Weddingbee Blog

I went dress shopping with high hopes and a ton of nerves. The previous times I had gone into bridal boutiques, I was looking for BM dresses, and I wouldn’t even touch the wedding dresses. They all hung there, a prim and proper sea of white, just waiting for a blushing bride to slip into them and declare: “It’s The One!” They just felt like these sacred things and I couldn’t help but think, ‘will I seriously be wearing one of those?’ It was just too surreal and weird. I knew I would have to wait until I was good and ready to try them on; there was no rushing this one.

Despite my hesitation in actually trying on a dress, I could look at pictures of them for hours, carefully analyzing what I wanted, what I didn’t, what would flatter my figure and what just wouldn’t work. By the time I was ready to hit the shops, I knew exactly what I wanted. Tons of lace, no sparkle, strapless, sweetheart neckline, empire waist, A-line silhouette. I had done my research and I was ready to pound the pavement.

On my first day out, I decided to take it slow. I didn’t expect to find “The Dress” on my first day out, or even locally. I figured it would be kind of like “preliminary dress shopping”, and that I just wanted to see if anything caught my eye. My first stop was the local Alfred Angelo boutique. For those who don’t know, they’re like a step up from David’s. They have a similar business plan, but better quality, and their dresses are a tad bit more unique, while still being very affordable. Here’s what I tried on:

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It was pretty, but the flowy fabric on the bottom made me look pregnant. It was not the look I was going for. It does have a Marilyn Monroe vibe to it though, which I liked a lot.

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I really thought I would love this one. I even had it saved in my “favorites” on their website. It wasn’t bad, but the 2 layers on the bottom kind of drove me nuts. I think it would be more balanced if there was an extra layer between the first tier and the bottom. Anywho, next!

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I really liked this dress. The lace was so delicate and antique looking. I would have had to nix the spaghetti straps and have the top re-worked so there were no “bat wings” (see the pointy parts on top that connect to the straps?) though. I was really close to getting this one, but I didn’t have that feeling. I wanted to find a dress that I instantly loved, not a dress that I thought I would love if this was changed, or that was altered. So, I kept on looking!

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I really didn’t think I would like this one at all. But alas, I was coerced by my cousin. Surprisingly, it ended up being one of our favorites. This is the dress that opened my eyes to the “dress beyond the dress”. After that, I decided to try on at least one dress at each boutique that was beautiful, but not necessarily exactly what I was looking for. Good thing I kept an open mind, because it would soon lead me to “The Dress” fuzzy feeling and all…

Was your dress exactly what you pictured or did you end up loving something you’d never expect to love? Did you have that fuzzy, excited “it’s The One” feeling when you tried it on?