The Final Europe Bridal Shoot Dress Decision

Wow, that is a really long title, but it sums up this post so well.

You know how sometimes someone mentions something, sort of in passing, and it's a thing that you would love to have happen, but you are not sure how serious they were, and you don't want to make the relationship awkward? The beauty of blogging is, you never have to deal with that awkwardness. You probably have no idea what I am talking about, so let's start at the beginning.

When I first posted about the vintage bow-on-the-butt dress, I found a comment in my inbox from a commenter called "bridal fashion by MILLIE" saying:

I SO would have let you borrow a MILLIE gown...

I was of course, intrigued and so I wrote back to her, and our banter continued back and forth, with my hopes slowly building each time that this might actually pan out. It took a couple of emails, and a few phone calls, and then it happened. We reached an agreement. Nothing has been shipped yet, but as of right now, I am taking a brand new wedding dress over to Europe with me! In return, we are going to be providing the images from the shoot for bridal designs by MILLIE to use however they would like.

I will let the blogger Millie herself introduce you to what the bridal designs by MILLIE line is all about.

You could say my mom has always been a dreamer, a woman with a million ideas. Then one day, there was this powerful dream keeping her up at night. My mother, Judy Panozzo, had been in the bridal industry almost 15 years when this dream just wouldn’t let her rest. In a shop brimming with the same old wedding dress, she had become extremely bored and wanted to be able to offer her brides a unique, fashionable, well-constructed gown without breaking the bank.

These gown are not your average David's-Bridal-Run-Of-The-Mill-Use-Sequins-To-Distract-From-
The-Fact-That-The-Dresses-All-Look-The-Same type of dress (can you tell I just hate DB?). Affordable doesn't have to equal ugly people.

Going through the dresses to pick the right one was so fun, I kept going back and forth, over and over until I came to a decision. Before you see which one I chose, scroll down through the options to see why the decision was so hard.


The Emily was the first dress we eliminated. Although it would be very forgiving (figure-wise), and would pack so compactly, it doesn't have the drama we are looking for.































This is the Shayne. I of course, love the pleated tulle at the bottom with all my heart, but I am thinking that the twins would be saying hello quite frequently in something this low (if you did not know, I am very blessed in the chesty area). Plus it has straps! I didn't want to be modeling anything that I would be uncomfortable in, since I don't ever wear strapless things.



















The Isabella was actually a contender for awhile, and at one point I told Millie it is what we were going to go with, but something a little bit more me won out in end.




























Sadly, the Tyla had to go because she doesn't have a train. My Mom needs a train to throw around and pose. I think she would give me such a nice long line though.

































The Miranda is actually my favorite dress. I love love love the crossover bodice! She had to be eliminated because of the low back. I will be wearing a bolero for most of the photos, and we can't have a space between the bolero and the dress. That would just look plain silly. Plus, I think a back that dramatic needs to be shown off, not covered up by a little jacket.
























Which leaves me with.......



The Aurora!

The fit should be somewhat similar to this dress. My Mom loves her because she is going to be uber-dramatic in front of places like the trevi fountain, and I love the sweetheart neckline! The asymmetrical dropped waist should be flattering, and the back is high enough that a bolero should meet up with it. I think it fits everyones criteria, and I will soon be flouncing around Europe in this beauteous tulle confection. I am just over 5'2" so a dress like this, with its floaty bottom will look fine un-hemmed.


Of course, pictures will be posted as soon as the dress comes in the mail. I know everyone is going to be sad about leaving the vintage dress behind, but it fit so tight and I didn't want to be starving myself or feel unconscious the entire time I am wearing it. I am going to be getting a LOT of looks walking around Rome in a wedding dress (without a groom), and so I need to be able to shake my stuff without feeling self concious at all.

I still can't believe this is really going to happen. The power of networking is amazing, and I love that blogging opens up opportunities like this that would never exist otherwise.

Coming up soon: What I plan to do to lose a little bit of my tummy before the big shoot!