Dresses

I've been thinking a lot about what I want to wear to my wedding. Clothing gets more complicated with a lesbian wedding. Do you both wear dresses? Does one of you wear a suit? Or something more like a suit than like a dress? And if you go for dresses, does that mean two big white pouffy confections? There's got to be some middle ground... right? Something that's classy but not over the top?

I just can't imagine both of us in white wedding gowns. That's not to say this isn't an option - it works for some people (like the lovely two brides) and it can be lovely. But personally, I just can't picture it. There's a limit to how much white satin I can take, and at this point, one wedding dress might be over that line, never mind two.

If we had gender roles in our relationship, we could follow a more traditional look - one in a dress, one in a suit/tux. But we don't. We're not a butch-femme relationship by any stretch of the imagination. And mostly, neither of us would want to wear a suit. We like getting fancied up in pretty dresses!

Which leaves us, as with so many things in this non-traditional wedding, to chart our own path through the world of fashion. And you know what? I'm pretty excited about going non-traditional in our dresses. White is not my color.

I don't know yet what I want my dress to look like, but we've got some good ideas for L's dress. While visiting some friends over Christmastime, we saw an exhibit of Yves Saint Laurent's couture, and L fell in love with one of the skirts there. It was a big bell skirt in black satin, with abstracty-leaf-type shapes appliqued all over in oranges, reds, and yellows.

So, we're going to make her dress (or maybe skirt/top combination) with that skirt as the inspiration. And if we're making her dress, we might as well make mine too.

And when I say we... I'm actually hoping that my mom will do most of the sewing.... I haven't asked her yet, but I've already penciled her in on my mental wedding to-do list. Hope she agrees!