, searched high and low in the shops and even took a long awaited trip out to Bicester Village (because if we're going to find anything to wear to a wedding, we're going to find it there, right?!) alas to no avail however.
Whilst shopping around, we've noticed some of the most popular trends this year include lots of vintage and gothic lace with black and cream lace dresses EVERYWHERE at the moment. Vintage isn't just popular on the rails though, my sister also discovered when visiting The National Wedding Show that do-it-yourself vintage decor is also big in weddings this year.
Black Lace Cowl Neck Dress, £49 & Black Lace Peplum Dress, £45
I spotted these two lace dresses in British Home Stores (yes, BHS of all places!) which both looked beautiful on. However the first one I felt the neckline was just too low, and I wasn't willing to pay £49 for something I was only going to wear just the once. The second one looked better on me - according to all the strangers in the changing rooms! - but I just felt it was too old and the colours were a bit bland. Besides, according to my sister, Peplum has been done to death now - and I can't help but agree.
Vintage is a great way to dress for a wedding - big hair, deep red lips and just a touch of blusher - it's especially perfect for the fact that the bride-to-be for this upcoming wedding adores everything old school. However, the fact that it's winter poses a huge problem, even more so with the forecast of rain. It's so sad to see a beautiful dress covered up by a big winter coat and you can forget about finding a coat or jacket to match as well as being warm. It's impossible. I also noticed that lots of bold in-your-face floral prints are very popular at the moment - unfortunately none of these are quite suitable for a wedding which we're sure is going to be on a rainy day!
Although I adored the many gothic lace dresses and even tried on a few myself, I didn't feel they were quite right for a wedding. Some were far too long and dressy, others just had no shape. And Bicester was the worst - despite being a designer outlet centre, often you'll find a good bargain or two but this just wasn't the case when we visited recently.
I thought I almost had it when I spotted a beautiful flowing cream dress in Zara late one evening - it wasn't my usual style, but paired with a skinny belt it looked really cute being oversized but still showing off my shape. I didn't mind that it was cream (I was fed up by this point) but when I got home and saw my mum's and nan's faces I knew it was a no-no. Paired with the fact that when I tried it on again when I was home to actually discover it was actually very see through, and reminded that we'd be eating curry at the wedding, I had to give it up and start my search again. It just wasn't worth paying out extra for another slip to go beneath the dress, and as I'm such a messy eater as it is, it doesn't take a genious to work out that me in a cream dress + curry does not work out well.
Eventually I found a beautiful dress on Ebay this weekend just gone (cutting it fine, I know) and although my sister and mum weren't too keen by the images, it arrived today and looks much better on. At only £5, I wish I'd saved all the hassle and just looked on Ebay in the first place!
Eventually I found a beautiful dress on Ebay this weekend just gone (cutting it fine, I know) and although my sister and mum weren't too keen by the images, it arrived today and looks much better on. At only £5, I wish I'd saved all the hassle and just looked on Ebay in the first place!
P.S My sister has set up her own wedding business - she does wedding make up and designs flowers whilst even my mum is getting involved by doing cakes. My mum and sister are AMAZING what they do, so please do check out her website here! It's still getting set up but she is already taking orders of course.
