Click Your Heels Together Three Times...

...and pick a shoe. Actually, choosing my wedding shoes was one of the easiest decisions I had to make. None of this agonising over two-inch or three inch heels, strappy or solid, peep-toe or closed, kitten, wedge, stiletto, satin, leather, fake leather, shiny PVC, you name it, I didn't worry about it!

This was not me.

I don't do well in heels. Never have, probably never will. I don't balance well and my feet hurt like a bitch. So I knew that on my wedding day, I was going to say "NO" to falling flat on my face in front of everyone I know(worst case scenario), or be uncomfortable the whole night (best case scenario, and I'm sorry, but I tend not to associate the word "best" with the phrase "uncomfortable all night", so that was pretty much a huge no-no as well. Never mind the fact that traipsing around lawns and possible rocky terrain in heels is not conducive to great photos.


So, no heels.


This left me with two options: Strappy Sandals or Ballet Pumps. And strappy sandals (or their first cousin, the flip-flop) are not exactly the greatest shoes to dance in. And I'm going to dance, oh boy am I ever. It might be badly, I might look like a spider on roller-skates, I might get scored 2 out of ten by my cruel friends, but dammit, I am going to bop to 80's cheese. So no flippy shoes that can flop off my feet at any moment.


So I was left with the ballet pump. And I was pretty pleased with that idea, because how CUTE are they? So cute! So I decided to get me a sweet white pair, in satin, leather or some fake version of the above - whatever I found and liked first. Except it suddenly proved surprisingly difficult to find a pair of white ballet flats that wasn't hideous or hideously expensive. Woolworth's had a particularly ugly pair for R250. I didn't see the point of paying that much for shoes I WANTED, since no one would really see them and I was unlikely to wear white shoes again. And these were fugly.


And then Mr Ruby Slippers swept in, bless him, and saved the day. I know, I hear what you're saying:"A man? Saved the day in connection with show shopping? Not only that, but wedding shoe shopping? Surely you jest!"


Well, I jest not. Mr RS and I were at Jet one day, and they had the most darling pair of dark red satin ballet pumps. They also had black and brown, but I was strangely drawn to the red.

"Isn't it a pity," said I, "that these don't come in white?"

*Insert non-committal agreeing noise by Mr Slippers*

"These are so cute,"I continued, "I wish I could wear these to the wedding. But they're red!"

Mr Slippers, sensing a way to hurry this conversation up, "So why don't you?"


And then he spoke the words, the clincher, the one thing that would make me take his advice on any kind of shopping:


"You could be like Judy Garland and have your own Ruby Slippers."

The man is a genius, I swear. I should snap him up before someone else gets a chance. Not only had I been looking for a way to bring more film references into our wedding, but also for a way to bring in more Judy Garland - because, if you know me at all, you'll know that I worship the woman (drug addiction and five marriages aside). I swear, if Mr RS didn't get a say, I'd name my first-born Judy and my second-born Garland.

So needless to say I bought the shoes, at a ridiculously cheap price (to help offset the cost of the dress), and am now the owner of my own delicious pair of ruby slippers. Hence the blog name, of course. What surprised me later was how many women actually wear red shoes with their wedding dress. I thought I was being so clever and original! (Well, after I took the idea from its actual originator). It just goes to show that there are very few original wedding ideas left. And I should know, with all the time I spend on wedding blogs and forums!

I know I wasn't going to post my dress, but here's a little teaser of me sitting down in it, so you can see my shoes:

Yet again I closed my eyes. Our wedding photographer is going to have to throw half her pictures out, purely for that reason. But the shoes! So cute! And the best part is, I can wear them again afterwards, which I never would have done with the soon-to-be-grubby-white ones I was planning. Whoohoo for my brilliant hubby-to-be!