Lucie Loves… Fashion // #TriedAndTested ‘be my valentine’ pretty dress hire from @WishWantWear

Well, I must say, 2013 seems to be a year of wedding after wedding after wedding for me and JMG. We’ve attended three weddings so far this year, with one more coming up at the beginning of November.

From the beautiful farm house with a fireworks in the orchard, to a slap up reception and fantastic photos from the Dominican Republic to a stunning Grade I listed Leicestershire country house, originally mentioned in the Domesday Book, and later associated with the Knights Templar.

These weddings have been truly diverse. The only constant has been the recurring nightmare of “WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR?!” 

For Wedding number three, my wardrobe wishes were granted in the form of a pretty little red lace number from Wish Want Wear. I’d never hired an evening dress for a special occasion before. Well, only once, but that was for a photoshoot with a friend, from a theatre company in Leicester. It was floor length, pistachio green chiffon and was really quite extravagant.

And so, with Wedding number three in mind, I had a look on the Wish Want Wear website and searched through all of the evening dresses available in a size 8 and a size 10. The choice is pretty good. You can narrow down your search by occasion too. In the end I opted for the Tracy Reese 'be my valentine' red lace v-back dress in a size 8. The dress would have cost £290 if I had had to purchase it myself. However, Wish Want Wear give you the option of paying £50 to hire it for 4 days, and you don’t even have to dry clean it or iron it before you send it back. 

I ordered the dress on the Wednesday and it arrived at my office on the Friday morning, perfectly timed for the wedding the next day.  

And the dress? Yes, it was just as beautiful in the flesh. I couldn’t wait to try it on. I love a midi length dress and the v-back wasn’t too low that you couldn’t wear wear a bra with it - us fuller-busted ladies need some support y'know.

I must admit, I felt rather elegant wearing the Tracy Reece dress, teamed with my trusty Topshop Lucinda platform heels and Aldo embellished collar necklace.

A fellow wedding guest said she loved it too. She complimented my dress at the dinner table, saying she’d been admiring the cut and the vivid red coloured lace.  But I did that silly British, self-deprecating, thing of saying, after she’d begun cooing over it, “Oh, I didn’t buy it, it’s only a hire dress!”

*slaps forehead*

Why couldn’t I have just pretended to be the proud owner of this beautiful frock?! Oh well… 

Once the wonderful day was over and Mr and Mrs Ringrose were well and truly wed, the wedding breakfast was eaten, the cake was cut and roulette was played (and much fake money was lost), JMG and I headed off home. Me, in my fancy rented dress, and him in his lovely grey suit.

I know what you’re thinking. One day, eh?

Having sent back my Wish Want Wear dress on Monday, I was delighted to receive an email thanking me for my hire and letting me know it had got home safely. 

I was very lucky to be offered the free dress hire experience, but would without a doubt recommend Wish Want Wear to anyone wanting to wear something rather special without having to pay out a small fortune.

Photography © jmgcreative / Lucie Kerley