The wedding crasher’s survival guide

Bridesmaids have such a bad rep. In the upcoming movie The Wedding Crashers, starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, bridesmaids serve as prey to these two lotharios who crash weddings so they can take advantage of desperate bridesmaids who think they’re headed towards spinsterville and charm their way into their petticoats.

In my case, all of my experiences of being a bridesmaid have always been an honor – seeing my best friends preparing and celebrating their lives with worthy men and me being a part of it.

I thank the good gods above the clouds that I have friends with excellent taste. I’ve never been victim to a pink tulle cotton-candy nightmare that would have driven me to chug the free champagne to forget the carnival confection that I was wearing. But of course the question is, what do I do after?

Renovation is such an exhilarating exercise. Madonna has sworn by it and so I’ve taken her talent for reinvention to heart. My challenge was to make something as memorable as a bridesmaid dress into a totally different creature. More like a tool for husband hunting... just kidding. I’ve asked some friends to renovate these delectable pieces for the most joyous of occasions into outfits for more indecent adventures.

Bata-Garcia Wedding

Monette was my best friend in college. I had very few friends there since I guess I was such a whack. She was as adventurous and fun-loving as I was. But when she met Anthony she was suddenly beatified into sainthood. Love is truly the universal religion.

When they got married, Rajo Laurel made us bridesmaids an ingenious dress that he taught me to wear in 10 different ways. I loved it. It was one of those dresses so sexy and elegant, you could wear it to the boudoir of Prince Harry and the Queen would probably have approved (of the dress, not me).

He transformed the dress using a method that he describes as the defiance of gravity. "I used texture as a base to develop the design. I also reconfigured the proportions and made into this tiny dress." He adds, "In this experiment it’s all about fabric manipulation and changing the fabric from a smooth chiffon into a textured fabric filled with modern bumps and curves."

The coup de grace was the little anchors that weighed down the dress, giving the almost-airy fabrics structure. As he says, "It’s gravity interacting with the dress."

The result was unbelievable and is still fit for Prince Harry’s seduction.

Puyat-Hotung Wedding

I dreaded this wedding because I was going to be separated from my best friend in the whole wide world. Wendy had to move with Tony to Shanghai after the wedding, making me lose my shrink/ fashion adviser/ partner in crime/ sister by water in one "I do." But all Tony had to do was introduce me to a cute French guy in a club in Shanghai and I was won over. I’m cheap in every way, I guess.

Wendy chose the great Inno Sotto to create her bridal ensemble and I kind of felt like a bit of a star myself when I slipped into this beautiful pale-lilac masterpiece. I was giddy. Only a good outfit can make a selfish friend like me erase my grief from the physical loss of dear Wendy.

Her wedding became the standard for my own. Small and understated under the gentle Hawaiian sun. It was spectacular despite our many drunken and teary speeches.

I asked my friend Ivar Aseron to try his hand with Inno’s delicious masterpiece. With much nervousness – as he was, after all, working on the magic of Inno – he created a simple yet sculptural piece that would go well from, well... coffee to cocktails.

"I have always admired the designer for his exceptional talent which translates to excellently crafted clothes that bear the unmistakable Inno Sotto look," Ivar shares. "What I admire most in the original dress is its simplicity which highlights its superb craftsmanship."

Working on the dress, Ivar, in his true streamlined fashion, preserved its symmetry. "I didn’t make a lot of changes. I just took the skirt and made it into a strapless short dress with the original draped detail in front."

The dress was something I could wear to a really fight beach party and to a party hosted by evil fashionistas – truly fight.

Cohen-Antonio Wedding

Marco and Jackie are like the perfect easy couple. Both had been great friends of mine for years and when they did wed, everyone just said, "It’s about time." No one could have been happier – we all felt like it was our wedding, too, because we were so elated. Their decade-long courtship was punctuated with a lavish, lavender-tinted ceremony. Being the New Yorkers that they were, our dresses were of course by Vera Wang (the bride, however, wore Natori). It was one of the most wonderful weddings, beginning with all of us crying our eyes out with happiness and getting as drunk as silly geese.

My buddy Rhett Eala transformed the flowing lilac dress made of silk and tulle into one of his signature body-skimming cocktail numbers. "I liked the cut and quality of the dress. Vera Wang incorporates a lot of couture techniques into her designs," he shares. He simply tweaked the gown into a slightly more cocktail-dress shape and added some simple beadwork one the chest.

It’s actually still formal enough for a day wedding, so I’m hoping someone will have one soon so I can show it off.