I have a perfect one if only I didn't live so far away!

I'll tell you what I did for my wedding I just had, as far as a dress. I wanted just one dress, and found one that I loved that worked really well for both ceremony and reception (no poofy hot stuff, so I danced just fine with it). I actually only found one dress, by one designer that I liked (Maggie Sottero 'sosi', I think), and I searched on ebay for the same dress. A lot of wedding shops sell their model dresses in wedding dress size 10 (which should be approximately your size) on ebay once they change dresses every season or whatever. And they sell them for CHEAP, even though they are brand new.

I ended up finding not the exact one I was looking for, but was amounted to the previous year's version of the dress (and was actually prettier), in the same size, that I liked, for a very small fraction of what it would sell for normally. I had to get it altered a little, but it was pretty much perfect.

So if you can't find a local person to lend/sell you a dress, I would seriously start searching ebay. brand new wedding dress for under $100= awesomeness. Oh, and if you want a dress that works well for dancers, and is also pretty and good for ceremony, I recommend looking at 'destination wedding dresses'. They are basically ones that aren't heavy, hot, and difficult. Which means they kick ass for dancing in, as far as wedding dresses go.

So, this dress is no longer white/off-white, but it is a former wedding dress.

I took my wedding dress...

...had the bottom chopped off by a seamstress...

...and then dyed it teal/blue.

Oh... I just remembered that I wore it to ATLX, and so I have photos and video of me dancing in it.

It might be a bit bulkier that you're looking for, and, you know, it's light blue, but it's definitely grand enough for the occasion, and it's super twirly when it dances. (And since it was a wedding dress, the top is well made with built in boning and all that good stuff that keeps it from falling down.)

In the chance that you're interested, I'd just ask you to pay shipping to and from. **edited to add: and if you're wondering, I'm almost the exact same height/weight as you.***

Oh. My. Gosh. Toni, that's amazing! (Just had to say that--have to get back to you about the actual dress offer--thank you!)

Yeah, the lack of a train helped make it more affordable. Plus, I loved the colorful embroidery that was harder to find on "regular" wedding dresses.

Also, I'm 5'7", though according to Holiday, that's short.

(Backstory, when I first met him a couple years ago, and finally managed to connect the dots for him as to who I was, his response was "oh, I thought you'd be taller.")

I guess one of my big lessons from all this wedding planning is that I don't have to spin my wheels so much preparing for things--life just brings good things along a lot of the time.

I ended up finding this dress on clearance in Macy's. Even though it's informal, it earned the approval of my fashion-sensible fiance:

"Charter Club Dress, Sleeveless Linen Seamed with Belt." Click image for details--at least till it disappears from Macy's server.

Then, to boot, I bumped into these shoes at Famous Footwear, next door to where I grocery shop: "Keds Women's Champion Oxford Eyelet"

Thank you so much to everyone who offered to help me. I'm getting real excited!

Thanks for the kind words, Dave.