People keep asking me about it on Instagram and I keep saying "I'll send you the link" and then I forget, so here's everything.

So my ceremony dress was this huge heavy A-line with a train and by the time we finished photos I was already over it. Like, I loved it for the church but there was no way I was wearing that thing to dinner. We had our reception at this little barn venue with picnic tables and string lights, very casual, and I knew I needed something I could actually move in. I found this short white strapless number online – it was cheap, like under £80, so I figured if it was terrible I'd just return it.

When it showed up, the first thing I noticed was the wrinkles. Oh my god. It came folded in this tiny plastic bag and the creases were so deep I thought I'd have to get it dry cleaned. I steamed it for like twenty minutes and most of them came out but there's still this one faint line across the skirt that you can kinda see in some photos if you look close. Whatever, I was too lazy to fix it.

The fit – I'm 5'6 and usually a size 4, and the small fit pretty well. The bust was a little loose even though I'm not flat chested, so I used fashion tape to keep it from sliding down. That worked okay but I will say, by the end of the night after all the dancing, the tape had kind of peeled off from sweat and I kept tugging the top up. Not a huge deal but annoying.

The back is this lace-up corset style which is actually really pretty and adjustable, but I tied it too tight at first cause I wanted that snatched look, then after dinner I had to go to the bathroom and loosen it cause I was so bloated. So my advice: don't crank it down if you plan on eating more than a salad.

The material is a satin-type fabric, not super thick but not see-through either. It has a nice weight to it, feels more expensive than what I paid. The skirt is A-line and hits me about mid-thigh, which I was nervous about cause I didn't want it to look like a club dress, but it ended up being fine. My mom even said it looked "tasteful" which is high praise from her.

One of my taller friends tried it on – she's 5'10 – and it was definitely shorter on her, like almost too short for a wedding, so if you're tall you might want to size up or just be prepared for that.

I wore it with a short veil for the first hour but honestly I took it off pretty quick cause it kept getting caught on people's jackets when I hugged them. For jewelry I just did my engagement ring and some small gold hoops, no necklace cause the strapless neckline is simple enough. Shoes – I wore these block heels that I thought would be comfortable but by midnight my feet were killing me. I should've worn my cowboy boots like I originally planned, I saw another bride at a different wedding last month do that and it looked so cute. Regret.

One thing that surprised me – the dress held up pretty well to dancing. I'm not a good dancer but I was out there doing the wobble and nothing ripped, so that's a win. There was a moment when I leaned over to pick up my nephew and the top gaped a little but I caught it. My sister said she could see my boob tape but whatever, it's a wedding, people are looking at the cake not me.

Would I buy it again? Yeah probably. It was affordable, it photographed nice, and I didn't trip once, which is more than I can say for my ceremony gown. The only real downsides were the wrinkles out of the box and the fact that the bust fit a bit weird, but for the price I'm not complaining.

If you're a bride who wants something easy and comfortable and you're not super picky about little imperfections, this is a solid option. Just remember to steam it the day before, not two hours before like I did, and maybe bring a safety pin just in case.