I knew I had some work to do to find "the wedding dress of my dreams," as I keep getting emails about (thank you, David's Bridal), but I had no idea it would be so hard. Say there are about 30 bridal stores in a given (albeit large) city. That's conservative for Atlanta, but probably a stretch for Birmingham, and a joke for NYC. But it's not as easy as getting all 30, reading reviews, checking designers, and picking a few. They have specialties. Some do beading. Some specialize in lace. And their tiered. It's like a caste system of silk, tulle, and polyester. My dress selection is predetermined by the price range I'd like to examine. I guess I should've expected, and even appreciated, that, but it's a little overwhelming!I'm looking at gowns (cluelessly, I might add) and having to pick what I think I want before I even go. And then I might end up at the totally wrong place? Oy.
So I've booked one appointment, so far, and am waiting for confirmation on two others. I'm limiting myself to one appointment a day, even though the consultations only last about 90 minutes. I figure the worst thing you can do is go in grumpy, tired, hungry, or stressed, so I'm taking the easy road.
The truth is, I'm really excited about getting a dress. Beside picking out wedding bands (finger, not percussion), it's probably at the top of my list. Don't ask me why--I'm not not a big shopper, but I'm excited. Losing sleep excited. Not that this should surprise anyone. After all, I've already lost sleep over being engaged, looking at honeymoon spots, and planning the reception. Not in a stressful way, but in a "I'mSoExcitedICan'tStandIt." I even had to make B stop talking about stuff a few nights ago because I knew I'd be up for hours if we got going.
It makes me wonder how other girls picked out their dresses. I know there must've been some system. I keep hearing that "you'll know," which is what everyone tells you about any kind of bid decision (homes, husbands, colleges, drastic hair cuts...), and I wonder if you really do.
4 comments:
My best advice is to first try on at least one of every type dress (halter, strapless, cap sleeved, spaghetti-ish strap). Even if you don't think you'll look great in a certain type, try it on anyway, because you might surprise yourself. And once you can narrow it down to the type that you want, it will make it easier when setting up your other appointments, because the girls will know which dresses to shove in your face and which ones to just leave on the rack.
I looked at magazines and cut out dresses I liked. Before I knew it, I had about a dozen dresses with all-over lace and a fitted bodice. When I walked into the store, I saw a dress on a manequin and knew that was The Dress, but they didn't have my size on the rack. So I played nice and tried on a couple of dresses in white that were different, and they were horrible. My mother left the dressing room, took The Dress off the manequin (who knew they dressed manequins in real-people sizes??), brought it to me. It was ivory, not white, and it had beads and lace all over, and it was a mermaid fit. We bought it that day. It was my first day of dress shopping, and only the 3rd dress I tried on. When I walked out, my mother, and some other brides' mothers started tearing up. That's all I needed to know.
I started crying when I found The Dress. I dont know why, I just became overwhelmed with emotion when I saw myself in the mirror. I turned around with tears in my eyes to see the same tears in my mom and sister's eyes. That's when we knew it was the one.
(this is Kimberly (Lovelace) Mann. I found your blog on Julie's blog.)
Remember the Nazis in Decatur! Beware!!!
Post a Comment