Dear readers,

I have been getting an increasing amount of inquiries about shoes for the big day — about color, heel height, comfort, you name it. So many questions I am going to make a little Ask Miss Meghan BRIDAL SERIES to answer you all.

Hannah wrote in this week:

“I bought a non-traditional but very pretty dress in ‘celestial yellow.’ I am shopping for some mid-length heels but I am not sure — should my shoes match my dress? I will definitely need to get them dyed and I am not sure if I will be able to find the exact match. Is it okay to wear something neutral like a beige or black, or would it be best to try to match the dress? Also, it is an evening wedding if that matters in the shoe selection process.”

First, let’s debunk some common myths:

NO — your shoes do not have to match your dress
NO — you do not have to wear white, satin shoes
NO — you do not have to wear heels
NO — you do not have to be in pain on your wedding day

Ok good. Now I am really going to turn your idea of what a bridal shoe should be on it’s head. Instead of thinking about colors and heel heights– think about what mood you want to be in for your wedding day. Elegant? Funky? Casual? Retro? Go with shoes that have something extra for your big day — an extra layer of elegance, a beautiful bauble or two, or a really fun COLOR.

Hannah has a celestial yellow dress, which sounds gorgeous. I personally love the idea of a color other than white for a wedding dress.

What about a gorgeous metallic? a beauitful nude-gold or a sparkling silver are both good options here. An elegant, strappy sandal platinum Stiletto from 9West,
, gorgeously simple completely flat sandals from Giuseppe, or a peep-toe mid-heel?

Or try something totally revolutionary and wear the “something blue” on your feet electric blue flats?

IF, after you checked all these out, and think maybe you should just do a dyeable to be safe, the only dyeables worth dye-ing are Ninas. They have a myriad of styles ranging from traditional to more hipster and they do not look like the cheesy dyeables of yore. Try these, the Electra.

Two and a half-inch heels which is a very manageable heel height for most women, and a very classic D’orsay style. The dyeable shoe store people will help you with dyeing as well and they ship anywhere in the world, and stock a huge variety of sizes and widths.

Let me know what you think, and look for some more bridal shoe advice next week when I talk about strategies for comfort on the big day.

xo

Miss Meghan

*Online shoe shopping tip: if you are not sure of your size, order two pairs and try on at home, most shoe shopping sites have free shipping on returns so you can simply return the ones that don’t fit.