Ever since I got engaged, one of the most frequently asked questions I get from people is regarding The Dress. Have I purchased it, have I thought about it, what my preferences are. Well friends, on Saturday I took the big plunge and bought My Dress. While I won’t post pictures of it online before the wedding, I did want to discuss my experience with the whole process.
My mom and I went shopping twice before we purchased a dress to narrow it down and see what I liked. My experience was that I couldn’t pigeonhole what I liked by style, fabric, or some other criteria. The dresses that I would end up choosing at the end of the day were often very different from each other. The four dresses we had narrowed it down from on our most recent trip were pretty different from one another. One was lacy, one was beaded, one had a ruffled train all the way down the back. Some were strapless, some were not. Of the four dresses, I decided that I liked two better than the others. My mom had a definite favorite that was not one of those two. That one was a style preview that only came in the size too small for me (my mom and I were dumb and somehow found ourselves in the wrong size, so I tried on quite a few dresses in that size. Some of them fit, though!) And my first thought when I tried it on was “This is too small.” The tailor came out and confirmed that it could easily be left out. My mom loved it so I decided not to eliminate it just yet.
On Saturday we loaded the van with my dress-shopping posse (i.e. my grandmother, future MIL, and bridesmaids minus one) and headed back to the store. After we finally wrangled my final four and then some into the dressing room, I started trying them on. I tried on my least favorite and eliminated it. Then I tried on the one my mom liked. I loved it. Then I tried on the two I had liked originally, and while I liked them, they didn’t strike me the same way as the first time I had tried them on. I kept going back to that one dress. Even though it didn’t fit just right, I felt better in it than all the others. So after much deliberation, as in trying them all on five times and taking a kajillion pictures, I went the dress that my mom originally had liked.
Because it was a style preview, we got to take the dress home with us, and then we will take it back a few months before the wedding to get it altered and steamed. This means that we can sneak peeks at the dress, which has been lots of fun. I haven’t tried on the dress at home yet, but I’m sure I will at some point.
I’m so excited to finally have my dress! I absolutely love it. Wedding dress shopping is always described as this dramatic, “love at first sight” experience, but it didn’t really work out that way for me. I was really glad that my mom and I went to narrow them down beforehand and that I got to have a lot of people there with me to weigh in on the final decision. It made the experience really fun. I wish I could post pictures or describe it more, but I think that’s going to stay off the blog for now. If you have a good wedding dress shopping story, please share!
congrats on the dress! when i came back to visit from france in april, i immediately went dress shopping and fell in love with a dress and bought it! I didn't even shop around – i'm not sure if that's good or not, but nothing has measured up yet so i guess it's okay! i'd love to see a picture of your dress if you want to send it to me. i love reading your wedding updates when i actually have the time to get on here!
Thanks girl! I don't have any pics on my computer right now, but if I figure out how to upload them from my phone I'll send them your way! I'd love to see yours too if you want to email it to me.
yes, i can certainly do that! (: