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I went alone to an Anne Barge trunk show at the Bridal Atelier as my first wedding dress shopping experience. The third dress I tried on - the Pamela - really felt like “the one.” I felt it, my bridal assistant felt it, Anne Barge herself felt it.
But because I had just begun the dress shopping process, was alone and couldn’t get a second opinion, and had only seen dresses from one designer, I couldn’t make the decision to buy the dress. I subsequently went to 4 other bridal salons - Kleinfeld, Saks, Macy’s and a little boutique in the East Village called Blue. I tried on tons of dresses but my mind kept going back to the Anne Barge. I finally realized that it was the one, so I went back and purchased it after a couple of days.
They say that you usually find “the dress” within the first couple you try on. That was true for me - it just took me a little while to realize it. 
How many dresses did you try on before finding “the dress?”
I went dress shopping on two main days. The first day we went to RK Bridal (not a pleasant experience for me!!) and another place or two that didn’t require an appointment, I tried on maybe 10 dresses, and I didn’t feel remotely like a bride. I had a distinct sensation of playing dressup.
A few weeks later, we went to Kleinfeld, where I tried on several dresses that I liiiiked, but didn’t seem quite right. About the 4th dress I tried on (brought to me by my consultant, with a hideous feature which would have prohibited me from picking it myself) was MAGICAL. We smushed the hideous feature as if it were altered away, and I got all teary (which I was soooo not expecting after my first dress shopping experience) and that was that. I tried on a few more that day, went to another few salons, but that was 100% the dress - and when my mom was in town a few weeks later I took her to see it and bought it on the spot!
Mine was the first dress I tried on. I couldn’t believe how great it made me feel! But trying to play it safe, I tried on about 3 more. Then I asked to put the first one back on and I knew it was the one!
It took all of an hour - I couldn’t believe it, but I’m very happy!
I tried on about 6-10 before finding the one. Oddly, I was listening in to a work conf call and picking out dresses for the next round of try-ons and it just caught my eye even though I’d sworn off lace, non-white and sweetheart necklines.
I left the conf call blabbering away on my cell and tried on the dress and while I wasn’t blown away, I just knew. My sister knew it was the one since I wouldn’t take it off.
We put it on hold and came back the next day with my mom and other sister. Bought it that day and an insanely huge veil as well.
Now everytime I do something related to the conf call topic I think of my dress.
I went to Saks & Barneys in Chitown and tried on about 15~none felt like they were “it”. Came back home and booked appts with several salons. The first salon, I tried on about 20 (it was exhausting), but then I found the ONE ~~ I knew it immeidately. I felt like a princess and didn’t want to take it off. It gave me butterfiles…
i think it was the 4th one….i wasnt as “sure” when i put it on, but compared to all the other ones i tried on after that, i didnt think they looked as good.
One!! It was literally the first dress I tried on. I begrudgingly went to look at other dress & then marched back to Blue on the Lower East Side & promptly forked over my deposit. Wee.
Interestingly, I thought I had “the one” when I went to a Lhuillier trunk show as my very first dress shopping experience–it was the 5th dress I tried on. Like you, it felt strange finding a dress on my 1st day and I needed to shop more. 6 other shops later and who knows how many dresses, I was almost about to buy this first dress…but then last minute, I saw a dress online for Lazaro and there happened to be a Lazaro trunk show in town–I went, tried on the dress and fell in love with it. So I ended up buying the absolute last dress I ever tried on!
It’s odd in that I think of myself as a sensible, logical person unswayed by silly sentiment. Love at first sight? A ridiculous myth! You can’t be in love until you know the person!
But on my first date with my fi, I thought clearly, “This is the kind of man I’d like to marry.”
And with my dress, I thought I’d have to slog through a million stores all around town to find something since I am picky. I tried on a couple dresses which ranged from nice to good. Then I put on The Dress, causing my mother, sister and me to get teary. I simply did not want to take it off ever!
I guess I just know what I like!
I had a similar experience to OscarQ. I was in the middle of a major work deadline and I ran to a Bergdorf’s sample sale in the middle of the day. It was my 5th dress shopping excursion and the umpteenth dress I’d tried on. I didn’t get teary, I didn’t feel like it was “the one,” but it looked great, it was the first dress I’d tried that made me feel like myself and not a cake topper and the whole thing was making me anxious so I wanted to be done. But since I bought it I’ve fallen in love. It’s the perfect dress for me.
I’m a freak, I visited about 20 Southern CA bridal boutiques and tried on over 130 dresses. Of course, this coming from the girl who tried on around 100 prom dresses. I even contemplated getting a custom gown and was told by the designer that the gown I envisioned was “structurally impossible.” No wonder I couldn’t find it! =P
i went to five shops, and tried on dozens in each one. i was pretty sure i had found “the one” but i wasn’t positive until i had put it back on the rack, another bride tried it on, and i got totally jealous that someone else was trying on “my” dress!
hm - that’s such a funny way to realize! Reminds me of when we were at a salon just sitting and chatting after I’d tried dresses on, and we saw one woman try on a dress and everyone gushed over it, then another bride asked if she could try it on, and the first bride (and everyone else) gushed over it on HER and they both ended up buying it! And their whole families bonded in the process. 
My dress was like my second dress shop. I tried on the gown at Reem Acra Salon, and as soon as it zipped and I stood in the mirror I thought, this is dress I will marry my fiance in. Of course, only my MOH and I had this thing about my mom seeing it first. So, I let it go. Went to several more salons in FL and NY. Finally, Kleinfelds specifically ordered the Reem for me to try on, and I put it on again. Everyone gushed and I was ready to decide. I tend to overanalyze and think, so I went with the gut. It was the last dress I tried on.
I saw a beautiful dress the day after I got engaged and LOVED it but it had some fit issues and it wasn’t even a wedding dress. So not thinking I should go for the first dress (we didn’t even start planning the wedding) and made appointments at David’s bridal (tried on way too many dresses and not the best experience) and a local boutique … nothing. Then we changed our wedding plans from a traditional hometown wedding to a destination wedding … that’s all I needed. I found a gorgeous Nicole Miller gown, tried it on and bought it on the spot … well ordered it. But it was the 20th dress or some insane number but I love it so much I want to dye it black when the wedding is all over and wear it again.
I tried on a ton!! It was THE LAST dress I tried on at the last store we went to at the end of a full-day of wedding dress shopping. And I just LOVE IT!
I tried about 15 dresses at different salons and was getting really sick of looking, fitting and not finding. Then I was surfing online and without trying it on, I knew it was the one. It was simple, timeless and the right formality for my venue. I bought it right then and it was the last dress I’ve tried on.
i knew my dress was the dress the second i saw it in the magazine. unfortunately i had to wait about 3 weeks until i finally could try it on. before the trial, i tried on about 6 or 7 dresses at other places but nothing “caught my eye.” when i went to try on my dress, i had no doubt that it was it. choosing my dress was the easiest part of this whole wedding planning. each fitting i’ve had, i fell in love with my dress all over again.
…i can’t believe i’m getting married this weekend!!
It was the first dress I tried on, but I tried on about 30-40 more dresses just to be sure
I went on two shopping “excursions”: one big planned affair (think Mom, MOH, 2 more friends, all loaded up in the car driving all over town) and one “What the hey let’s stop in here”. On the first trip I tried on…oh at least 30 dresses and found one that I really really liked. So I wrote down the information, researched it online, set an image of it as my desktop wallpaper, and tried to envision myself wearing it on the Big Day.
For whatever reason I didn’t ever go through with it. A few months passed (my first shopping experience was over 1 1/2 years before the wedding). I was here in my small college town when my parents drove up from KC to visit me. My mom and I decided on a whim to stop in at the only local bridal shop (I’d earlier seen a dress in the window that I really liked). After trying on about 10 or so dresses there (including the one I saw in the window, which unfortunately made me look like Lady Liberty when I wore it), the shop’s owner brought me…THE DRESS, saying “I think you might like this one.”
I had the typical–never wanted to take it off, loved it, started crying, etc. etc. We bought it on the spot and I’ve gone back to “visit” several times since.
I can’t wait until it’s time for fittings!
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Mrs. Bee, New York Age and Occupation: 29, Weddingbee Publisher Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Internet Engagement Date: May 7, 2004 Wedding Date: March 5, 2005 Venue: Westside Loft, New York About Me: Yes, my name really is Bee! I love my blogging, wikis, and tabasco sauce!
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