We love having East Side Bride pop over every few weeks with her totally candid advice for brides-to-be, but she has such a great fashion sense, we thought we’d have her over for some purely style-focused posts too. Bueno, right?
Here she goes with her take on rehearsal dinner dresses for many different sorts of brides.
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I’ve gotten a bunch of requests for rehearsal dinner dresses recently (WEDDING SEASON IS UPON US), so I figured I’d knock em all out in one big roundup.
For the bride who’s been “flip-flopping between ‘fun’ and prim – and can’t seem to find a balance,” the Rachel Comey Flippant Dress (via NOTCOUTURE) or the Madewell Floral Croquet Dress.
For the bride whose rehearsal dinner is doubling as a tea ceremony for her fiancé’s Chinese-Vietnamese family, Diane von Furstenberg’s New Julian Wrap Dress or Deianira Faux Wrap Dress.
(This was a tough one. The bride explained that ideally she’d wear a red cheongsam, but the sizes carried by the shops in her local Chinatown are too small for her. If only I could track down one of these Phillip Lims!)
For the bride who requested “A red carpet dress, A sequined, metallic New Year’s Eve number that will make me feel fabulous!” the Vince Cluster Sequin Silk Dress or the Halson Heritage Pleated Lamé Mini Dress.
And for the almost-too-cool-to-be-bothered bride, I’m a big fan of the ASOS WHITE Cupro Oversized Dress (via one of my fab readers).
A little piece of advice for all the brides out there? Just, please, don’t wear a white dress to the rehearsal dinner. It really kills the suspense.
Black
Pink
Metallic
Red
Green
Yellow
Rings
Dresses
Bridesmaids
Accessories
Flower Girl
Hairstyles
Some gorgeous styles there…. lovin the red dress
x
what a great post! I am bouncing back and forth between wearing something I already have or buying something new for our rehearsal dinner. then its the idea of do I go with white all weekend (rehearsal and the next day brunch) or wear whatever I want? decisions, decisions. xo
Only to add, in San Francisco’s Chinatown the bride always has her qipao/cheongsam custom made. You will still be too big, in theory, but the garment will fit:). Which brings to mind shopping in Shanghai with my 5′ 9″ daughter. Who is quite slender, but over there counted as a giantess of mythic proportions.
i have this theory that the halston dress would also be a solid choice for a bridesmaid to wear to a rehearsal dinner, say, in washington dc this june. dc needs more lame, no?
go on sale, halston dress. go on sale for me.
now I feel like I missed out, I totally wore jeans and a tank top to my rehearsal dinner! I had some killer sandals, though.
OH MY GOD THE HALSTON!
I’m the bride who’s been “flip-flopping between ‘fun’ and prim” and I am totally head over heels for the Madwell watercolor number. Such a great find! I also really liked the “save white for the wedding” advice, I’m definitely going to save that up for the big wedding dress reveal. Thanks a ton!
Shanghai Tang does cheongsam and they do cater to Western sizes. Oh how I covet!
http://www.shanghaitang.com/view-shanghai-tang-fashion-seasonal-looks
M, you rock!! (I had a sneaky feeling *somebody* would come through.)
I really love that sequinned number. Oh, sometimes living in Australia sucks.
that pleated silver one steals my heart!!
Woo! i love the Vince sequence dress! So glamorous….yet casual. (oversized short sleeves)
Help!!
I already bought a white dress. How can I accessorize it to keep from “killing the suspense??”
Kaydence, don’t worry about the white dress thing. If there is anything indie weddings preach, it’s to be yourself. If you wanted a white after-rehearsal dress, go for it! Unless it looks exactly like the wedding dress I really doubt there will be a problem.
My rehearsal dress is white too. It has big pink flowers, and I think it is absolutely wonderful. It is the polar opposite of my wedding dress, which is a lovely vintage dress that is a pretty cream color, but even if I had a white wedding dress I still wouldn’t care. I don’t think anything can “kill the suspense”, short of wearing your wedding dress on a daily basis the week before the wedding.
Great frocks