Top 5 Tuesday (yes, I know it's THURSDAY)

I have decided that for the month of June, I shall have a most stereotypical, "love is in the air", wedding-themed series of Top 5 lists. Being that it's my blog, after all, I am allowed to wallow in cheesiness whenever I feel the inclination. I have opted to begin with a most girly choice: my favorite wedding dresses from the movies and television.

This was NOT an easy list to make, as I scoured my mind for those dresses that were firmly implanted in my mind as the most breathtaking, most enviable, and most appropriate for the occasion. Keep in mind that they don't all represent my favorite weddings, merely dresses that I would not have minded trying on myself during that desperately exciting time otherwise known as a short engagement.

5. Maria von Trapp, The Sound of Music. While I prefer a dress that is slightly less modest, I think that this dress is still quite incredible, particularly with the addition of that cathedral-length train and the distinctive collar. It's like something English royalty would have worn in the 40's or 50's. "Somewhere in my youth, or childhood, I must have done something good..."

4. Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City. Ok, let's get past the ridiculous hair ensemble right now-if you remove it from the whole look, you are left with the fabulous Vivienne Westwood creation that sold out probably from the moment a movie still was leaked. If I could sum up accurately in one word why I love this dress so much, it's SATIN. I've always been something of a tactile person (my mother has had to yell at me throughout my life for touching my clothing), so I love the way that satin feels, so smooth and heavy. There is something so appealing about pure, unadorned satin, too, sort of old-world and classic. Carrie's wedding was a bust, and I cringed when I saw her force those gorgeous folds of satin into a box for storage.

3. Amber Brkich, Survivor/Amazing Race. Yes, I'm perfectly aware that Amber is a real person, not a fictitious character. However, I felt that I would receive less flak for admiring her dress as a television personality, rather than a celebrity. I loved that it was designed by a woman in Amber's hometown of Beaver, PA, when Amber could easily have taken advantage of her pseudo-celebrity status and worn a fancy Vera Wang or Monique Lhuillier.

2. Maggie Carpenter, Runaway Bride. When I was spending hours online looking for the perfect wedding dress, I often found myself drawn to Amsale gowns, partially for their frequent usage of heavy satin, but also for a markedly romantic tendency in design. The final dress Maggie wore as she strode across a field to marry Ike Graham, no longer a commitment-phobe, was an Amsale creation. I think it's lovely.

1. Monica Gellar, Friends. This particular image isn't the best representation of Monica's dress-I searched and searched!-but most of my readers probably remember it. Fitted, v-neck white satin, with a fluted, mermaid-like skirt, reminiscent of an inverted calla lily. I always loved how elegant it was, managing to sustain Chandler's crazy dance moves and Rachel's shocking news. Before I went dress shopping myself, I determined that I wanted to find something alone the lines of Monica's dress.

As you can see, I definitely went in a different direction! I never would have pulled my own wedding dress off the rack-in fact, it was a last minute try-on, handed to me by the assistant at the wedding shop-but when I walked out of the dressing room to a collective sigh from the female members of my family, I knew I had found the proverbial "one." It suited me perfectly, and, as they say, I felt "like a princess."