The White Dress

I know I haven't been blogging lately. Things in life kinda got a little busy and the down time we had at work for me to express my thoughts on a blog were short lived. But, now I am back to writing about my wedding experience.

Ever since I was a little girl and while I have been growing up, I have always dreamed of my wedding dress. I think this is a very common occurrence for all women. For some brides the dress sets the statement of the wedding, for others the dress expresses the personality of the bride. I have watched my fair share of TLC and their shows, especially Say Yes To the Dress. Of course the women being shown on the show have a way bigger budget than me. Looking for a dress was where I first started with the wedding planning, after choosing the color scheme of course.

What exactly did I want to find in a dress? I wanted something not too poofy (no Cinderella for me), classic ( a word I like to use a lot to describe my wedding), has something unique to it, and lastly preferred buttons or corset back. Originally I wanted to have my wedding dress be lace. But after trying on a couple of lace dresses I found out that it wasn't exactly what I wanted or what I looked good in. I was buying a dress to show my personality and to impress Mike. In the end there were a total of 3 dresses that became the option.

My first ever trying on dresses since I was engaged. This occurred in April of 2011 while I was still at Virginia Tech. My maid of honor and sorority sister, Chelsea, along with a couple of other sorority sisters went with me to the Blacksburg wedding store, Chantilly Lace. I was going to get an idea of what style dresses I liked and what fit my body shape the best. I think I tried on a total of 6 dresses that day. One of my sorority sisters made me try on a big ball gown full of tulle and fluff just to see me in it. Needless, to say I hated it. I couldn't see my feet or feel where I was walking. Here, I found one dress I really liked. I took a picture and sent it to my mother and father on their opinions. It was a Maggie Sottero satin dress in diamond white. The dress was A-line with a V-neckline and corset closure. It had an accent piece on the the left hip. It was beautiful and rather simple. I didn't get the feeling I hoped to expect when trying on the dress. I wasn't sure about but I kept looking around.

 

The second time I went to try on dresses was when I came home in summer break. I wanted to include my mother since she was not at the first dress trying on and also my mother-in-law. Two bridesmaids, Becca and Karen were also invited. My mom wanted me to go to David's Bridal. I am not a fan of David's Bridal. Don't get me wrong, they have wonderful dress and they are beautiful for cheaper budgets. But for me, I would know that the dress I picked hundreds of other women wore the exact same one for their special day because David's Bridal is a big franchise and available almost anywhere. I went willing to try on dresses and see if there was any hope of me finding my perfect one here. The consultant was nice especially since I didn't set an appointment. She pulled the lace dresses, one my mother liked, and one that was different I kinda pointed to. This is the place I found out, I hated lace dresses and I didn't look good in them. Only the models in the magazine could pull off the dresses. Oh well! I found a dress that I was really liked and possibly loved and was from David's Bridal. The designer was Galina and it was a Satin Fit and Flare dress. It had 3D floral appliques on the top, front and train of the dress. It was satin and ivory colored. It had a ribbon that attached at the waist and was white. I was going to trade out the white ribbon for navy blue ribbon to match the theme of my wedding. Everyone loved it except for my mother. She made me try on another dress that she liked more that had the same type of feel as the dress I liked. The dress was toned downed with the appliques however I liked the previous dress more. I was getting lots of complements on the dress and everyone said it fit my style. The consultant also made me try it with a birdcage veil. Ahhh....this was the veil I wanted to go with originally in my thoughts but now seeing it together with this dress was perfect. Then the consultant gave me an ultimatum. The dress was going to be discontinued within the next month. I had to make a decision on this dress in a weeks time. I told my mother I was happy with it but she said that we should head home and sleep on it. We did and I came to mother to ask again what we thought. She told me that even though I was happy with the dress, she could tell that this wasn't the dress completely and that I should keep looking until we had to tell the lady yes or no on the dress. So, I continued the search with the two dresses I have previously like in my mind.

The third adventure, I took a random day of the week and asked my bridesmaid to come with me. Only, Becca was able to come out with me and we took her son, Aidan, who is the ring bearer. This was about a week or less after the David's Bridal trip. We visited two places. The first place was All the Rage in Chesapeake, VA. I didn't schedule any appointments because I wanted to just browse around since it was only two of us and a small child. When we walked in the lady was on the phone and obviously with another bride. She was rude to us and upset because we wanted to browse. I checked out some dresses, didn't see anything I wanted to try on and left. Mainly, her attitude in the beginning made us feel unwelcome in her store. The second store was in Virginia Beach. This place wasn't exactly a bridal store instead it was a bridal consignment shop called Silk. My mom researched this place online and told me I should check it out. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go to a consignment shop because the dresses were already worn and I was uncomfortable with knowing another woman vowed to her husband in the dress before me. I kinda have a weird feelings about things like that. Anyways, the woman in the store, Betty, was really helpful and due to it being a consignment shop they don't have as many as selections as you would find in your average bridal store. She pointed me in the directions of some of the dresses that would fit my size. I think there were a total of 8 dresses that I could try. I looked at each dress and there were far to many unimpressive dresses that I wasn't looking for but there was one dress that I was willing to try on. The designer was Mikaella and the dress was a trumpet style (fit and flare). It was natural (or soft) white, made of satin with ruched body and a flower embellishment on the right side. The back had the corset closure and it was strapless. Out of all the dresses this was the only one that fit criteria I had. When I was laced into the dress, I simply fallen in love with it almost automatically. Becca, could even see that this dress was remarkable. We instantly took pictures and sent them to my mom for her opinion. She told  me if I liked it then to text my dad, which I did. At the moment, I had to take off the dress (I did not want to) and think about it. I loved it but was it really me. For that night, I talked to my dad and told him how much it cost and all about it. The next day my dad texted me to pick him up from work and take him to see the dress. We went back and I tried the dress on again. My dad and I knew this was the dress and we bargained the sales lady to get it at a price of $825. The dress fit me like a glove and  didn't need any alterations, I just had to add some heels and a few bustles. We took the dress home that day luckily because the sales lady said after I left the day before another lady came into the store and tried on the dress. She fell in love with it too and was willing to purchase the dress but hesitated. Also, I found out the dress was a sample dress at a bridal boutique so I has never been worn by anyone, just tried on; that cleared my feelings.

Anyone else have crazy experiences finding their dress? When you put it on did you know it was the one?