Despite being the center of attention already for the entire day, brides have been finding new ways to draw even more attention to themselves on their big day. One of these arising trends is wearing bold, colorful and sassy shoes below those flowing layers of lace, silk and crinoline. I like to think I was a pioneer of this trend at my own wedding (mainly because I chose to ignore all the other girls that were posting pictures of their own colored shoes). With a decided color scheme of black, white and red for my wedding, I had my heart set on finding the perfect pair of red satin peep-toe pumps. I’m a sucker for a little embellishment, so finding a pair with some sort of flower or bow in addition was absolutely necessary.

However, being a budget bride definitely put me in a bit of a predicament as I refused to pay more than $50 for my wedding shoes (to accompany my $500 La Sposa wedding gown). As if that wasn’t a big enough challenge, I was also restricting myself to a heel no higher than 3 inches as I’m on the tall side of 5’10”, my future husband is 6’3” and I refused to be taller than him in our wedding photos. After months of watching the clearance sections on all the reliable shoe stores’ websites from Macy’s and DSW to Nordstrom (who was I kidding trying to find shoes for under $200 at Nordstrom?), I finally found the shoe my heart desired: a Capparos apple-red satin peep-toe pump with a satin rose above the toe and a 2 ¾ inch heel… and for less than $50! I took a gamble on ordering a size larger than what I normally wear a.) because my size wasn’t in stock and I wasn’t about to let these shoes slip away and b.) because I had a feeling I’d need to add some extra cushioning to endure wearing them for a full day of wedded stress…er…bliss.

By some supernatural intervention, when they finally appeared on my doorstep, I opened them and tried them on to find they were a perfect fit with just enough room to spare for some Dr. Scholl’s magic. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t take a picture with my phone that very second and send it to my matron of honor in New York for her reaction. For the next few months, they sat safely in their box in my bedroom. But as the wedding date approached, I knew it was important to break them in so you can bet there was more than one occasion where I was caught wearing them around my mother’s house while performing mundane tasks - even vacuuming. And for anyone that doesn’t know, it’s pretty tricky to run a vacuum in heels.

Now although I like to think of myself as being a pretty traditional bride in that I kept my dress, my veil, etc a secret from my future husband, I ended up revealing my shoes to him since we were taking dance lessons for our big day and I wanted to get some practice in them in an attempt to avoid face-planting on the dance floor in front of our 100+ guests. Like your typical guy, his reaction to my colorful shoes was less than enthusiastic but he knew they made me happy, so he smiled and said they looked nice (he already knew the key to a successful relationship was to just smile and nod).

I think my most memorable moment even before the big reveal of my red shoes on the wedding day was my maternal grandmother’s reaction when she heard that I was indeed wearing red shoes. “Why?” she’d exclaimed in amusement. I guess she hadn’t heard of the rising trend… bless her heart.

Finally the big day had arrived and once all the hair and makeup was done and I was secured into my dress, my mother helped me slip into my red shoes I’d dreamed of wearing for months on end. Although my only thoughts as I took those steps down the aisle arm in arm with my grandfather were whispered prayers that I didn’t trip, faint or throw up while keeping my eyes on my future husband at the front of the church, I am confident there were plenty of guests in the crowd that took a peek at my fabulous shoes.