Wedding Recap: The Clothes

Now that I finally have wedding photos, I can write about my day and share how I saved money and still managed to throw (what I think was) a pretty nice wedding.  Rather than write a novel, I'm going to split this into two posts and first cover the clothes: 

The Bride
My dress was called Brookelyn by Maggie Sottero.  I didn't think I wanted a strapless dress at all, but once I tried it on I felt very bride-ey and called it a day.  Because this style is not from this year's collection, I was able to purchase a sample dress from a store in Dallas that serves as the outlet for a couple of high end stores.  (Check out A Bridal Closet at Willow Bend Mall if you're local) and paid $399 for what used to be a fairly expensive dress.  I learned that most new wedding gowns under $800 (my self-imposed limit, including tax and alterations) felt cheap and were poorly constructed, so I was happy to sacrifice newness for quality.

My shoes were called Prissy from Naturalizer and adorned with (borrowed) shoe clips and the jewelry was a mix of other borrowed and family pieces.  I purchased my jeweled headband from Etsy (the Claire series by Prim and Posies).

The Guys
N and I both agreed that proper tuxedos were not important to us, especially for a daytime wedding.  Rather than ask his friends to spend money on a rental, they took advantage of a buy one get one free suit sale at Mens Wearhouse and all ordered the same black wool blend suit.  As suits go, it was already on the cheap side and each guy ended up paying for half of one and then got to keep it.  We bought them all the same tie as part of their gift and they wore their own black shoes.  If this isn't the exact suit, it's very similar.  The sale is BOGO $100 right now, but keep watching for the free promotion.

The Girls
I found the bridesmaid dresses on the same day I found my gown in a streak of shopping luck.  My cousin and I walked into The Limited and there they were on the sale rack.  I bought every one they had in store and order a couple more online.  The dresses ended up being $55 and each girl was really excited to have something that's actually re-wearable.  I also purchased silver circle necklaces from Kohl's as part of the bridesmaid gifts, which I gave inside of a makeup bag in these monogrammed totes. (I got teal and navy because I liked them best with a white monogram)