My Day-After-The-Wedding Dress
Sunday, October 04, 2015Andy and I have been married for six months (and a day) today, granted it's not a full year and not generally celebrated and in some ways it still feels like only yesterday, but I've been feeling super nostalgic and more than a little soppy about it.
The day after our wedding my new sister-in-law arranged a family lunch for us in a local village hall.
It was lovely to get everyone together again and spend some time with them, we didn't get to spend much time with anyone the day before so it was nice to have some time to chat and catch up.
Andy and I were both really emotional, after such an amazing wedding day, which was long and tiring but all the fun, we were both feeling more than a little overwhelmed.
When we arrived at the hall the first thing we saw were three photographs of us from the day before in frames, surrounded by our wedding flowers. It was so sweet and so thoughtful. I became very teary and needed a moment to compose myself before greeting everyone.
The hall was decked out in miles of bunting made by my new sister and mother-in-law, flowers were everywhere and everyone looked so happy. There was a mountain of food and yet more champagne, and more cheesecake than I've ever seen in one place.
At 3pm Andy looked at me and said 'we've been married for 24 hours' and I lost it, tears of happiness flowed and there was nothing I could do to stop them. We giggled our way out of it. Which is what we (OK, it was mostly me) spent the rest of the day doing. Crying, giggling, crying, giggling...
Our bridesmaid wore her dress again and I have to say I was a tiny bit jealous that I couldn't wear mine. I knew that I'd feel all kinds of ordinary if I didn't wear something special. I picked out this off-white True Decadance dress from ASOS and my love affair with white dresses began. I flounced and swished my way though the day feeling every bit as close to a bride as I could get.
I later fell asleep wearing it on the sofa, I woke up and ate wedding cake in it, read our wedding cards and opened gifts with Andy, sipping champagne. And you know what, I don't think it would've felt the same if I'd been wearing jeans. For me the dress added a little extra something to the day.
I felt ridiculously happy, and amazing, and special, and loved. And whilst I can't put my wedding dress back on to relive the day, I can put this dress on and remember all those amazing feelings.
And when I put it on again, to go to supper on the last night of our honeymoon, I had the most excellent realisation. I can wear a coloured petticoat underneath to make it even swishier!
(Day 36 of blogging everyday for 40 days)
12 comments
How lovely to get together with family the day after your wedding. I think the big day itself flashes by in a blur, it's a great idea to do something special the day after. I spent my wedding night on a coach travelling down to Heathrow and the day after my wedding day was spent on a plane.
ReplyDeleteThe wedding day went by so quickly, so the next day was lovely. We didn't go on honeymoon until June so we knew we wanted to share the day after with family. It was lovely to hear stories of the day and share a few more special moments with them all. I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.
DeleteHappy half a year to you both! xx
ReplyDeleteThanks lovely x
DeleteOh that is lovely! You look pretty and what a lovely idea!
ReplyDeleteI wore my Jaeger sailor dress the day after our wedding because we were going on a boat trip together- so I got to wear white but at the same time, sneaky theme-dressing. I don't wear that dress very often so it did feel special!x
Thank you. I didn't have anything that felt right in my wardrobe and I knew as soon as I put this on that this would be perfect!
DeleteI love that did some sneaky theme dressing!
Yes, I TOTALLY lived this one Hazel. Because, I gave a tremendous thought into my ‘day after wedding’ dress too. I was so secretive, I had it escorted to the hotel (by husband-to be) in a suit bag, and covered up the window part with masking tape and wrote in big bold black ink (Mrs Taylor’s), how wild of me.
ReplyDeleteIt was a pastel fitted dress from TKMaxx, I remember it like yesterday (it still hangs in my wardrobe). I felt I needed to dress appropriate, at the top of my game, prim, proper so be it… but we all know how this tale ended!
Definitely funny to reminisce about though :)
Enough about me, you look absolutely stunning in this dress I am most certain of that. White is beautiful and so magical I find. I thought it was only me who tagged emotions and feelings to clothes, but who knew you could have your cake and eat it (wedding cake that is). This dress is you, and reading this makes me very happy for you both – Happy 6months Mr & Mrs Hazel.
x x x
I kept it under wraps too! Andy liked it almost as much as my actual wedding dress. I think it's lovely that you wanted to dress the part, I know exactly what you mean. The dress needed to feel 'right', even if you do find it funny now (at least you can laugh about it).
DeleteI always attached feelings and emotions and memories to clothes, what I wear helps me to feel an occasion, if I don't feel right in what I'm wearing it can impact on the day / event. So I put a lot of thought in to it, therefore an attachment is made.
Thank you for your lovely words xx
Oh my. The day after. Hadn't even thought about that. Although we're hoping it involves hot chocolate, donuts and walks along the beach. I should wear something nice though otherwise it will be a massive anti-climax :) xx
ReplyDeleteI knew I wanted something special, after each dress fitting getting back in to my jeans felt so ordinary and I didn't want to feel that way the day after so, well you an see what happened :) I can highly recommend something new and special, that you can wear again and reminisce (I'm such a soppy ole fool).
DeleteI'm so excited for you!
This post warmed my heart! As someone that's just recently got engaged its so nice to read posts like this, that remind you of what's behind what you see in wedding magazines that are so easy to get caught up in - a celebration of love that's filled with warmth and family and contentment. You looked beautiful in your day after dress - I'm definitely going to add one to my wedding shopping list! Thank you for posting :)
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome Grace, I'm glad you enjoyed the post.
DeleteI hope you enjoy your wedding planning and have a magical day (and day after, and day after that...)
Thank you for taking the time to comment x