For the past three months, I’ve mentioned a few times on this blog and in my Twitter feed that I’m standing in a friend’s wedding, serving as a bridesmaid.

To date, I’ve been a bridesmaid in two other weddings, my sister’s and another friend, and you know the old saying... well screw the old saying because I could care less.

The two weddings I participated in took place in the spring time and both required me to wear a floor length burgundy coloured dress. Being a little green behind the ears at that age, I couldn’t didn’t put up a fuss of what to wear because I wasn’t given a choice.

I won’t go into too much detail of what the dresses looked like but I will say when reflecting on what I had to wear, I shudder at the thought and breathe a sigh of relief that bridal fashion has come a long way since the 90s and early 2000s.

For the third wedding I’m standing in (just a few days away), myself and the other bridesmaids were fortunate to – as a collective – have a say in what we were going to wear. Luckily, on our first group shopping excursion we found and bought blush coloured cocktail style dresses from Mango at Yorkdale Mall.

A good example of a bridesmaid dress

However, prior to discovering the dress at Mango we did make a few stops at several boutiques specializing in bridal fashions. What greeted us as we entered the door at all three bridal boutiques nearly had me turn tail and run for the hills in horror – absolute horror. We were greeted by the most hideous formal and bridal dresses, the stuff found only in movies like My Big Fat Greek Wedding or in your nightmares.

In case you doubt my account, take a look like at two pictures I snapped onsite.

Bad Horrific examples of bridal fashions

Offensive huh! And these dresses are just the tip of the iceberg of what we came across. I should have taken more pictures to document this experience.

It boggles my mind dresses like this are, by some, considered fashionable and flattering for one’s figure. Secondly, I cannot image any bride in her right mind, in this day and age, who would make their friends wear such grotesque dresses in front of friends, family and the church.

If you happen to have been one of those unfortunate bridesmaids forced to wear a dress similar to the ones picture above, I feel your pain deeply. If you happen to be a bride on the hunt for the perfect dresses for your bridesmaids a word of advice, decide as a collective with your girls and avoid the colour burgundy.

Feeling surrounded by everything related to the dreaded “W” word – wedding? I am and we can all blame it on the royal nuptials between Will and Kate taking place this morning.

There seems to be no way of getting away from this wedding craze, both online and in my personal life. Being waist deep in wedding stuff is hard and stressful work; I just finished planning/hosting a bridal shower and bachelorette in one weekend and am now suffering the after effects – sleep depravity followed up with a cold.

Despite my grumbles about weddings, fashion plays a prominent role in the entire process; choosing a dress, accessories and shoes for the one of the most important events in a woman’s life is something that interests me, especially when I’m a mere spectator sitting in the church pews.

To add, I’m a big proponent of brides and bridesmaids choosing a well designed shoe that can be worn after the wedding is done. My footwear preference leans towards those made of leather, inside and out for the utmost comfort, as well as making sure to break them in, in advance.

So let’s get this whole marriage business out of the way shall we? This week’s Shoe of the Moment is all about the wedding shoe, which does not necessarily have to be in white and composed of satin.

Gianmarco Lorenzi, corsage detail sandal

Shoe specifications:

• Outer, leather and patent leather
• Colour, beige and black
• Heel height, 15 cm
• Wedge height, 4.5 cm

Why I chose this shoe: Gianmarco Lorenzi’s sandal has feminine and retro elements in its design. The stiletto heel and corsage detailing is lovely and classic, particularly with its thin ankle strap and elegant lines. On the other hand, the white polka dots underneath the shoe and the inversed black platform, adds whimsy and funkiness.

Brian Atwood, felini suede peep-toe pumps

Shoe specifications:

• Outer, suede
• Colour, blue
• Heel height, 14 cm
• Platform height, 2 cm

Why I chose this shoe: for those brides and bridesmaids not afraid to inject colour into their outfit these blue suede shoes makes an unmistakable statement – white and satin footwear are not for you. The advantages of this Atwood shoe are having the ability to wear it multiple times for dressy occasions or those nights you want to go out and party.

Images gallery #1 from Far Fetch. Image gallery #2 from Net-a-Porter

Date: Sunday, May 29, 2011

Location: Waterside Inn, 15 Stavebank Road South, Mississauga, ON, L5G 2T2

Time: 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

“We would like to invite you and your bridesmaids to the ultimate girls day out in preparation for your special day. Toronto and GTA's top wedding vendors have collectively provided over $500 in gift certificates and vouchers, to help create your magical wedding day.”

Features:

• Complimentary drinks, appetizers and desserts
• A goody bag worth over $500!
• Over $1500 in prizes and giveaways
• Live hair and makeup transformations – see how we create stunning brides first hand
• Complimentary hair and makeup touch ups
• Tips on how to lose 5 – 10lbs for your wedding day + a one week menu plan

To purchase tickets visit at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1469257589/efbnen

For more information visit Dash Weddings at http://www.dashweddings.com

Image provided by Dash Weddings

This is part four, the last of a series of blog entries titled The Sari Experience. My good friend, Sabrina had an Indian wedding ceremony and I wore a sari to the event. I’ve written about my sari experiences; shopping for it, the fitting and finally the wedding. I hope you enjoyed reading these entries and come away with a few pointers should you have to get your own sari.

** Related blog entries:

•  The sari experience, part one: the preview 
• The sari experience, part two: shopping and choosing my first sari 
• The sari experience, part three: tailoring and the one minute sari

The final sari look

Ta da! What do you think? I’m quite happy with the entire look. Initially, I was worried that wearing a lot of embellishment – beading on the sari and choli, and jewellery – would be overpowering and I’d be lost in the outfit, but everything turned out really well.

I gave myself a lot of time to get ready for the wedding as I wasn’t quite sure if recreating the one minute sari look would happen in one minute. In actuality it took me 10 minutes to get the sari the way I wanted it; untangling myself once or twice in all the fabric, safety pinning places here and there, wrapping and rewrapping the sari so it would sit just right around my body.

As you look at the pictures, the sari doesn’t appear to consist of five metres of fabric but trust me it does. My mobility was limited and therefore I had to adopt a bit more patience and care than usual getting in and out of a car, walking up and down stairs while holding the sari so you don’t trip and go flying, and making sure the fabric didn’t catch or tear in the entire process.

Sabrina’s wedding was beautiful and I had a culturally enriching experience. It was a Hindu wedding ceremony and many sacred rituals (17 in total) were performed by the bride, groom and their families. The highlight of the night was being asked to participate in the jaimala, a portion of the ceremony where the bride is accompanied by her parents to the altar to meet the groom. Here, a group of Sabrina’s friends (me included) danced behind her and her parents to Indian drumming down the aisle. It was very memorable and a ton of fun, I wish I had my camera with me at that moment. Doh! 

Sari preparation tips on the day of the wedding:

• Putting on the one minute sari is fairly manageable; however, make sure to keep a handful of safety pins at the ready. There’s the likely chance you’ll be making adjustments to the positioning and draping of the fabric.
• Manoeuvring in a five metre piece of cloth isn’t easy, allow yourself plenty of time to get ready, in and out of a car, and the bathroom
• Speaking of the bathroom, be careful with all that fabric when you go to the toilet

This is part three of a series of blog entries titled The Sari Experience. My good friend, Sabrina is having an Indian wedding ceremony and I get to wear a sari to the event. I’ll be writing a series of blog entries about my sari experiences; shopping for it, the fitting and finally the wedding. I hope you enjoy reading these entries and come away with a few pointers should you have to get your own sari.

** Related blog entries:

•  The sari experience, part one: the preview 
• The sari experience, part two: shopping and choosing my first sari 

Tailoring and the one minute sari

GTA Mall is a one stop shopping centre for all things sari. I was lucky enough to purchase all the components for my sari within 45 minutes of walking into the first two stores: petticoat, material for the choli and jewellery. To complete the outfit I had to visit a tailor who could create the choli and sew a one minute sari.

What is a one minute sari? The sari fabric is sewn together with several hook–and-eye closures, is pre-pleated making it one size fits all and lessens the stress of having to pleat all five meters of the fabric by yourself. As a result, you have a ready-to-wear garment where you literally wrap the sari material around your waist, throw the fabric over your shoulder and voila, you’re ready to go.

There are several tailors in the mall so Sabrina and I randomly picked one on the second floor, Crown Tailoring. My seamstress was Chitra who has over 20 years of experience creating saris. It typically takes her 1.5 hours to create a sari and choli, however it would be two weeks before I could pick mine up as it was wedding season and she had a lot of customers waiting for theirs to be made.

Chitra demonstrates how to put on a one minute sari

After two weeks I came back to pick up my choli and sari. Chirta had everything ready and I fit both pieces. I’m definitely a novice when it comes to Indian dress as I put the choli on backwards giving Chitra and I a very good laugh. The bill came up to $48 for both the choli and the one minute sari.

Sari tailoring tips:

• Make sure to give yourself plenty of time to get the choli and sari made, because wedding season is very busy and it could take a while to have yours completed
• The choli is very fitted so don’t wear a heavily padded bra or plan to wear one
• Make sure all sections of the choli fits well, especially around the arms, bust and torso

Crown Tailoring, GTA Square Mall, 5215 Finch Ave East, Suite 215, Toronto, Ontario M1C 02C

(416) 609-2532

Weddings are a happy time celebrating the union between two people who love each other, but the dirty little secret is weddings are met with mixed emotions; a little fear, joy and frustration. You have to buy multiple gifts, attend multiple events or if you’re a bridesmaid be forced to wear a god awful, butt ugly dress for the ceremony – trust me, I know from firsthand experience.

However, these things get interesting when you attend a non-Western wedding. In a few weeks I’ll be going to my first Indian wedding ceremony, my good friend Sabrina is getting married and I get to wear a sari to the event. I’m extremely excited at the opportunity to go – we went to university together, swapped relationship advice and skipped philosophy lectures for extended lunches at Mr. Greeks.

I’ll be writing a series of blog entries about my sari experience; shopping for it, the fitting and finally the wedding. Now, let it be known I am (by no means) an expert on saris or choosing one, but I hope my blog posts will shed a little light, expand your fashion knowledge and serve as a reference in case you have to shop for a sari in the near future. So to start things off below are a few images previewing what’s to come.