Cheryl Shops

So, I bought a wedding dress. Contrary to my previous thoughts on the matter, I ended up spending, well, a lot. It turned out that I had a lot more tied up in the dress than I had thought. My original idea was just to wear a white evening gown by a designer I admire, like Lanvin or J. Mendel; this turned out to be even more expensive than buying a regular wedding dress. Then I thought that I could find something unique and flattering for under $2,000. Flattering yes, unique no. So seven bridal salons later, I ended up buying one of the first dresses I tried on; in spite of the fact that MW and I will be eating ramen noodles for the next eight months, I am very happy with my purchase (I was even able to do some negotiating! Who says the recession is over?), but let me tell you, shopping for the wedding dress was by far the most stressful part of wedding planning thus far. Then again, I still have the seating chart to do. Anyway, now comes the fun part: shoes!

My wedding shoe challenge is twofold: First, my ceremony will take place on the beach (weather permitting), and thus I need shoes that will be sturdy enough on sand. Second, if I wear heels higher than 3 inches, I tower over MW. So, ideally, I need a semi-low wedge that's elegant enough to wear with my goddess-like silk gown. Easier said than done, right? I was excited when I found the Divia by Pour La Victoire, which just happens to be one of my favorite shoe makers. They come in white, but I like the blue (hey, takes care of the "something blue"). The exaggerated bow makes them feminine while the wide ankle band with back zip is fashion-conscious. The wedge heel is elegant and sculptural, but one tiny quibble: it's 4 inches, which would make me just a bit too tall. For $127, which greatly alleviates the cost of my dress however, maybe I can dig my heels into the sand.