Shoes: It Takes Two

It takes two shoes to make a pair.

For me, it apparently takes two pairs of shoes to find the right one.

I originally bought these:

Chinese Laundry. Pretty. Champagne colored.

And I loved them. And they loved me. And all was well in wedding-shoe-land. But you all know what happened eventually on the morning of my first dress fitting...

So I was stuck needing a new pair of shoes. And they had to match my dress. And they had to have 2'' heels. So I did what any bride who just found herself shoeless would do, and I pulled up Zappos.com on my computer. Let me say this about Zappos: Shipping is FREE. Shipping for returns is FREE. You can buy and return as much as you want and never actually lose any money. Genius.

As if Zappos wasn't cool enough already, they let you search by heel height (also genius). So I selected Ivory 2'' heels and did a search, and lo and behold...

Nina "Culver" in Ivory Satin

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I love Nina shoes. I wore some to prom in 11th grade, and I've been hooked since then. They're comfortable, and they fit my foot well. So when I found these, it was like little choirs of angels were singing in my head. I said a little prayer that they were a teensy bit darker in person to match my dress, and I put a size 6 in my shopping cart (as well as a 6.5 just in case - hello free returns!).

A few days later I had my shoes. And they were perfect. And then I went and tried them on with my dress, and they matched perfectly. And now they're sitting in their box in my closet just waiting for their big debut. Oh, and the Chinese Laundry shoes...I still love them and I don't want them to feel left out. So they'll be around at the Bridal Luncheon. And possibly the Rehearsal Dinner as well.

Shoes? Check.

Something to Shove my Toes Into...

Today, I got some wonderful unexpected news:

My lovely, beautiful, everything-I-ever-wanted dress has arrived!

Three weeks early! Of course, the dress shop called Mom rather than me to inform her that it arrived (you know, since she's the one who paid for it and all...), and Mom proceeded to go ahead and schedule a fitting for THIS SATURDAY. Which is great, except that I do not have wedding shoes!!

My first option is these little guys:

Steve Madden. Maroon. Lovely little ruffles.

These guys have a lot going for them:

• 
  
  I absolutely love them. They're my favorite pair of shoes. I've been avoiding wearing them just so they'll still look new if I decide to wear them down the aisle, and the avoidance is killing me!
• 
  
  They're maroon. I have this thing about wearing colored shoes. Like...even if the rest of my wedding was totally boring (which it isn't, but if it was), I could still have control over this one little thing, and make my shoes reflect my personality (which is not all monochromatic and white).
• 
  
  They were like $15 at Ross. Wearing them at my wedding would say "I wear what I like. I don't buy things because they're expensive, I buy things because I love them. I'm not one of those people who will spend hundreds of dollars on her wedding day shoes." Of course, no one would hear my shoes say that except for me. So it's actually kind of silly.
• 
  
  The heel is low. I know I can dance comfortably in them.
• 
  
  I bought these shoes to wear on the day that I received my Aggie class ring from Texas A&M. Aggie rings are a big deal (for some reason we make a bigger deal out of this than most other schools), and it would be kind of special to wear shoes from the day that I received my first  rest-of-my-life ring.
• 
  
  Oh, and one other teeny tiny factor: I planned my wedding colors around these shoes!

Here's the downside to the Steve Maddens: They're kind of shiny, and I'm just not sure that they'll really "go" with my dress. I'll definitely bring them to the fitting, but I think the style of the dress and the style of the shoes might just not work. So, I need another pair.

I'm thinking they'll be ivory, just because I don't think I picked a "color-friendly" dress. I'm planning on using Friday as a shoe-shopping day, so unfortunately I'm a bit limited to what I can find at malls/outlet malls/etc. Nevertheless, here are some cute options I've found.

Kate Spade. These say the opposite of the $15 Ross shoes.

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I found these at David's Bridal while we were doing BM dresses. Cute, no?

Of course, then there's the option of buying boring shoes and dressing them up with a shoe clip...

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Somehow I have to figure this out before Saturday. What's a bride to do? So many shoes...so little time.