the long and short of it

the biggest thing i learned about myself while planning my wedding two years ago was that i change my mind a lot. not about everything (like the groom), but about many small details. one of those details was my dress. since it was custom-made, there were a few stages, the first being a brainstorm and sketch a few months before the work began. and thank god for that, because i totally changed my mind about what i wanted. while there was a part of me that wanted lace or ruffles or something else very "bridal," there was a bigger part of me that wanted simple and comfortable and not decidedly bridal.

for those who can relate, a convertible wedding dress is a great idea. it's formal and traditional and tres bridal for as long as you want it to be...

natural bridal "janine" - (back is shown above)

and then party time! probably after dinner is prime time to make the switch. (which is right about the time i should have removed my veil which refused to stay on).

each of the dresses here, from atlanta designer morgan boszilkov on etsy, successfully looks like two complete dresses - in both cases (above and below), the shorter version doesn't look like it's missing something - they're their own thing, and really fun, party dress kind of things at that.

natural bridal "kathleen":

morgan's company is called natural bridal, and her dresses are made to order for each bride from all sustainable and responsible materials.

(love the princess di style on the bottom):

i really love both of these dresses - they are simple and feminine without being fussy. and they don't look like anything about them is designed so that they can be two dresses, which i love. and the blair waldorf-ness of the short versions isn't lost on me either.

"kathleen" short:

i'm a huge fan of this idea. i think it's a great way to satisfy the parts of a bride that want to be traditional and fairy tale-ish, while also being true to her own style and able to dance the night away - each bride hopefully gets to do it only once.

all photos from http://www.naturalbridals.com/