Wedding Blog

I had been engaged for over a year before I started trying on wedding dresses. Because Mr. Cherry Pie and I had planned a 2-year engagement, this was a leisure I could enjoy. And I was happy to take my sweet time simply window shopping here and there. Around September of last year, I decided to take the first steps toward getting a dress and try on a few gowns to decide on the cut, color, and style that I liked.

My first stop was La Belle Elaine’s in Seattle’s Fischer Plaza. It’s a wonderful store with a circular, easy-to-browse layout. Gowns at La Belle Elaine’s don’t come cheap, however, starting at about $1200 and ranging up to $8,000 couture costumes.

The first dress I liked was by Paloma Blanca, but it was $2200, and so, out of my price range:

( Paloma Blanca style 3754 )

Once I started to get a feel for what I liked, I came up with a list of requirements. I wanted a dress that was simple, classic, and elegant; a gown that wouldn’t look terribly out-of-place in Northwest Montana and that wouldn’t be too difficult to deal with during an outdoor wedding.

To help me narrow down my choices, I started to limit my search to dresses that fit into the following categories:

• Sweetheart neckline
• Strapless or sleeveless
• Pearl white or off-white
• A-line shape
• Sweep or short chapel-length train
• Very simple design with scarce, if any, beading or lace

My next stop was I Do Bridal in the Wallingford neighborhood, just up the street from my apartment. I Do Bridal is a very cute boutique with a helpful staff, and they let me come in a number of times without an appointment just to look through their stock.

I was having a lot of fun trying on dresses and not taking it too seriously, but I was overwhelmed both by the sheer number of choices and how many I absolutely hated. I started the gown shopping process thinking that I would love the first dress I tried on and every one after, but instead I was struck by how hard it was to find something that fit my style.

It seemed terribly difficult to find a dress that wasn’t huge, heavy, or bejeweled. I felt like most of the dresses I looked at were too close to overpriced prom dresses and not close enough to the elegant number I imagined myself in.

By this point, I was convinced I wouldn’t be satisfied unless I got a corset-backed dress from Maggie Sottero. I even tried one on from a Craigslist posting (but it was, again, too sparkly)! I set out to find one that more closely matched my guidelines above. I loved these two on the website:

( Irina by Maggie Sottero )

I Do Bridal carried the “SSM5049″ dress (in white), which I didn’t like nearly as much as I thought I would. It had tiny sparkles along the side rouching, and I’m adamantly anti-sparkle where my dress is concerned.

The store didn’t stock the ‘Irina’ dress. Instead, they introduced me to ‘Vernice’:

(Vernice by Maggie Sottero) 

For the first time, I felt like I had a serious contender! Unfortunately, I Do Bridal and La Belle Elaines, like many bridal salons, do not allow photos, so I don’t have pictures of myself in either of these dresses. Needless to say, I thought they looked better on me than the unhappy, malnourished models. Why do wedding dress models always look so sullen? Or so… fifteen!? (OK, not these girls, but the Watters Brides girls are seriously underage.)

Anyway, I digress. I still had a long time to decide on a dress, and I wasn’t worried that I hadn’t found THE ONE immediately because it meant I couldn’t regret that decision later. I thought I at least had an idea of what I wanted.But the more time I spent looking at dresses, the farther I ventured from my original idea into uncharted territory. By the time I found my perfect dress, I’d scratched several requirements off my list and added several more. Good thing time was on my side!

Did anyone else start their wedding dress search ridiculously far in advance?