stella and dot

As many of you know, one of Andrew’s best friends (Paul) got married last Friday night. When Paul and Brooke (his new beautiful bride) announced their wedding date earlier this year I let out a nervous laugh. Knowing I was going to be around 3 weeks post-baby, it was going to be interesting for me to figure out what I was going to wear.

Now, I know I wasn’t going to be the one that people were going to be looking at, but I still wanted to look nice. Especially since my groomsman husband was going to look so dapper in his Vera Wang tuxedo (rawr). And he did…let me just tell you how handsome he was 🙂

Anyhew…So when Eliza Jane was born right at a week early, I thought, I have extra time! Ha. In all seriousness, I wasn’t sure how quickly (or slowly?!) I would lose my baby weight; buying a dress was out of the question mainly because I didn’t need yet another gown in my closet! The wedding was to be at 7pm and for all my southern friends that equates to formal wear.

What to do?

My stylish friend, Ann, had told me about Rent the Runway last year when she’d rented a gown for a 20’s party. She’d said it was easy, the gown was gorgeous and the cost was a fraction of that you would pay for a new gown that {let’s face it} you’ll only wear once, maybe twice.

So, while resting the first week at home after little Eliza Jane was born, I hopped on Rent the Runway to see what they had. Thankfully, I could sort by “bump friendly” and found the gorgeous Badgley Mischka gown that I ended up renting.

It was so easy. I ordered a 4R. The backup sizes weren’t available so I ended up emailing Customer Service the week prior to the wedding to double check that this size would fit me (with no issues or wardrobe malfunctions….). The girls I talked with assured me that the gown would fit perfectly, with a pair of 3 inch heels. OMG. I haven’t worn 3 inch heels in 4-5 years!!!! But I did have a pair, and knew they fit, so…ok.

Last Wednesday the dress showed up at my door. I did the 4 day rental, which meant it would arrive on Wednesday – time enough for me to try on the gown and if it didn’t fit, order a replacement or go out and find something, fast! And then I had to return it by Saturday at noon – they provided a pre-paid/addressed UPS envelope that I just had to drop off at my local UPS drop station.

The dress was perfect! All I had to do was steam it (I picked up a $40 hand-held steamer at BB&B Thursday afternoon) and voila! I was ready. {My necklace is from Stella & Dot!}