The Big Day

Vero Moda dress (similar)
Dune London heels
Chanel handbag
Ray Ban sunglasses
Mejuri bracelet (similar)
Vintage necklace (similar)
Mejuri earrings (similar)
Location: Winnipeg Art Gallery – Winnipeg, Manitoba

Today is the big day. Which is funny, because after waiting a lifetime to go ahead with this, it’s come up so abruptly and I haven’t had much time to mentally prepare. I don’t really know what the next few days, or even few weeks, will look like… and I’m wary of speculating. As a general rule, I try to keep my expectations low – that way, I’m more often pleasantly surprised than disappointed.

So rather than looking forward today, I thought it was the right moment to look back on another (recent) big day – our ten year anniversary.

Celebrating any occasion in the midst of a pandemic has, in my experience, required low expectations. A big day simply isn’t a big day without friends and family and champagne and a cake and dinner out… and most of those things are off the table. That doesn’t mean that celebrations stop. But they do look different. We envisionned a party, to be quickly followed by a trip. Instead, we made Aperol Spritz and a cheese plate, sat on our balcony, and watched a movie. It was still a celebration – but, admittedly, I want a big party or a big adventure for our next anniversary. And a celebration means a special outfit.

I spent months searching for the perfect white dress for the big day. But finding the right one was a challenge, particularly because we didn’t know exactly how we would be celebrating our anniversary until just before it happened. After a lot of searching (and a lot of time spent wishing we were still living in Paris when the pandemic began,) I settled on a dress that reminded me of one I had during our time in Paris in 2017. It isn’t exactly the same – but then again, three years later, neither am I. It was definitely just the right dress to spend a lazy afternoon drinking cocktails in – simple and pretty, but still comfortable.

Our tenth anniversary wasn’t the big day I’d hoped it could be. But there will be other big days. Other adventures. I still had an excuse to put together a celebratory outfit, which is something I will never complain about… although I admit that I am looking forward to future celebratory outfits that could potentially involve backless or strapless dresses. A whole new fashion world may be opening up for me, after today. I suppose I’ll just have to wait and see.

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