sea blue, see green: my wedding Wednesday: the shoes

If you know me, you know that I love beautiful shoes. It is very stereotypical, but I can't help myself. Usually (like 6.5 of 7) I wear ballet flats. However, I absolutely love shopping for party shoes. When I got engaged I knew that picking out the wedding shoe was going to be almost as much fun as picking out the dress. It all started when I picked up these petal pink Christian Louboutins at a deep discount (very deep) last summer (before I bought my dress). I figured that I wouldn't wear them on the wedding day (too tall), but they would be the perfect shoe to wear to some other wedding events - they were girly, delicate, and totally impractical.

petal pink heaven

Another view of the shoe

Had I more money (and less sense), the ideal wedding shoe would ahve been this $995 white satin Christian Louboutin shoe. But even I, who can talk myself into just about anything, had to pass on something so wildly unpractical.

the perfect wedding shoe

I figured that I didn't want to spend too much on my wedding shoes themselves (how many other times do you want to wear white satin shoes?) - so I scoured ebay for a few months until I found the perfect pair of white satin J. Crew heels (new!) for $39.99 - pretty different than there $200+ price tag new.

My wedding shoes!

While I was at it - I bought these J. Crew satin flats on ebay as well (to change into when my feet got tired). I was a very happy camper - I loved these shoes.

So you see... as of last summer (months before the wedding) I was all set in the shoe department. I had fantastic pink shoes, beautiful white heels, and fun party flats. What could go wrong? Well, this is where the US Postal Service comes in. Thinking I was being VERY proactive, I sent these shoes home about 3 weeks before the wedding - all in one box (I think I already hear the collective groan) - without a tracking number (banging head on table).

Two days before the wedding (panic!) they had still not arrived. My mom went to the post office on my behalf and begged them to find the shoe. Without a tracking number, there wasn't much they could do. So, with one day left, I overnighted a new pair of shoes from J. Crew - at full price (dagger to heart). I felt I had to stay with the same brand, as the dress had been hemmed to the perfect length for my original J. Crew shoes.

the original shoe - perfect length dress

Then, my mom and I went to the mall to replace my flats. I ended up with simple gold ballet flats. The new heels arrived the day before the wedding (see below). The only problem? They were huge! I usually wear a 10 in J. Crew - I actually can't think of another pair in size 10 that has EVER been too big for me! However, these were soooo big. I bought tons of inserts for them and hoped for the best.

the last minute replacements

I understand that something has to go wrong at weddings. I was pretty upset about this, but I figured that at least this one thing that had gone wrong only affected me. I really doubted that anyone else would notice my shoes. If I could just keep them on.

So how did they do? The one thing that I didn't anticipate was how much my feet would sweat. The inserts were slippery and my feet kept flipping out of the shoes as I walked down the aisle. I was really really bummed that I had to think about my feet at all on such a special day. At one point when my new husband and I were walking down the aisle newly married, I literally had to ask my brand new husband to slow down so I didn't step out of my shoes - which was a huge bummer. I didn't stay in them for very long at the reception. I switched to some nude heels (which I should have just worn from the start) and then eventually my gold flats. Thinking about this mix-up, that so easily could have been prevented, still gets under my skin. I wish I had never sent the shoes to begin with! It also made me very upset at J. Crew for their inconsistent sizing. I am a pretty loyal customer and this was unacceptable!

So did the original shoes ever arrive? Fortunately for my sanity and my petal pink shoes - yes! They arrived in New Orleans while we were on our honeymoon. My mom then shipped them back to me. So now I have 2 pairs of white satin heels, one pair of unworn white satin flats, AND my lovely petal pink shoes. I think I am going to have the white heels dyed black. I loved my original pair and would hate to see them go unworn in white.

So what other shoes do I love for weddings? Here are just a few of my favorites: