K wrote:
I'm a recent follower of your blog, and I just love your idea boards for outfits. I'm a newlywed, and my husband is British, so I definitely am looking forward to your posts from the UK. His best friend is coming over from London and getting married in 3 weeks, and I'm stuck on an outfit. Do you have any recommendations for a late September wedding? The wedding itself is in a church that doesn't allow bare shoulders, and I'm pretty short (5'2") and as for my figure...well, as my husband likes to say, I'm his "little Joan Holloway." I'm just stuck since it's a transition month. I don't feel quite right wearing my brighter summer dresses, but it's not quite fall here either. Also, the rehearsal dinner is going to be an evening river cruise if you have any ideas on that, too! Thank you so much for any help you could provide! I want to make a good impression, since a lot of his friends that I haven't met yet are coming.
Well K, here goes! And if you see anything you like, click on it and you'll be redirected to the retailer where you can purchase it!
I agree that summery frocks won't work. My suggestion for this transitional time is to pick solid colors and let your accessories or the cut of your dress do the talking, at least for the wedding. Great transitional colors are shades of purple, grey, dark blues, mauve/berry colors and deep greens or teals.
This is my first suggestion for a wedding ensemble:
I am not short... actually about 6 inches taller than you, but I'm a curvy Joan Holloway type of gal too and I always find that Calvin Klein dresses fit me perfectly and look beautiful for special occasions! A few good points about this one: 1. Purple is HUGE this Fall and while it's popular for Fall this year! It's everywhere! 2. The jacket can be worn in the church and then removed when you ultimately consume too many beers with your hubs's Brit buddies and rock the boogie on the dance floor. 3. In my experience with friends or family getting married overseas, they tend to be a bit conservative at weddings while fashionable at the same time. This dress accomplishes that! Because the dress is fairly simple, you can experiment with textures or bows on the shoes and clutch, but I'd keep it classic.
Option 2:
Capped sleeves seem to be a youthful option for what's required, although if this dress option is too bare, you can always use a wrap, bolero, shrug or shawl to cover your shoulders for the ceremony. I think if you have fab curves like Joan's you should totally rock them like she does! I love this ensemble because the Aubergine color is rich, sophisticated and works as a neutral so you can play with your accessories. I have chosen rose gold, champagne and mauves keeping the accessories low-key while still fabulous and sassy, but you could pretty much wear any color of shoes, bag and jewelry you like with this color and style of dress. Obviously the metallics make it all the more formal.
Option 3:
This last dress is very sexy and sophisticated while being completely appropriate at the same time! Everyone says don't wear black to weddings, but nobody said anything about grey! I think wearing a grey dress and putting in little pops of color is so chic and brightens up the look. Again I chose deeper shades to bring it closer to Fall using berry colors, which I think look so beautiful with grey! The long ruffle down the front of this dress will elongate you and make you look a little taller and the best thing about this dress is that you could literally wear it everywhere forever!!!
The rehearsal dinner is a different animal and with it being a river cruise, a few more things need to be thought about while chosing your ensemble. You need shoes that you can stand up in during a wobbly ride that will only get more wobbly after a few bevies! Another thing to consider is the temperature on the water. I once took the New York City dinner cruise in September. It was 85 degrees outside, but once the sun had set and the boat got going, I was frozen! So you need to dress a little warmer than you would normally and I think a great way to do this is with tights. A wrap or cardigan might come in handy as well. Finally, it's difficult to judge how formal a rehearsal dinner will be. Mine was a BBQ, but others I've been to were more formal. I think a dress with cute accessories is fine for a rehearsal dinner and if it's on a boat, it's probably not super formal. I think you can dress a little more fun at this event than you can at the wedding. Here are my suggestions.
Option 1:
This dress is a great shape for a gal with curves! The wrapping at the waste is slimming and highlights other areas making it sexy! However it's not too short or too low-cut so it's perfect! Wear it with ribbed tights and pumps to make your legs look longer. Also, I have added in red lipstick and a red clutch for the pop of color effect. Red is a big color for Fall this year and red lips seem to be everywhere this year. Keep the accessories in silver and grey but for the rehearsal dinner I think you can take a few more risks. The heels are sturdy so they should fair the high seas well while keeping you up on your feet! I actually really love this outfit! If you're not feeling bold enough for the red, you can totally use berry colors to get the same effect as in the last look.
Option 2:
This dress is bright, but tamed down by the black pattern on it, so I personally think it's perfect for the transitional period between summer and fall! Because this dress is so bright, let it do the talking and keep the accessories to black and silver. Wedges are a good option on a rocking boat for stability. Nearly everything in this ensemble is Tory Burch... seriously, who doesn't love Tory Burch?!
Option 3:
If the event is more formal you can still wear tights, but go with opaque and give up the stability of clunky shoes... just make sure you're holding onto your hubs so you don't fall overboard! I love this Milly dress! It's dressy and chic but the polkadot overlay makes it fashionably festive while the ribbon belt is super slimming! Of course you could opt for plain gold jewelry, but I thought I'd play off the dots on the dress with these adorable Kate Spade earrings and bracelet that seem to match perfectly! With a dress like this the shoes and tights should be simple and a necklace would simply be too much!
I hope this helps and that you have a fabulous time at the wedding! I'm sure you'll look beautiful and everyone will love you no matter what you wear! Remember that confidence and a smile are a gal's two best accessories and you'll knock em dead!
And if anyone else has any questions or ideas for posts, please feel free to e-mail them to ashley@pinkjulepabroad.com.
xoxo,
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