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Mrs. Lovebug, Tucson Age and Occupation in 06: 31, Writer Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Professional Game Show Contestant Engagement Date: February 18, 2007 Wedding Date: April 19, 2008 Venue: Historic Inn About Me: Likes: blogging, wikis, semi-colons, cuddling, fragrant flowers, syntax, and spooning. Dislikes: typos, dangling modifiers, flypaper, citronella candles, and run-ons. If I had my druthers, I'd exchange simple vows in a candlelit library. But I lost my druthers long ago...anyone seen them?
About Mrs. Lovebug

Pulling a 180 on Myself (Part II)

May 8th, 2007 @ 1:52 pm by Mrs. Lovebug

Everyone can go ahead and exhale, because my cliffhanger post from a few days ago shall be concluded forthwith.

Wait, why am I being greeted with blank stares? What, you don’t hang on my every update? Note to self–reevaluate notions of self-importance.

Anyway, as I explained earlier, time constraints originally forced me to resign myself to the impossibility of a designer or custom-made gown. Still, the pre-made J. Crew dress I found was (and is!) lovely, and I was perfectly content with it:


But when Mr. Lovebug and I decided to give ourselves another six months of engagement, possibilities bloomed before me once more. I pored through pages of glossy photos, clicked my away across the world wide wed, and dared to dream the designer dream.

One day, I grabbed my MOH and headed up to the nearest decent bridal shop (two hours north): Destiny’s Bride in Scottsdale. My intention was to just try on a few templates. I wanted to see how I’d feel in a poofy ballgown, a fishtail hem, a cathedral train…

Well, serendipity was the order of the day, because they were having, to my uninformed delight, a Monique Lhuillier trunk show. Not only that, but they were nearly booked solid for the day. Luckily, one of the salesgirls had some time to squeeze us in. Serendipitous, no?

We head upstairs and I see my first couture bridal salon. Racks and racks of delicious dresses like this:

I start sifting through silk, satin, tulle, through columns and empire waists and drop waists and pulls. Initially, I find eight dresses I like. And wouldn’t you know it, every single one I like, save one, is a Monique Lhuillier. In other words, had the trunk show not been going on, I would have found only one dress I liked.

See? Serendipity.

The very first number I try is strapless, with a beaded and be-ribboned bodice and a heavy duchess satin skirt. In other words, everything I thought I didn’t want two months prior. It’s not simple, and it’s not clean-lined. It’s complicated: embellished, detailed, iconic. Basically, something I thought I’d look like an oversized doily in. But then the salesgirl starts pulling and pinning and fitting the fabric to my torso and I realize that everything I thought I knew about wedding gowns was wrong.

My best friend looks at me approvingly and says, “Now THAT’S a wedding dress.”

It is so classic, so once-in-a-lifetime. Cliches are unavoidable at this point, because there are no synonyms for “princess”. And that’s how I feel for the next two hours. I pull on confections of silk and lace–truly works of art–one after another. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I register a thought: this is surreal. These dresses are the exact opposite of who I think I am, and yet they suit me perfectly. They fit a part of me that hasn’t come out to play since I was about seven.

Then I try on a dress with pulls, and it’s all over. Think Cinderella factor of 10. I knew instantly that this was the style I wanted. “Modern”, “hip”, “clean”–they all take a flying leap out the window, because I want pulls. Pulls that gather and flounce and play. Pulls that me feel like Marie Antoinette playing hooky. I try on more dresses, narrowing my search to those with lovely, lovely pulls.

At some point in the process, I am crowned with a veil. Cue the waterworks. Leaving me to my fussing and sniffling, my maid of honor goes exploring. She returns with one final, magical discovery.

It’s blush pink taffeta. It has a fitted, darted bodice that points at the skirt and the most delicate beading that runs under the sweetheart bustline and along thin, wide-set shoulder straps. And pulls, glorious pulls. It’s something out of a period play, the costume of an 18th century French courtier, and it’s called “Camilla.” It’s tattered to bits. Clearly, hundreds of girls have fallen victim to its charms. I’m simultaneously terrified and smitten.

My MOH sees my expression, smiles and says, “Just try it.”

I oblige, and what can I say? If each of my ideas about my wedding gown had been knocked down one by one, THIS was the dress that delivered the coup de grace. Game over.

I stare at myself, transported–a girl playing dress up. My silhouette emerges in ways I’ve never seen it. I feel exquisitely feminine and childlike at the same time. I imagine the delight my fiance, the consummate actor, will take in its masquerade-ness. My heart pounds, and my best friend gets the chill watching me.

I know that if I buy this dress, it will force me to rethink the entire wedding: colors, flowers, formality, and even, I start to think, our location. But I know it’s the one, and I know it will give me the inspiration I’ve been heretofore lacking. I realize that my indecision about the cake, the decor, the everything, has all been because I didn’t have any inspiration. And now I will. I take one final twirl, a deep breath, and decide to go for it.

OK, so ya wanna see what I ditched Plan A for?

Plan B, on a model:


Plan B, on a me:



(And yes, Mr. Lovebug has seen these side and back glimpses; I haven’t shown him everything, however…he’ll have to wait to see the full frontal view!)

What do you think? Worth the trouble of rethinking an entire wedding?

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43 Responses to “Pulling a 180 on Myself (Part II)”

1.
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LS

That dress is GORGEOUS! And if it inspired you, I think it’s worth it. Besides, who says your dress has to EXACTLY match the feel of your wedding? My wedding is totally rustic, outdoors, garden, etc, and my dress is quite formal, fitted, 40’s kind of feel to it. I say go for it if you love it!

 
2.
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LS

1940’s kind of feel to it, that is!

 
3.
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Miss Apple

Sexy back!

 
4.
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harugirlie

TOTALLY worth the trouble. LOVE the dress!

 
5.
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Mrs. Bird of Paradise

it’s made for you. fits you perfectly. you look stunning. regal. go for plan b!

 
6.
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sally

I tried that one on! it is awesome. and the color is amazing, you can’t really tell in your pics. GO GO GO Plan B

 
7.
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2007Bride

Definitely a buy. If you don’t, you will always think back to the dress. Especially when looking at pictures of the day. You look great in it.

 
8.
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pangcha

WORTH IT. you wont have to change the whole wedding.. just a couple tweeks here and there. =)

 
9.
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Iris

Dress looks great, and you look great.

Your question was, “Worth the trouble of rethinking an entire wedding?” I can’t tell whether this is Miss Lovebug’s facetious-fun writing style or a serious question.

If the latter, my question is (and you can keep the answers to yourself, of course) — Is the 6 month delay already decided for other reasons besides the dress? If not, what other reasons are there besides the dress? Not a crazy question; I experienced a long engagement for some good reasons and some not-so-good reasons (and some reasons we didn’t own). Something to reflect upon!

 
10.
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Crysten

Beautiful! And I must say…I love reading your writing! It flows and is so much fun! :-)

 
11.
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Jen

i must say i am so jealous of your figure! you should be a model for wedding gowns…it looks amazing on you! very elegant. :-D

i’m so weird, i was reading this post and now i want to go put on my wedding gown again. my mom warned me not to try it on too many times b/c the zippers aren’t meant to be used too many times. anyone else try on their dress every other day in secret? ;-)

 
12.
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Fallon

OMG! For the past couple of minutes my eyes have been glued to the screen as I read your tale and I have to say that your dress is fantastic and yes, you might have to make changes but it will all be worth it. Crongrats on finding your dream dress!

 
13.
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Mrs Ant

that dress is fabulous! FAB! and you look sensationally lovely in it! and it’s obvious that you love it and can’t go back.. go for dress B! but don’t rethink the entire wedding just for a new dress. just add a few convenient tweaks here and there. the decor doesn’t need to match the dress to a T.

 
14.
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Pencils

That gown looks better on you than it does on the model. It’s amazingly gorgeous, I can see why you wanted it. That’s a big jump, though, from JCrew to a designer!

 
15.
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HappyHappy

For years I wanted an original painting by one of my favorite artists. Having finally saved enough money, I drove all the way to the artist’s studio in New Orleans and was treated to a tour of his latest creations. To my dismay, all of his new paintings were in oranges and other neon colors. When the artist sensed my disappointment, he gave me some cool advice that I’m inspired to now pass along to you.

“My dear, great art need not match the couch”

I’m glad you found your inspiration! It’s sooooo lovely. I hope all your details will be as uniquely inspired — which, after reading your post, is so much more important than driving yourself crazy making sure everything matches.

 
16.
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Red

I agree with Pencils - definitely looks better on you!! GO PLAN B!! Same situation here, I started dress hunting with the words simple and understated in mind and ended up buying a pick-up gown with lots of bling that made me feel like a princess.

 
17.
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Tabitha

That is a gorgeous dress, and it looks fabulous on you! Although you haven’t posted the frontal view yet, the dress looks absolutely better on you than it does on that model. Definitely go for it!!

 
18.
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Miss Lovebug

LS: oooh, 1940s…that’s a thought, hmm…Iris: we postponed because we just wanted more time for this stage of things, that’s all. Didn’t want to rush the fun part, yanno?

You all are fantastic. I’m basking, just basking. Thank you so, so much for the kind words. :)

 
19.
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Erika

It’s gorgeous and the back is so nice on you!! Definitely looks better on you than the model!

 
20.
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Tassamai

You should definately plan the wedding around the dress because that dress is stunning! It looks better on you than the model!

 
21.
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Jann

You already know you did the right thing with plan B. You don’t seem like the kind of person who really need the echo of ‘FAB’ from everyone here but it IS nice to be double reassured right? So here you go, FAB!!! You don’t need to rethink the whole wedding, I’m sure you’ll come up with great modifications to your existing plans that will make it work well. Like you, I’m a very clean line, simple kind of girl and the dress I ended up with has beads and lace galore, poofy, sparkly, everything I didn’t think I want. Even my brother said, ‘wow I didn’t think you’d go with something like that, but it is very pretty.’ It is not at all a summer night outdoor wedding dress but that’s what it’s going to be because that is what I want. I’m sure you’ll find that with the new inspiration, what you want will only be more apparent, and planning will be much more fun.

BTW, you are once again killing me here at my work. I gotta start saving your posts to read at home so that no one hears me laughing at my computer. You suck for that.

 
22.
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JennyGoLightly

ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!!

 
23.
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dels

i am not engaged. that said, i’d imagined myself to be the ‘plan A’ type person…not really buying into the big shabang of the wedding dress. but after seeing your plan B - and hearing about your experience in great detail!-…i’m starting to think i should really give ‘plan B’ type stuff a chance. i may just convert myself during the process as you did!

 
24.
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Gin

omg… It’s gorgeous! You rocked it way better than the model! Go for it!!!

 
25.
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Yach

That dress looks gorgeous on you!

 
26.
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Sara

I love it!!! Makes me want to go back and get a new dress, haha. Just kidding ;o)

 
27.
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twelvetigers

Oh man, take it and run with it. It’s awesome lookin’.

 
28.
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thistleorchid

I knew you’d find the thing that then inspires the rest of it all. You can now walk back into the cake shop or the florist and have a much clearer pictures of what you want that’s going to go with your vision…. the vision always grows from one thing, in this case - the amazing dress! You look great!

 
29.
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Miss Emerald

Wow. Wow wow WOW!! =) Not to mention you totally have a model’s physique. So jealous, hehe. I don’t think that would look the same on someone thats short and round? haha. Great find…

 
30.
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Iris

Taking time to smell the roses and enjoy the engagement — now that’s a great reason for a longer engagement. Congrats and hot stuff!!!

HappyHappy — Great quote that I will always remember. Thanks for posting it.

 
31.
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SB

WOW thats a wedding dress! Now, its time for me to find an inspirational gown.

 
32.
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Mrs. Bee

a wedding dress is all about how it makes you feel and this definitely sounds like “the one!” you’re gonna be gorgeous! :-)

 
33.
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future mrs j.o.b

Go with plan B. I absolutely love the way the back looks. keeps the guests oohing and awwing after walking by.

 
34.
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L

OMG I love love love it! I especially love the back view. You make it look great!

 
35.
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N

Hello, I am so sorry to ask this, but may I know who the designer is for that dress please.

 
36.
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Julie

You look beautiful. I think you know your answer.

 
37.
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Miss Lovebug (message)  714 posts, Busy bee

HappyHappy: v. v. good point. N: Not at all; it’s Monique Lhuillier, I believe the Spring 2006 collection. Everyone else: stop or my head will seriously explode.

 
38.
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pickos

You look stunning and the low back really works for you. I think you look better than the model in the photo - serious.

I can’t seem to find many decent dress sales here in Sydney Australia, it’s really getting me down.

 
39.
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kitty

wow! thats all i can say..

 
40.
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thea

if this is a 180 part 2, doesn’t that make it a 360? :p

and that dress looks amazing on u!! i like it better on u than on the model!

 
41.
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Annie

omfg you look amazing. i don’t think i’ve seen a better dress on weddingbee.

 
42.
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kanipark

whoa… beautiful!!!

 
43.
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Weddingbee » Blog Archive » Wedding Theme Breakthrough!

[...] sight, something we prize about our relationship. And finally, my dress, as reader LS brilliantly pointed out, has an almost ’40s look to [...]

 


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Mrs. Lovebug
Mrs. Lovebug Mrs. Lovebug, Tucson Age and Occupation in 06: 31, Writer Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Professional Game Show Contestant Engagement Date: February 18, 2007 Wedding Date: April 19, 2008 Venue: Historic Inn About Me: Likes: blogging, wikis, semi-colons, cuddling, fragrant flowers, syntax, and spooning. Dislikes: typos, dangling modifiers, flypaper, citronella candles, and run-ons. If I had my druthers, I'd exchange simple vows in a candlelit library. But I lost my druthers long ago...anyone seen them?
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