Weddingbee Blog

Alternatively: The David’s Bridal Rejects

First of all, thank you all so, so much for your kind words in regards to my last post. I cried reading a few of the comments you left; hearing your stories touched my heart. It really makes it easier knowing that I’m not alone in my fears and insecurities. And y’all telling me that I’m beautiful? Shucks guys. We all are!

So like I said, a few weeks ago I finally got the courage to suck it up and go dress shopping. We figured David’s Bridal was as good a place as any to begin looking. I made an appointment and went online to search for dresses that I liked to use a starting point. I was pretty surprised with a few of their newer additions. Call me Debbie Downer, but I wasn’t really expecting to find anything I liked.

I printed out this collage to show my consultant. All photos taken from David’s Bridal website.

When we pulled into the parking lot I was really, really nervous to go into the store. I had no idea what to expect as I had read bad reviews of the consultants at this particular David’s Bridal. It was a madhouse. I don’t remember my consultant’s name, but I do remember that her sweater looked like she had just pulled it from the bottom of her laundry hamper. Don’t people know how to iron?

Anyway, Wrinkly Sweater Girl (hereby referred to as WSG) took me aside, asked me if I’d ever been in the store before and then took my measurements. She measured my waist to be seven inches larger than my bust.* WTF, WSG? I knew that had to be wrong… Your waist is the smallest part of your body, right? By her measurements, I’d fit into a size 28. Wut?

She took me over to the “women’s section” which housed the plus-sized dresses. I believe they went up to size 26. After seeing them, I told her I think a size 20 would probably fit better. I have a pretty good eye at what will and won’t fit me. I’ve had this body for a while, after all!

Fine. WSG asked me what I was looking for in a gown. I told her I wanted something simple and modern, with a bit of a vintage flair. I didn’t want: beading, excessive lace, satin, a train, shiny material. Good luck meeting those standards in the women’s section of David’s bridal!

After she had shown me about eight dresses, all of which I shot down, she tracked down the dresses from the picture that I brought in. I was able to try on dress 1, 2, and 4 (in the picture above) in my size. I didn’t love any of them. (I do have photos of me in the dresses, but they’re stuck in my mom’s camera! As soon as I can get them I’ll share.)

WSG brought me dress 3, which I was looking forward to trying on. However, they only had a size 14 in the store. Against my protests, my mother came into the dressing room and attempted zipping me into a dress that was four sizes too small. “You know, this would have been easier had you been going to the gym for the past year,” she casually remarked.

*blink*

No shit?

I know that my mom isn’t intentionally mean to me. I say nasty things to her, too, on occasion, about which I always feel terrible afterward. Sometimes I feel like mothers and daughters are biologically in-tune with one another, allowing us to tactically press each others buttons in just the right way to allow for maximum pain. That and she’s going through menopause, so I ignore her verbal diarrhea most of the time. (Aunt Lori, if you’re reading, don’t tell her I wrote that!)

That was the low of my day.

The highlight? There was a bride two fitting rooms down who was a few sizes larger than me. I was fortunate enough to see her come out of the dressing room and to see the look on her face when she saw herself in the dress. She lit up; she was absolutely glowing! The dress was lovely on her, and you could tell that she felt beautiful. I wish that I would have told her how pretty she looked in it, but I was too shy. Instead, I just smiled.

She gave me hope. I didn’t find anything I liked that day, but I knew then that the perfect dress was out there for me. I wasn’t going to stop looking until my face lit up like hers!

All in all, my experience was mostly positive. WSG wasn’t very attentive, but she was nice enough. As for the rest of the dresses, dress 5 was the same as dress 1 (oops) and dress 6 wouldn’t be ready for the wedding if I were to order it, so I didn’t bother trying.

So I didn’t find anything I liked at David’s Bridal. A few dresses came close, but definitely not close enough. We were back to square one, but at least we got our first dress excursion out of the way. The first hurdle is always the most difficult!

How many stores did you visit before you found your dress?

*A few days later when the woman fitted me for the dress I purchased, she measured my waist to be a whopping 10 inches smaller than WSG’s measurements.