GOSSIP HOTLINE

As you must know by now, Kim Kardashian is getting married this weekend in swank Montecito, Calif., to Kris Humphries.

Vera Wang is custom designing her gown and there have been 16 fittings! It’s been reported that she’s actually choosing between three gowns, costing a reported $25,000 each and will change not once, but twice after the ceremony.

An entire wedding WARDROBE… now that’s a concept! (Or should that be koncept with a k?)

All this wedding talk makes me think back to my own wedding day. What would I do if I had Vera Wang in my Rolodex and all that cash to drop on a dress… or two… or three? Would I do things differently?

My wedding dress cost less than $200 - just the cost of the fabric down at the LA fabric mart. My husband’s mother, a lifelong seamstress who worked for many years in bridal boutiques, made the gown.

I was inspired by a very, very simple dress that I saw in a store in Los Angeles. That gown cost a couple thousand dollars, which is not a huge sum in the world of wedding gowns, but I just couldn’t see myself spending that kind of money on something so simple. There was no beading or lace or embroidery and I just couldn’t justify the price tag, especially since we were paying for our own wedding.

I was a little nervous about his mom making the dress… I knew she could sew… but a dress from scratch? I wasn’t sure. She made a pattern out of muslin, which made me even more nervous because it just didn’t look like a wedding dress at all!

(Pictured: Ryan Patterson and Richard Plotkin on their wedding day)

But in the end… I loved the dress, especially since it had such personal meaning. (The photo doesn’t really do it justice).

I accessorized with simple jewelry and a tiara and ironically, the headpiece cost more than my gown! Would I go with something more elaborate today? Maybe, but I probably wouldn’t get too crazy… I’m just not a fancy schmancy girl at heart. My priority was to be comfortable and not have to worry about a strapless gown falling down or being able to move in a tight gown - I wanted to have fun at my wedding and I still feel the same way.

Perhaps, the legendary fashion maven Diana Vreeland said it best “A new dress doesn’t get you anywhere; it’s the life you’re LIVING IN THE DRESS.”

So true, it’s about the moments and memories you create that you will carry with you. Years after our wedding, people still tell me how much fun they had on our big day. I have so many good memories from my wedding… and I hope Kim does too.