You look amazing Joy! You have great taste.

Thank you all for the ideas and feedback. Vicki, I spent time today online looking at clutches and didn't see anything I really liked under $500! Now on a fixed income with an expensive summer I've got to be frugal and still find something fab. I'm not sure what colors would go well with this dress other than cream/pearly beige...something like that. Do you all think red would be good or would it detract from the dress too much? I'm also thinking of a soft gold, which is more the color of the shoes. Suggestions welcome!
I need to take photos and start another thread on a MOG dress to wear to the wedding. Since bridesmaids and MOTB are wearing shorter dresses I had my full length navy dress shortened and didn't care for the results.

I'm a bit late, but wanted to say how much I love this dress and the shoes on you - you look so fabulous in this Joy! You'll knock it right out of the park. In terms of clutches, I'm no expert, but am inclined to suggest something a bit different than the dress/shoes - maybe not red, but the gold idea sounds promising to me.

In the meantime, you're still looking for something to wear the day of the wedding? I know how stressful that can be. Sorry to hear the full-length navy dress shortening didn't work out the way you'd hoped, but I'm betting there's going to be something truly amazing out there that will work beautifully on you.

For now though, this dress you just bought and the new shoes are *FAB* for the rehearsal dinner. You look gorgeous in it, so don't worry about a thing! It's very glam.

Do you know that the MOTB is wearing yet on the actual day of the wedding? That might help a wee bit. Also - what colour(s) are the bridesmaids wearing?

I find all of this so much fun - and am very excited for you! You already have the rehearsal dinner dress totally wrapped up, it looks gorgeous - just get the straps taken up if need be, get a fab clutch and you're good to go. The only trouble is that it's going to be hard to top this dress for the actual wedding day.

VC, you are a sweetie! The MOTB is wearing a purple midi dress and the bridesmaids are in short green dresses. My friends all suggested blue. I'm almost wondering if I could get by with the reception dress for the wedding and find something else for the reception Even though it's black, a color I didn't want to wear to the wedding, it's not totally black.

Well, I think the dress you're considering for the rehearsal dinner could also work beautifully as the MOTG dress as well. Like you said, you can always find something else for the rehearsal dinner, and perhaps finding something for the wedding will be a bit tougher.

I think your black dress with the gold-ish, cream coloured sash as featured in this post will look fabulous with the bridesmaid's green dresses though.

Hmm...

This leaves you some flexibility - the pressure isn't necessarily on having to find something even better than this dress for MOTG, because this one would work beautifully for the wedding too.

Such fun, and here's to finding a fab MOTG dress or an alternative dress to wear for the rehearsal if you decide to wear this one for the wedding.