Weddingbee Blog

After having a wonderful, not-traumatizing-in-the-least trip to the first dress shop, Cheeseburger Mom, Cheeseburger SisterMOH, and I had planned to stop at David’s Bridal to check out what they had to offer. In retrospect, we probably should have started with DB so that we weren’t constantly comparing the dress options, the fabrics, the colors, etc., but hey, you live and you learn.

Again we were met by a very polite saleswoman who showed us the Fall 2008 catalog and let me choose the styles that I would like to try on. I headed over to a dressing room and she brought over the dresses. One nice thing about David’s is that they carry the dresses in every size, so it felt great to finally get one to zip (even if it was a huge size number) :).

I won’t lie—on a whole we were disappointed with what we saw that day (trust me, we really wanted to fall in love - hello! those prices are amazing). Mostly it was because at this particular David’s they didn’t carry any dresses in ivory (!) and so we were left with stark white dresses trying to picture them in a different light. Also, the material was of lesser quality, which isn’t a problem, but you could just tell even from a distance. Here are the two I liked from my first DB trip:

(stop reading now, Burger Man)


David’s Bridal - I liked the fit of this dress, the minimal accents, and the pleating (yay!), but I was sad when they told me it couldn’t be made into a sweetheart neck line. Otherwise I did like it - it wasn’t satin, but still very pretty

David’s Bridal - this Oleg Cassini gown was a gorgeous (albeit white) satin that really did feel luxurious and bridal. The Mom and The SisterMOH loved it. I just liked it. I never really wanted any kind of straps, so that was really throwing me off, but otherwise it was a pretty gown with pleats in satin and no beads, so I liked it. The back has a pretty bow which you can see if you follow the link.

Alright, so that trip was less than successful. I hadn’t given up on DB completely, however. I frequently checked their website for new styles, and in February I saw that their new spring line had come out. I was back in Baltimore at this point, and it felt wrong to go without Cheeseburger Mom, but I decided to venture out to my local DB anyway.

It was a Saturday. It was a madhouse. But, I should have known; at that point I was very glad I came alone. I met with my consultant for about 2 seconds and she basically said that I could pick out whatever dresses I wanted and then she would find me. It sounded easy enough! I started roaming through the racks, and I was pleasantly surprised to see TONS of ivory gowns! I quickly started pulling the new, cute styles I had seen online, as well as the styles I had tried on at the Pittsburgh DB in ivory. My consultant found me as promised and started bringing the dresses back to a dressing room that, despite the hoards of people, was relatively private, which I liked. I started with the newer styles and took pictures of myself as I went (when I remembered!). I had much better luck this time:

David’s Bridal (style # unknown, no longer online) - this gown was all lace, with some pick-ups (I know, but I could look past them on this dress for some reason!), a modified sweetheart neckline and a pretty sash in champagne. I know it is hard to see because of my terrible picture, but it was very pretty and very bridal. Not at all what I had pictured for myself, but very pretty nonetheless.

David’s Bridal (style # unknown, discontinued style as of 2/09) - I. Loved. This. Gown. And honestly, at the time I couldn’t really tell you why, but it just stuck with me. Again, the picture is terrible, but it was a yummy satin, with a modified sweetheart neckline, pleats down the entire bodice. Simple, elegant, symmetric! This was the first time that I realized how much I appreciated the lack of asymmetry - I love clean lines and this dress just nailed it. But, it only came in white. And it only came in sizes that were too small for me. And the neckline couldn’t be changed. But still, even through all of that, this dress just stuck in my head.

David’s Bridal - this was one of the dresses that brought me into the store that day. The sweetheart was right on (although there was a lot of beading going on right at the edge there), the silhouette was gorgeous (I loved how it was more tight-fitting than your run of the mill A-line), and it had buttons! I don’t know why it took DB until Spring of 2009 to throw some buttons on their dresses, but thank God they finally did! This dress was pretty, but after the previous dress, the material (taffeta) just wasn’t holding up for me (also they only had it in white, which didn’t help).

David’s Bridal - this was the other dress that brought me into the store. I forgot to take pictures of it on me, but here it is on the hanger. The neckline couldn’t be made into a sweetheart, and again, the material was all wrong for me, but otherwise the style of the dress and the little bits of bling here and there made this dress a strong contender as well.

Knowing now that I had viable options at a David’s made me feel wonderful - I was all about saving as much money on “the dress” as possible!

I planned a little get together in Baltimore for The Cheeseburger Parents, The Parents Burger, Cheeseburger SisterMOH, and Sister Burger so that we ladies could go shopping, and DB was on the list of stops for that day!

Stay tuned for Part III - Baltimore Bridals