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September 16, 2013

Weekend Adventures & Re-Wearing My Wedding Reception Dress!

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Good morning!

Matt and I spent the weekend up in the Poconos in Pennsylvania for the wedding of one of his college buddies. On the drive up on Friday, I discovered that we would be going nearly right through Carlisle, PA, where my undergrad alma mater Dickinson College is! Clearly we had to stop for a trip down memory lane. 🙂

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Dickinson is a small (I think ~3,000 students total), private, liberal arts college; I graduated in 2004 and sadly hadn’t been back for a visit since 2005! A lot of my friends made it back a few years ago for our 5 year reunion but I missed it due to a wedding. I’m hoping to make it back next summer for our 10th (whoa!).

In the meantime, it was so fun to be back on campus again. Our first stop was lunch in Carlisle at Back Door Café, one of my old favorites that was across from my apartment senior year.

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They have awesome tuna salad – I got the 1/2 sandwich + salad combo. The tuna salad sandwich came on a super soft and thick piece of honey wheat bread – so good.

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After lunch, we spent about an hour walking around campus so I could reminisce. Matt has been to Dickinson before, too – his best friend from high school went there (which is how we later met) so he came to visit a couple times. Weird to think that we were both there at the same time but didn’t know each other!

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Campus was looking lovely – it was a really nice day to walk around. It’s funny – maybe it’s because I just spent a couple years at UNC (which is huge), or maybe it’s because it’s been so long and everything is bigger in our minds, but campus was so much smaller than I remembered! Weird how that happens.

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This is beautiful Old West – everyone walks in the doors at convocation freshman year, and then out the doors at graduation. Those steps are scary in heels! 🙂

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It was such a fun trip down memory lane to be on campus. It made me really miss all my college friends and my time there! Looking forward to returning next summer.

After our Carlisle adventures, we continued to the Poconos for the wedding! We were staying at a pretty mountain resort type gated community in a shared home with some of Matt’s college buddies. On Saturday before the wedding, we got in a little tennis – glad we thought to bring our racquets!

tennis

Post-tennis, we spent some time chilling in the indoor pool and hot tub! Hot tubs are the greatest.

Saturday evening was the wedding! It was really pretty – outside and on a lake. Although it was COLD up in the mountains – felt like November, not September!

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Guess what I wore to the wedding? You already know if you follow me on Instagram, but, do you guys remember how I said I was going to have the short white lace dress I wore at the end of my wedding reception dyed so I could wear it again? Well, here it is, now in navy blue! 🙂

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Here’s what it used to look like – it’s from Nicole Miller, and it was basically a mini-version of my real wedding dress.

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I changed into it for the last hour or so of our wedding reception for dancing. Here it was in action last fall at our wedding (which you can read more about, if you’re interested, on my wedding page):

nicole miller white lace dressAbove photos credited to Ben Powell Photography

Originally, I asked the dress shop where I got my real wedding dress about dyeing the dress, but they didn’t think they could do it without shrinking the dress, which would have been a fail since it was already pretty tight. Instead, we decided to try putting in a new lining and seeing how that looked. The lining was navy blue and it looked really pretty, but it was still too bridal, I thought, to be wearing to other weddings since the top layer was all still white lace. After some searching online and reading reviews, I decided to gamble and send my dress to Intimate Dyeing up in NH to see what they could do with it. They warned me that it might shrink a little but that it should be fine. The main issue was just that if any part of the dress was polyester, it wouldn’t dye. Originally I wanted to have the dress dyed black, but they discovered that the navy blue lining we’d put in was polyester and wouldn’t dye, so we decided to dye the lace blue to match instead.

The dyeing was mostly a big success, with the only problem being that the white straps didn’t dye (although they turned a pretty steely gray color, which looks nice with the blue). The big problem, though, was that some of the stitching had randomly stayed white, which made the dress look kind of weird and unfinished.

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Luckily, I had a stroke of brilliance and bought a navy blue fabric pen and painstakingly colored all the stitching navy blue to match. It worked! You couldn’t even tell when I was done.

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And as for the issue of the gray straps, I found a ribbon at JoAnn Fabrics that matched nicely and tied it on as a sash so that the straps didn’t seem out of place. Et voila! A totally new looking dress.

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I’m so excited that I now have this to wear again and again! Not only because it’s pretty and unique, but of course for the sentimental value, too. 🙂 If you’re looking to have something dyed, I’d definitely recommend Intimate Dyeing – they did a great job and had really good customer service letting me know the risks/updates on the dress dyeing process as they did it, too.

dyed wedding dress

A few of you have been asking what I use to do my hair on Instagram, so I wanted to recommend two great products I purchased recently. The first is this awesome blow dryer. I finally bought it a few months ago when my old one (which was literally from the early 90’s) caput. I did a ton of research before I bought a new one and the one I settled on is AMAZING – lightweight but really powerful and gets your hair nice and smooth. Reasonably priced, too. Would definitely recommend it! I use it with a round brush to smooth out my hair. To finish off the look, I use this rotating curling iron to curl a few of the pieces around my face. I learned this trick from Gina and I love how it looks. Adds some nice and bouncy volume! That curling iron is really awesome, too – love that it rotates. I’ve lent it to friends and they’ve all raved about it as well.

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Anyway! A big congrats to Rob & Noelle! It was so fun to celebrate them and great to meet some of Matt’s college buddies, too.

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Matt and I hightailed it out of PA in the early morning on Sunday because I had to be back for some serious marathon training – last night I ran 17 miles, my longest distance yet! I’ll be back with a recap tomorrow. 🙂

Hope you all had great weekends, too!

- anne
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32 comments
  • Jackie
    September 16, 2013 · 11:22AM:
    The dress is stunning!!!!! Love the color!
    Reply
  • kate September 16, 2013 · 11:29AM:
    this is SO timely! i was just thinking about having my reception dress dyed! i'm so glad yours worked out, it gives me hope for mine.
    Reply
  • Gena
    September 16, 2013 · 11:56AM:
    So glad you got to wear the dress again, because it's really beautiful--and aren't you handy with the fabric pen, MacGyver.
    Reply
    • Anne
      September 16, 2013 · 12:16PM:
      Lol! I was quite proud of myself for coming up with that idea. ;) Especially since I'm so NOT crafty usually!
      Reply
  • Kelly @ Kelly Runs for Food
    September 16, 2013 · 11:59AM:
    That's so awesome you get to wear the dress again! We did a trash-the-dress photo shoot the day after our wedding (in Mexico), so I'm not sure my dress will ever get worn again!
    Reply
    • Anne
      September 16, 2013 · 12:16PM:
      How fun - I bet the photos were amazing!
      Reply
  • Jennifer@knackfornutrition
    September 16, 2013 · 12:00PM:
    The dress looks great in navy blue! Looks like you guys had a great weekend! :)
    Reply
  • Ashley @ Hudson on the Potomac
    September 16, 2013 · 12:06PM:
    How smart of you to dye your dress!!! I would have never thought to do that! I love the navy and the ribbon you added really pulls it together! Awesome!!!
    Reply
  • Katie
    September 16, 2013 · 12:08PM:
    Nice work!! Such a great idea!
    Reply
  • Jojo @ RunFastEatLots
    September 16, 2013 · 12:47PM:
    I love the dress! That's so creative to have it dyed, and I really like the white straps and sash. It goes really well with the blue.
    Reply
  • Taylor @ Single-tracked Mind
    September 16, 2013 · 12:51PM:
    The dress looks great! What a great way to reuse your dress in a thoughtful way!
    Reply
  • Dana @ Conscious Kitchen Blog
    September 16, 2013 · 1:05PM:
    I think the dress turned out great! I really like the accent with the straps and the sash.
    Reply
  • Anna @ Fitness à la Anna
    September 16, 2013 · 1:16PM:
    That dress looks so good on you! And such a great idea to reuse your dress, its too pretty not to be used again :) I have been considering dyeing an old wrap of mine that has a couple of bleach stains...it was my FAV thing ever, so I think I'm going to try it out!
    Reply
  • Roadrunner September 16, 2013 · 1:37PM:
    Love the dress in the color blue; and looks like a wonderful weekend!
    Reply
  • Amanda
    September 16, 2013 · 2:18PM:
    Thanks so much for sharing the company you used to dye your dress. I have been wanting to dye my wedding dress for 2 years navy blue! It is a cocktail dress from BCBG, and since it is white I have NOWHERE to wear it. I keep pushing my husband to take me to an overly fancy dinner, but that has not happened hehe.
    Reply
  • Maria @ Pappa Don't Preach
    September 16, 2013 · 2:34PM:
    I love that you found a way to re-wear the dress! It's gorgeous and that shade of blue looks wonderful on you! :)
    Reply
  • Taylor @ liftingrevolution
    September 16, 2013 · 3:00PM:
    I love that dress! And I love the poconos, we got to go a few years back and it's so peaceful and beautiful. Sounds like a great time.
    Reply
  • Annie @ Annie Get Your Run
    September 16, 2013 · 3:11PM:
    I'm from Mechanicsburg! I spent a lot of time in Carlisle growing up. You didn't stop for a Hatchi Dog at Hamiltons?!
    Reply
    • Anne
      September 16, 2013 · 4:39PM:
      I don't think I've ever been to Hamilton's!
      Reply
  • Shel@PeachyPalate
    September 16, 2013 · 3:16PM:
    The dress looks gorgeous!!! Such a great idea rather than have it sitting in the closet! Can't wait to hear about the 17 miles!
    Reply
  • K September 16, 2013 · 3:19PM:
    thanks for the info on the dress dyeing! I have been wanting to dye my wedding dress but was a little scared to do it myself and wasn't aware of many places willing to dye dresses with bead work, etc. I'm totally going to do this, but it looks like I might have to settle on a lighter shade.
    Reply
  • Elizabeth September 16, 2013 · 4:18PM:
    I love the color! Such a great idea!! I have dyed some of my clothes before that have been worn out and dyeing just really freshens it up and makes it brand new!
    Reply
  • Sokphal
    September 16, 2013 · 5:01PM:
    The dress is beautiful! I would be sooo lazy to do what you did! ;) But the turn-out is stunning! I swear there's a website for EVERYTHING!
    Reply
  • Ja @Ja on the RUN
    September 16, 2013 · 6:59PM:
    OMG! That's the cutest thing I have ever known! You are brilliant!! The dress turned out sooo cute!!! :) I love love love it!
    Reply
  • Jillienne @ ChasingRaspberries
    September 16, 2013 · 10:14PM:
    That's a genius idea for the dress! The blue lace is stunning!
    Reply
  • Sandy September 17, 2013 · 3:41AM:
    Going to a wedding in late September and I'm afraid it is going to get cool in the evening. What kind of sweater or wrap did you find to go with a lacy dress?
    Reply
    • Anne
      September 17, 2013 · 11:33AM:
      Unfortunately I didn't have a wrap or anything - I was freezing! Most of the women were wearing their men's jackets during the outdoor cocktail hour!
      Reply
  • Lisa
    September 17, 2013 · 4:43PM:
    I LOVE your dress!!!!! :-)
    Reply
  • Kimberly
    September 17, 2013 · 6:29PM:
    I love how you re-purposed your dress! I was recently in a wedding where I wore a really cute yellow dress from Banana Republic. I love the dress but yellow isn't really my color, so I'm going to try this!
    Reply
  • Kris S September 18, 2013 · 3:07AM:
    Yesss! Love all of this :)
    Reply
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anne mauney fannetastic food
Hi, I’m Anne! I'm a Washington D.C. based Registered Dietitian, mother, runner, and lover of travel, adventure, and the great outdoors. I've been blogging since 2009, sharing a mix of lifestyle content, recipes, and fitness tips. Come for the recipes – stay for the fun!
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anne mauney

I’m Anne, a Registered Dietitian and mother. I've been blogging since 2009 and love showing others that eating nutritious foods and staying active can actually be fun rather than overwhelming!

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