Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
apricot’s closet: the dress of many adventures.
Dress, from long ago; bright blue shoes, from Payless long ago, as well; jewelry, miscellaneous.
This little white dress is my personal piece of history. It has, quite literally, seen every exciting adventure in my life. The very first time I wore it was for a black & white formal party several years ago. I got it on sale, I believe, for ten dollars, which is a steal for such an exquisite dress. I ended up pairing it with some very skinny jeans & white heels (yes; I, too, can’t believe that I actually managed to successfully wear heels all night at a rowdy, drunken party. Amazing.).
That night ended far too soon when a few dozen police came to shut the party down. I was the most sober person there, having only had one wine cooler & a few jell-o shots (I forgot to mention that those were my wilder days), but I certainly shouldn’t have gotten behind the wheel. Regretfully, I was forced to be the designated driver for a few of my friends, because of a misunderstanding of who would be drinking & who wouldn’t. So there I was, trying to back out of a culdesac with 20 cops staring me down, waiting for me to crash into them. I was so full of shame & humiliation, although I can laugh at it now. That was the last time I ever drove while slightly under the influence. Never again, I tell you.
The second adventure in this dress was when I went to see Death Cab for Cutie in concert. Again, I paired The Dress with skinny jeans, flats & a long, brown cardigan. This was two Decembers ago, when Lover & I had first started dating. After our first date, he bought these tickets instantly, after noting that I adored the band. The day after our first date, he told me he scored two tickets to see them in Long Beach. I replied, “Oh, awesome! Well… have a good time & tell me how it is!” not realizing that he had bought them for me. I was very surprised at his random act of kindness, but most surprised that he had actually been paying attention to what I was saying on our first date. Those results are not typical, mind you.
Needless to say, the concert was spectacular & my very first, at that. It was one of the most romantic vacations I’ve ever had with my now-husband. Not to mention, the hotel we stayed in was luxurious. It was a magical night, & in the end, I was very impressed with this fellow who was wooing me with all of his might. I suppose that is why I married him.
Which brings me to the next adventure: our wedding day; or, rather… our wedding night.
I’ve mentioned before that Lover & I eloped to Las Vegas on Christmas night, although it wasn’t really so spur of the moment. We had sat around in our underwear for several hours talking & contemplating on whether or not we should get married that night. After much talk, we felt it was the perfect plan & eventually, we mustered up enough courage to do it. At 6 o’clock that evening, we started to drive to Las Vegas.
Before we left, I told him we should at least try to make ourselves look nice & not so “elopey.” (My mother & father eloped, as well as Lover’s parents; if I’m not correct, they were all married in blue jeans & t-shirts, & I certainly didn’t want that.) I wore The Dress with skinny black jeans, & he wore a white button up shirt with skinny black jeans. We were matching & our pictures turned out splendid because of this.
I had originally planned to wear some very cute white heels with my ensemble, but knowing that I would be driving for three hours straight, I chose to wear something a bit more comfortable: these very bright blue, mesh flats. Being so caught up in the moment & excitement, I forgot to put the other more appropriate shoes on when we arrived at the chapel. Thus, my “something blue” ending up being those shockingly blue flats, which I think is just hilarious. I’m so glad we have a picture of me wearing them.
Naturally, our wedding wasn’t very fancy, but we didn’t want it to be. We had been talking about eloping long before we were even engaged. We didn’t want frills or flowers; we wanted complete focus on our love & romance. We would have rather eloped, than spend money we didn’t have on an exclusive, extravagant wedding. It worked beautifully for us, & we wouldn’t have had it any other way. Our little wedding was absolutely blissful. To try to put that night into understandable words would make the night less meaningful. Our pictures say what I cannot.
& all of this is especially sentimental, because today is a mini-anniversary. We’ve been married for 6 months.
on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 9:58 am:
I LOVE THIS!!!!! Love it Love it Love it!!!
You have the cutest style…..
on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 11:32 am:
This post was very sentimental to me. You’re so creative in your writings, too, honey.
Happy Anniversary. =)
on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 12:02 pm:
aw i love this. love the dress. love the wedding pic. love it all. happy mini anniversary :)
on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 2:03 pm:
Aww, such sweet stories. My husband & I eloped as well. (Kinda. It’s a complicated story. We married at a bed & breakfast in Williamsburg, VA. Our family was in the know of the whole deal and respected [Well, most of them.] our decision to have that moment a private moment.)
This makes me want to pull out my little white dress soon! :D
on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 2:04 pm:
Aaaah! So cute. The pictures are adorable!
on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 4:36 pm:
This post just made me melt into a pile of similarly affianced mushiness. That aside, isn’t it interesting how a seemingly meaningless object (or outfit) can mean so much to us? I love the sentimental journey behind this dress… and I am quite surprised it remains unstained!! I would have definitely spilled something on it by now :)
on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 4:52 pm:
Awww.. you are absolutely adorable. Happy 6 month mini anniversary to you both =).
on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 5:00 pm:
love this dress!
what a bargain at $10!!
on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 5:16 pm:
I was just thinking about how clothing can almost absorb all the experiences that occur while wearing them, and your post seems to confirm it. The story the two of you have created is prettymuch the cutest thing I’ve ever read! I’m sure you’ll be telling it to grandchildren one day.
Love from Montreal. :)
on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 6:12 pm:
@ kindredly: Aww, thanks love. :]
@ Jonathan Mead: Happy anniversary, darling.
@ katelin: thank you very much!
@ moscoto: I didn’t know you guys eloped! That’s great. :] I’d love to see pictures.
@ Meg: thank you!
@ abby: you would be surprised at just how many stains are on this dress, only visible to the naked eye. Trust me, I never wear white because I dirty things up so quickly. I try to wear this as little as possible, for sentimental reasons, & because I spill things all over this dress!
@ sandy: thank you, doll. :]
@ Jenny H: I know, right. =]
@ Sarah: Aww, why thank you. If we have children, we’ll most certainly tell them of our little love story. Thanks for stopping in, too. :]
on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 6:35 pm:
Great post. I love that dress and the shoes are adorable too. Great pictures from your wedding, how romantic to elope.
on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 10:06 pm:
Absolutely gorgous story. You are so lucky that it’s yours!
Happy 6 months!
on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 11:45 pm:
Congrats on your mini anniversary-that little white dress is truly memorable!!
on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 1:28 am:
this IS a great story - i like how you guys weren’t ostentatious about being in love. after all, it’s just for you two, and those are all that really count in a wedding.
btw, rad blue shoes. :)
on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 12:06 pm:
That dress is so sweet and I love the history it carries. Clearly the most important pieces aren’t the most expensive, but ones that manage to keep up with our lives!
on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 12:35 pm:
@ Jessica: Thank you. :] & yes, it was terribly romantic. Not at all nerve wracking. Well… just a little bit. ;p
@ Natalie: thanks, doll!
@ Sharon Rose: Thank you. =]
@ nico: I completely agree with you. We’re so laid back that people often look at us funny for our decision to elope & treat things so simply. Maybe we’re minimalists. :] But mostly, we’re true to ourselves. & yeah, my shoes kick ass, I must say. ;]
@ The Clothes Horse: I concur, completely! & thank you for stopping in. :] Your blog is one of my favorites.
on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 1:13 pm:
aw! your wedding pictures are so cute! perfect dress to elope in if you ask me :D
on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 2:16 pm:
Happy 6-month anniversary!
Thanks for sharing those great pictures. You two seem like a great couple.
on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 3:24 pm:
I love that one dress has such an important history for you - that’s so amazing. And your wedding looks gorgeous! The story’s so romantic :)
on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 6:26 pm:
you look beautiful in that dress, and i love the history of this piece of clothing! oh my, your wedding pictures look just perfect. for the first time in a very long time i just thought: “hm, getting married might be fun after all” :)
btw: i think you would look stunning in florals! it’s a little more playful then what you wear usually, but i think it would look just great on you.
on Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 9:19 am:
@ joyce: thank you! I couldn’t agree more. Much better than jeans. :]
@ Alaia: thank you very much!
@ Lizzie: Aw, thanks. :] It was very romantic; sometimes I wonder if this is really my story & not someone else’s.
@ Anna: ;] Getting married can be a lot of fun; I certainly think eloping is more fun than a real wedding. Or maybe I’m just biased. Oh! & I was looking at some florals last night. As soon as I can get a bit of money, I think I’m going to try it out. =]
on Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 9:24 am:
aww congrats to an adorable twosome!
on Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 10:24 am:
aww your wedding pics are so beautiful!
on Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 1:48 pm:
So beautiful, I love this. Congratualtions, you did it your way, and it turned out so well! x M
on Saturday, June 28th, 2008 at 4:00 am:
gosh that’s so lovely! i’m with you, forget the frills, it’s all about love, awww!
on Saturday, July 5th, 2008 at 9:11 pm:
my now-husband and i definitely went to the Death Cab concert when they were in Columbus, OH winter of my sophomore year of college… so that was 2008/2009. it was totally a turning point. at the time i wasn’t sure if i was totally over my last love. i went with sam (future spouse who was at the time courting me with all of my might- i was intrigued like crazy and we were spending lots of time together but i wasn’t ready to give in) and another kid from college. we drove there and met up with my former love and another high school friend. while at the concert i finally realized i was ready to be over the former lover and realized i was without a doubt now in love with -and much more compatible with- sam. long story. anyway. we have that in common.
on Saturday, July 5th, 2008 at 9:14 pm:
again my commenting faux pas. there should really be an easy way to edit these. it is currently 2008 and i graduated from college in 2007. oy.
that our was 2004/2005?
on Saturday, July 5th, 2008 at 9:14 pm:
*tour.
grrr. typo typo.
on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 9:47 am:
awww cute dress! reminds me of one that i have, only mine is black.
anyway, happy belated mini anniversary!