Weddingbee

There’s so much Champ and I love about having our wedding in Colorado. But there is one thing that’s not great about a small town, and that’s shopping for a dress. Although I’ve been able to find pretty much everything else in my small hometown, wedding dress shopping was not on my to-do list in Vail. In fact, when I was a kid, my mom and I used to drive two hours to Denver for all of my back-to-school shopping. It was always a special trip, and became a tradition for the two of us. But having to travel two hours to the nearest mall… gasp!

I went to school in Boston, and Champ’s family resides in the area. When I lived in Boston, I lived on historic Newbury street, about a block away from Priscilla’s, L’elite, Ana Hernandez, and Vera Wang, so I was constantly surrounded by designer dresses. Talk about having had inspiration right at my fingertips!

You’ve seen the insane list of dress shops I visited in Boston, so I thought I’d share some of my experiences for brides who may want to purchase their dresses in the Boston area.

My first stop:

Yolanda’s (Waltham, MA): I’d actually heard a lot about Yolanda’s before I ever set foot in the store. I had heard that they carried a very large selection. Some people I had talked to really liked their experiences there, and some felt like it was a bit too intense. After visiting, I fell somewhere in between those two opinions. I really liked the dresses they carried, but it was the first place I had ever tried on dresses, so the staff didn’t take me very seriously (understandably so). Overall, I wasn’t sure it was the best place to try on my first dress because I was placed in a dressing room with my guests—both my FMIL and FSIL. I guess I pictured dress shopping to be more like I’d seen in the movies, where the bride walks out with the consultant to reveal the dress to her guests. Instead, I was in my bloomers awkwardly slipping into my first wedding dress in front of my FMIL and FSIL. There was no fairytale experience there!

So, we moved on to the next stop:

Le Reine’s (Waltham, MA): I loved two things about this place: the first was Jennean (my consultant), and the second was that the bride gets to dress behind a huge Victorian curtain. Behind that curtain, I felt pretty special. If you go to La Reine’s, you MUST ask for Jennean. She was great, and really listened to me. At one point, I mistakenly gave her a little misdirection by telling her I was looking for a dress with a sort of “Spanish feel” to it. She completely listened to my request, and brought out a dress similar to Elizabeth Hurley’s below. While that dress looked beautiful on Elizabeth, I felt like I was drowning in ruffles! It was a moment I’ll never forget! If only LaReine’s was camera friendly, I could have shown you a picture!

Source

I went to her knowing that I wanted a couple of things: a mermaid-ish fit, and a sweetheart neckline. After trying on a few dresses and having some great laughs, Jennean picked out a dress for me and told me I had no choice but to try it on. What did I have to lose? I loved the dress, but ended up going elsewhere to purchase my gown. On my second trip to La Reine’s I brought one of my best friends and a bridesmaid, and the owner happened to be there instead of Jennean. Ultimately, things just didn’t feel right that time, so we moved on to our next stop.

House of Brides (Woonsocket, RI): If you’re willing to deal with a little funky smell and some 1970’s carpet, you should visit this place, because it has an amazing selection. I found two dresses I loved, and HOB carried both dresses, so I could compare them side-by-side. At this point, I’d swallowed my pride, as again, my guests witnessed me in my undies. Whatever, I had no shame. Another thing I’d like to mention is that our consultant was Andrea, and she was wonderful.

Allure (Westwood, MA): Honestly, I barely remember this place. I think it’s because I only looked at a few dresses there. They did have a wonderful selection, but we had seen most of those dresses already by the time we had visited Allure. The dressing rooms were great, but I made the mistake of dress shopping during prom season. Oops! I had to endure 15 year-olds whispering comments about the dresses I had chosen. Kids—they can be so cruel.

After a quick champagne break, we were on to the next stop:
Pronuptia Bridals (Worcester, MA): This is where I ended up purchasing my dress. The reason I chose this shop as my ultimate stop was that I just felt comfortable there, and was not pressured at all. It was really that simple for me in the end. Pressure me? Buh-bye. Treat me with patience? Hello, lover. Another plus was that they let me take pictures. It was obviously not the most important thing, but it certainly didn’t hurt. My contact there was named Susan.

Finally, our last stop:

Priscilla of Boston (Boston, MA): Obviously this place needs no introduction, and I really have nothing bad to say about my experience. I absolutely loved our consultant, Phyllis. She’s been in the business for SO LONG. She helped me put together the perfect look, and really listened to me. The fun part was that I was able to try on anything I wanted, no questions asked. The dress I really loved was Melissa Sweet’s “Lia” (come on Lia brides, there are so many of us that love that dress!). Ultimately, Priscilla’s really makes you feel like a princess. It was the perfect end to a perfect (and packed) dress weekend.

I’ll leave you with our little man Maxwell and some thoughts about the whole dress shopping experience.

I think that every bride should consider a few things before dress shopping. It’s good to invite honest guests to give you input. Also, tell the consultant exactly what you do and don’t like about every dress you try on—if they’re good, they will listen. Oh, and another thing? Wear some boy shorts or full coverage underwear (trust me on this one, as I fully revealed myself to the entire Champ family!), and bring a strapless bra!

Any other words of advice? How did you prepare for your dress shopping experience?

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