Wednesday 25 May 2011

Wedding Shoe Love

When I was looking for a suitable pair of wedding shoes, I found that many of the bridal options out there were just too glitzy, sequiny, or satiny for me. I don't usually go for a lot of bling when I dress, and even though your wedding outfit is supposed to push out the boat a bit, I wanted to keep things quite simple and classic. Enter Rachel Simpson

I think I saw her ad in one of my many wedding mags, and when I checked out her website, I knew I had found what I had envisioned. Rachel designs amazingly pretty wedding and party shoes and takes her inspiration from bygone eras and vintage fashion. Her range is beautifully understated and elegant.

These are some of the models that made the shortlist:
Beatrix


Eva

Mimi



Hettie


But in the end I fell for Flo, a 50s-inspired peep-toe with a low heel:

       

The problem with Flo was, that these shoes were part of a new range and that the stockist did not have them in store yet. I tried on another, similar pair for size and crossed my fingers when I put in the order. They offered to email me when Flo came in.

But Flo proved to be a bit capricious. I was told that the manufacturer in Spain had run into some kind of trouble and could not deliver on time. I got very anxious, because the day of my dress-fitting was coming closer and closer and finally contacted Rachel Simpson directly. Rachel herself replied to my emails, and she could not have been more helpful or more reassuring.


My shoes were delivered on 6 August, one day before I had to fly to Germany to see the seamstress! I had them delivered into the office and nearly hugged the man from the post room when he showed up with the parcel. The shoes looked really fantastic, all soft leather and perfect detailing, and they fit perfectly!


This is them:



On the day of the wedding, they were so comfortable! I had worn them around the house a bit and they did not feel like new shoes at all. Meaning: they did not chafe, pinch or hurt me in any way, what with all the walking, standing and dancing. The design is simple enough to be able to wear them again with jeans or a summer dress, but they still feel a bit too precious for me to wear out. I might just keep them in their box for memories...

Check out the gallery on Rachel's website for more photos of me and other brides, and this post if you would like to see more pictures of my wedding day.



Are you married or getting married? What did you choose for your feet to wear on the special day?


© Annika - All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated)

8 comments:

  1. I'm not really a shoe person and as I had a long dress they weren't really a priority. {i.e I didn't want to spend a lot on them!}, plus I didn't want heels because I wanted to be shorter than my hubby. I found a really pretty pair of flats for about £15 which did the job just right!

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  2. @Rachel

    You sound like the nice, sensible bride I aimed to be. Until I got carried away by all the shopping related excitement.... :o)

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  3. I like!
    I cannot remember my shoes. I remember my dress because I was 5'6" and weighed 92 and it was really hard to find a dress.

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  4. Hi! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. :) Yours is also gorgeous and I'm a follower now! LURVE that asparagus cake, too, and I had fun looking at your honeymoon pics!

    Amy

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  5. I wore flip flops to my wedding lol

    but your shoes are stunning!

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  6. A wonderful choice Annika. I actually wore something very similar! :-)

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  7. if i were to marry again or today, i would be barefoot on the beach. no shoes at all, even though these are beautiful......

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  8. What lovely shoes! I love sparkle, and glitter, so I went with silver sparkle pumps for the ceremony. But since I'm not a real heel-wearer, I changed into red suede flats for the reception. I'd personalized the with little "Mrs." bows. My husband wore grey Chuck Taylors for the ceremony and changed into red "Mr." ones for the reception. :)

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