By Sara
When Style Lush reader, Jessica, wrote in asking for help finding a wedding dress for her late summer nuptials I was excited. But when I finished her email I was FLOORED because not only is Jessica getting married she's ELOPING to PARIS! It's just so incredibly romantic and she deserves a perfect dress for her perfect day.
Here's her email:
My fiance and I recently decided to throw the stress and planning and cost of a big traditional wedding to the wind, and elope in Paris THIS summer! We are thrilled, and cannot wait for our trip. My dilemma is finding the perfect Parisian inspired wardrobe before we leave. We will be headed to Paris in late August, early September so I'd love to have lots of options for exploring the city and a perfect ceremony dress. I love the idea of romantic dresses that you can walk around the city in all day, and then dress up with a few accessories and be ready for night. The ceremony dress is what I'm most excited about--I am not into the traditional dress, and not even tied to the dress being in the white family. I love the 20's style dresses I've seen recently in movies like Midnight in Paris. We currently live in the Chicago suburbs, so have a wide array of shopping at our fingertips, I'm just not sure where to start! Any ideas on stores to hit up would be great, or options that you've seen!
I KNOW. Paris! Summertime! Eloping! Be still my heart. But back to the main question: Jessica needs a ceremony dress and she wants something different, unique, wedding-ish but doesn't scream I JUST GOT MARRIED! This is a tough one because there are so many amazing sources for a beautiful dress. While searching I stayed close to "white" but tried to branch out into short dresses, long dresses, fun dresses, and dresses that could possibly be dyed if she ultimately decides against white. Most of these are available online but I have a few great local sources for her too. Here we go!
Starting with the short dresses:
Tory Burch Berdine Eyelet Dress, $395
Tory Burch Darya Silk Dress, on sale $180
Mark and James by Badgley Mischka Cap Sleeve Dress, $322
Retro Inspired Dress by Sue Wong at EDressMe, $458
Amsale Little White Madge Dress, price available upon request
Alberta Ferretti Bead-embellished tulle and silk, $1880
(Ok, hush, I KNOW it's expensive. But it's gorgeous. And perfect. I had to include it. I HAD TO.)
Penny Cocktail Dress, RSchone at Etsy, $788
BHLDN Spotted Glimmer Dress, $300
BHLDN Beams of Light Dress, $850
(I do believe one of our treasured SL writers, Leah, wore this exact dress for her wedding!
Yes, she did, see?)
Leah and Simon, April 24, 2011, shamelessly "borrowed" from her site here.
And moving onto the long gowns:
Sue Wong Embellished Ruffle Skirt Gown, $518
Theia Embellished Organza Gown, $995
Sue Wong Spaghetti Strap Embroidered Gown, $538
Tadashi Shoji Cap Sleeve Lace Gown, $565
Aidan Mattox Sweetheart Gown and Beaded Cape, $580
BHLDN Niceties Dress in Gray, $350
1930s Asymmetrical Halter Gown, Rschone at Etsy, $1258
1930s Inspired Bias Cut Gown, Rschone at Etsy, $1558
1930s Draped V Neck Art Deco Gown, Rschone at Etsy, $1228
How about a few accessories?
BHLDN Spirit of the Moment Heels, $475
BHLDN Criss Cross T-Straps, $285
The "Jennifer" Headpiece by Alice Padrul, price available upon request
I also know of a few local stores in the Chicagoland area that may have some great options for Jessica. She can check out Weddings 826, Wedding Belles, The Bridal Boutique of Naperville, and Le Dress. I have it on good authority that Le Dress is AMAZING and can outfit you in any dress for any occasion. It's not a wedding specialty or focused shop but has many options for a bride looking for that something different.
Jessica, we wish you the best of luck in your dress search and hope you have been inspired by some of the options here. We would love to see photos of your romantic elopement when you return! Best wishes for a lifetime of happiness together!
ooh, this is timely since I am eloping to Italy at the beginning of September! There probably isn't time to order a traditional wedding gown from a bridal store, but if you want to go that route, you can try looking for a pre-owned dress on recycledbride and preownedweddingdresses.com. I'm looking for something for a civil ceremony before we leave and may have to investigate some of the options in this post!
Posted by: Danielle | June 19, 2012 at 12:33 PM
I love this post! I wanna elope to Paris tooooooo! (And I LOVE LOVE LOVE my dress; so glad to see it included as an option.)
Posted by: agirlandaboy | June 19, 2012 at 12:57 PM
It's a little on the short side but I love this dress. And it's perfectly named:
http://www.betabrand.com/women/elope-dress.html
Posted by: Catherine | June 19, 2012 at 02:09 PM
Oh, Congratulations & bonne chance! I was going to suggest BHLDN (all of it!) and also Xtabay Vintage. It is a GREAT vintage store in Portland, but she ships everywhere and has a bridal shop. Her dresses are lovely and the owner is so nice to work with. I think she has some wedding dresses highlighted right now on her blog -not a paid comment, I just drool over her dresses.
Posted by: elz | June 19, 2012 at 03:35 PM
Thank you Sara for this amazing post and all of your research, I love all the options you provided and appreciate the time you took! Thanks also to readers for the suggestions above!
Posted by: Jess | June 19, 2012 at 04:03 PM
That Alberta Ferretti dress is amazing.
Posted by: Blythe | June 19, 2012 at 05:17 PM