Splurging on the walk

I love shoes.  

More specifically, I love looking at shoes; Ferragamo, Louboutin, Jimmy Choo.  These are the shoes I can't afford, or cannot justify splurging on.  For our wedding I certainly looked at all the designer favorites, but I couldn't bring myself to splurge.  My logic was, I'd rather go all out on a pair of shoes that I can wear more than one time and will not be hidden by the layers of tulle in my wedding gown, than on a pair that will be hidden for the night. 

The WIC (Wedding Industrial Complex) would probably have preferred I splurge, but I couldn't do it.  Luckily for me, and for many other brides there are similar replicas, and discounts galore.

When I first started wedding shoe shopping I fell in love with these:

Valentino Sequin Peep-Toe Pump - they are no longer available, but they retailed in the $800 range

Here's an alternative:

The Humbie by Badgley Mischka

I also loved the  Jimmy Choo 'Clue' Glitter Slingback Pump (Nordstrom Exclusive), and in fact tried them on, walked around the shoe floor and was told by the salesperson that I could definitely wear them with jeans and on the weekends.  But the price tag deterred me, especially when I found a very similar style by Enzo Angiolini.

Of course who could forget the most famous "wedding shoes" and perhaps the pair that really gave birth to the trend of wearing colored wedding shoes?  The Manolos spurred a million knock-offs but probably no knock was better than these.

So, where did I end up on my shoe search?  Well, after trying on a pair of Jimmy Choo, ordering Badgley Mischka online, and browsing at length online and in person, two weeks before getting married I still had no shoes...  

This is where the MOB comes in.  The mother of the bride (my mom) found these beauties on sale at a Macy's store - and that was that!

And wouldn't you know it, they very much resemble these beauties by Christian Louboutin, but for much less!

I wore my wedding shoes for easily 12 hours on our wedding day - I liked mine so much I wore them for hair and makeup time too.  I had to make sure that I not only loved the shoes, but that they loved my  feet.  Your wedding day is not the day to get a blister and sit out from the dance floor.  (Although, to be fair, when you dance for that many hours, the blisters are sort of unavoidable, but totally worth it!)

I won't discredit the difference in materials and quality when buying premium designer shoes, so if you want to splurge go for it, after all, it is your day!  And if you don't, check out bluefly.com, zappos.com, Martinez Valero (for very, very close copies) and Nina Shoes for the classic bridal footwear.