[ Facebook ] Something Old

"There is no virtue whatsoever in creating clothing or accessories that are not practical." - Giorgio Armani

Wow, what a week it's been! Between the dresses that graced the red carpet at the Oscars and discussions of Sue Sylvester last week, I thought for sure I'd be a little closer to an idea of what kind of wedding dress I want to wow my audience...I mean guests with. Unfortunately, this has not been the case, and I am perhaps even more confused. From the ball gowns to mermaid silhouette. From strapless to full sleeves...I want them all!

"You know," said Katie L. to me the other day, as we were trying on the gowns in the showroom, "why don't you work backwards? I mean, that's how I dress every morning. I choose my accessories first, then match the shoes, then the handbag, and finally the actual clothes". She shoved her fluro watch from circa 1984, and her Converse high-top sneakers in my direction as proof of her accessorizing abilities.

So let's talk about accessories.

On any given day, I wear my basics: my ring, a necklace, and earrings. For my wedding day, I knew my accessories would revolve around the old saying something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. I had to be practical, after all. With a vague idea of my somethings old, new and blue figured out (earrings from our first anniversary, my new ring, and blue underwear), I really only needed to find something to borrow.

The history of this tradition is to borrow an item from a happily married friend of family member, whose good fortune is supposed to carry over to the new bride.

I certainly had not known that, and it definitely changed things for me, because I was thinking of borrowing Katie's fluro watch. Instead, I turned to Vivienne, my older sister happily married for six years now.

"Here, you can borrow Lily," she joked, referring to my 4-year-old niece. I mean, Lily's cute and everything, but I didn't really know how amazing I'd look with her strapped to my back, and would she even match my jewelry? I decided to use Lily as my flower girl, and continued pestering Vivienne about what I could actually wear on my big day.

Our Facebook fans flooded our wall with their something borrowed suggestions. Most of our Facebook brides will be borrowing jewelry and trinkets from mothers and grandmothers. While I would have loved to wear a piece of my mother's jewelry, unfortunately, most of my mother's jewelry were taken in a robbing spree down her neighborhood a few years back. So there I was, bugging Vivienne for my 'something borrowed'.

And then she brought something from the depths of her closest that I knew would be perfect, with whatever dress I ended up wearing.

A pair of Manolo Blahnik Sedaraby d'Orsay pumps. The ultimate accessory. My eyes welled up with the sheer thought of slipping them on my feet.

I'm suddenly not as hysterical about my lack of wedding dress. I feel that with whatever dress I wear, I have all the perfect accessories, a gorgeous flower girl, an amazing sister/maid of honor, and a man I love waiting at the end of the aisle.

And really....isn't that what the perfect wedding should be all about?

Posted by Jacqueline H.