Wow, gorgeous dress! Congrats! How exciting.
I can’t tell from the picture, but could you wear a regular bra with wide set straps if you sewed a set of little ribbon bra-strap holders into the shoulders of the dress?
Can’t tell from the picture if the lining at the bustline and below continues above, or if the lace is unlined above the chest …
Haven’t had much time to post but I thought I would take a moment just to close the circle on my earlier reporting on the planning for my daughter’s wedding which occurred on October 15. It was a spectacular weekend filled with love, laughter and festivities. It started on Fiday night with the “rehearsal” dinner (there really was no rehearsal other than rehearsing how to eat prodigious amounts of food) at a great BBQ/beer house with 60 guests. The wedding day started at 9:00 with the wedding party and mothers meeting up at the hotel where a block of rooms had been reserved for overnight guests and also a bridal salon for the bride and bridesmaids to get prepared. The groomsmen assembled in the honeymoon suite at 10:00. In the bridal salon was a hair stylist and makeup artist, who were in the wedding party, to do the hair and makeup for all the ladies. I stopped in there and it was a whole separate party unto itself. My daughter arranged for a brunch for all the ladies but all us guys were left to our own devices and ended up with sandwiches from Wawa! The owner of the wedding gown shop knew my daughter from the neighborhood from when my daughter was a little girl, so she personally came down into the city to bring the gown, dress my daughter and make final adjustments. (Me, I was stuck teaching myself how to tie a real bow tie for the first time. Fortunately, I had 5 hours to practice and was finally able to dress myself ;). )The photographer and videographer were in attendance memorializing memorable moments including my “first look” at 12:00 which I shared with the FOG who is like a second father to my daughter. Then at 12:30 the wedding party took off on a private open air trolly style bus for photos and video all over center city Philadelphia. At 4:00, the wedding party, parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts of the couple and their immediate families gathered at the nearby event venue for the formals with the photographer.
The ceremony was at 6:30 (we finally had our actual rehearsal at 5:30) and was over at 6:50. The rabbi, whose daughter is my daughter’s oldest friend since they were 6 years old and who is like a second mother to my daughter, started crying at the end of the ceremony as she conveyed personal blessings, which almost cussed me to lose a bet with my sister that I wasn’t going to cry, lol. Then at 7:00 the cocktail reception and party began. I gave my toast where I likened the 9 year relationship between my daughter and her husband to a long overdue pregnancy and broke their relationship down into 3 year trimesters as the relationship grew and developed while the parents were wondering “so when already”. I finished by asking them not to makes us all wait 9 years for a grandkid. By the time I was done, my daughter was banging her head against the bridal table. It was delicious! 
The party continued with non-stop dancing until 12:00. The energy was off the charts. Of the 240 guests, 125 of them were between the ages of 25 -32 and the dance floor was never empty. My daughter at one point took over the microphone from the entertainment company (that she has worked for since she was 15 as a dancer and MC) and worked the crowd. I had my special moment of the father-daughter dance to “My Girl”, the song that has always been our father-daughter dance song which my daughter selected for this occasion. When 12:00 hit, the party ended but could have continued for another 4 hours. The bridal party then met up with another bridal party at a local bar for an “after party”. The next morning at 10:00 was a brunch for the bridal party and out of town guests.
After catching our breath for a week, my daughter, her husband, my wife and I traveled to Pittsburgh for the wedding of our Rabbi’s daughter who had been in my daughter’s wedding party as she was in hers. It was another great weekend of celebration. At one point the FOB, who is a jazz musician, gave a drunken rambling 20 minute toast (first of 3 daughters, so it was a moving moment I imagine) during which he sang accapella jazz riffs to her. Afterwards, I said to my daughter “I guess my toast wasn’t so bad after all, was it?”
So it was a week to remember and always will be. It couldn’t have been more perfect on every level. I have to hand it to my daughter and her husband. They planned the entire thing from selecting all the vendors to planning all the moving parts with all the minutiae and attention to details. It certainly helped that they have worked in the life event industry for years and had personal and professional relationships with all the service providers. The level of TLC in every aspect of the wedding was evident. Having a Rabbi who practically raised my daughter and who with her husband has been a part of our family for a couple of decades made the ceremony that much more personal and loving. While I had no role whatsoever in the planning, even if I had, there’s not a thing I would have changed - except perhaps giving myself more time for my toast. 
@teriwtt , that’s a gorgeous dress and I love the shoes! My girls have had the sewn in bra cups done for them a few times and much prefer it over a strapless bra - much more comfortable if your body fits it well!
Agree with @nottelling, you just need to add lingerie straps and wear a regular bra; no need for strapless!!
Great ideas. I will be taking the dress in for hemming and alterations in January as I’ve lost a bit more weight since I got it in July. Will take whatever undergarments I will be wearing with it, and see what they suggest. I have had lingerie straps sewn in some of my every day sundresses, but hadn’t thought about doing that with this dress.
@MichaelNKat - your daughter’s wedding sounded fabulous! It is wonderful that all the hard work paid off with the event being exactly what your daughter and SIL wanted. I’m sure your toast was awesome! :))
SOSConcern - it must be disappointing that your D doesn’t like the song that you wanted included.
I told myself upfront that I have to be very selective in the things that I really care about. That way if there is something I feel strongly about, it will be easier to have a conversation about it if it’s the first thing I’m asking for rather than the 20th thing. So far the planning has gone well and there hasn’t been anything that I really care about that D hasn’t either felt the same way or it didn’t matter to her. Invitations matter a lot to me and I get the idea that she doesn’t care much about them so she has it narrowed down to a half dozen options that all look great to me and I know I will be fine with whatever the final selection ends up being.
How far in advance do I need to be looking for a MOB dress? Wedding is in July and I haven’t really given a thought to dress shopping for myself. D has repeatedly told MOG to wear whatever she wants to wear and will be comfortable in but I think MOG is waiting on me. It just seems strange to look for a dress in November or December for an event that will be outdoors in July.
I read somewhere that clear bra straps are what to wear under lace.
“It just seems strange to look for a dress in November or December for an event that will be outdoors in July.”
I would think you’d have a much broader selection to choose from in the spring.
@MichaelNKat…sounds like your D’s wedding was everything the couple hoped for and more! Truly sounds wonderful!
@teriwtt …love the dress! And it is cool if you shorten it later for another fancy event!
But insufficient time for the dress to arrive and be altered (assuming that the bride orders the dress in the conventional way rather than buying a sample dress that’s on sale).
My daughter ordered her wedding dress during the first weekend in October. It will arrive at the bridal shop in March. And that doesn’t mean that it would be ready to be worn during a March wedding. Like most wedding dresses, it will need alterations, and alterations take time.
^^^^^
I could be wrong but I think people were discussing MOB dresses not bridal dresses
Aha! Big difference!
MickaelNKat - thanks for sharing your daughter’s wedding with us. It sounded fabulous. I started “shopping” for my MOB dress about 2 weeks before the wedding for the first one, and about a month or so before the second one. The second one was certainly the best - 2 minutes of clicking on the link a fellow CCer had posted, and I had my dress ordered and shipped!
I just was really happy to find something for me when ordering the dress that DD2 had tried on in the shop - then it turns out the shop dress for DD2 (MOH) had been a little stretched out so fit better and fell better. then the ordered/brand new dress. My dress was on clearance and was $100 off from the tag price - and it is really perfect for what I need (short sleeve and short jacket over sleeveless full length dress) - works for all seasons. DD2’s replacement dress is half off from original price - from Bloomingdale’s and free ship and free ship to return (through a Dec date). She got the size 4 and it fits great, but she is also going to try on the size 6 when it comes and decide which is more perfect before shipping one back. Both dresses are very elegant.
With time, you can select something and the pressure is off on finding something. Then if you find something better, go for it! Sometimes the worry about finding something suitable overshadows things. Anything that can be resolved early.
I hope DD1 and FSIL avoid some oversights with their wedding planning. I do think FSIL’s mother is being consulted more because DD1 is enjoying developing a relationship with her. I am fine with that as a voice of reason, as she is a lot like me. If they decide to have a big time gap between wedding and reception (I have made other suggestions) it is their wedding - I just don’t want to hear any comments about that.
A few of my close friends (and DD2) are in agreement about how to have DD1 looking her best, but it is up to DD1/DD2 to have the salon work done. I am going to give DD2 $$ for the salon visit, and hopefully she can convince DD1 to go along. DD1 agrees to get her eyebrows shaped.
DD1 can be stubborn. I can relate this to my older sister who had glasses that turned dark with sun; we had an outdoor photo with our families with our parents’ 40th wedding anniversary; I suggested sis take off her glasses. Now years later she says she wishes she did take her glasses off for the photo.
Just a suggestion…I wouldn’t try to “convince” your D, bride-to-be, on how she should look on her wedding day. After all, the most important thing is that she feels her best, feels beautiful, and is happy appearing in the way she chooses. Feeling good is important. It’s her day.
You could always make suggestions in a manner such as “have you ever thought about trying X?”, “what do you think of Y?” But let the choice be hers. Offer professional hair and make up services for the day of the wedding with a trial run first, if you can afford to do so, and if she would like such a service.
So true about our daughters. And they should feel all the memories are happy, no one disappointed. I think SOS gets this but it’s a fine line we sometimes walk.
@soozievt hair and make up, I totally leave that to her. It is fine whatever she does there - she will look great because she has very good hair and very good skin. Yes her happiness on the wedding day is key and she will radiate beauty.
IMHO the dark forearm hair is as bad looking as a uni-brow would be, and even worse as her lace dress to her elbows will only accentuate the arm hair more. And DD1 does want her eyebrows shaped (which are not uni-brow).
I am done saying anything to DD1 unless asked, and unless it is a major major thing. She has rejected the suggestions that have been gently presented. I do think she will listen a little more to DD2, MOH - but she will back off too.
It is so easy to get caught up in the “perfect wedding” mentality. At our wedding, my H insisted on wearing a weird-colored tuxedo. I hated it, but he had his heart set on it. So I said, sure. To this day, he is absurdly proud of his ugly-to-the-max tux, and I still can’t look at our wedding pictures without shuddering. That was over 40 years ago. Wrong tux, but right guy!
It’s sad to me to read that a D can’t accept her mom’s choice of a song to play at the reception. It’s a song. One song. It doesn’t even end up in the wedding photos.
@SOSConcern you may find if you back off that your D will take some of the suggestions you have given in the future. There is a good bit of time before the wedding - time for some of those suggestions to sink in and perhaps become wishes of her (his) own.