I call this store my dream store, because Mr. CB and I used to drive by it about once a week. There’s just one mannequin in the window, and she’s always wearing the most gorgeous dress you have ever seen. Years before we were engaged I’d steal sneaky looks at the window as we drove past. I always hoped for a red light on that corner!
Now, on my wedding dress shopping day with the mothers (mine and Mr. CB’s), we met at our house, went for a nice brunch, then we walked to that first bridal appointment. Then we decided to go back and see Phylis again, which was also within walking distance. On our way there, I realized we were passing close to the dream store, and this might be my chance. I pulled out my iPhone (I’m addicted), got their phone number, and phoned to see if there was room for us. It turns out they only take walk-ins! So, we backed up a block and headed to S2 Bridal.
The ladies immediately asked what I wanted, and I said that I wasn’t interested in ball gowns, pick-ups, or anything tight in the thighs/bum. I have a large rear, and while J.Lo has done a lot for my confidence, it gets shown off every day when I wear jeans. I didn’t want that at our wedding. Plus, I hated the constricting feeling of the one mermaid I tried on.
My mum went downstairs to the bathroom while I started getting into the first dress the girls picked out. She zipped it up, clipped me in, and I went out to see Mr. CB’s mum. She loved it!
It was gorgeous. it looked like this (this store definitely didn’t allow photos):
It’s a Watters dress, called Lasara. This store is the only one in Canada that carries the full Watters range!
I kept petting the flowers, and the store girls were telling me how it was all silk (!). Mum came back upstairs, and loved it, too. The detail was amazing, and totally different than anything else we’d seen. I’m not big on the sparkle, but I wanted detail, so this was perfect. Then, it happened. Mum asked how much it cost. As soon as she said that, I realized that no one had asked about our budget. We just stormed into the store (we were the only ones in there at 1PM on a Saturday!) and started picking out pretties.
The girl quoted us a a price that was almost exactly double the budget mum and I had talked about. I almost fainted, and the girls also realized their mistake, asked our budget, and went to take away the dresses from the fitting room that were too expensive. That was all but about two of them. Mum stopped them, and reminded me that I knew how much she and dad were contributing to the wedding in total, and we could spend it how we wanted to. I tried on a few more dresses, and liked this one:
Watters WToo Carmen
This one was actually under budget, if only by a little. It was quite nice, I loved the flowers on the bodice, and the “saddlebags” (as I called them) were surprisingly flattering. But no one could forget about the super-expensive dress. It showed off my waist, which I wanted, it had the details, it had a sweetheart neckline, which I discovered was way more flattering than square, but it was double the budget. Any time anyone said something nice about it, I pointed out that it was horrendously expensive.
After a lot of talking, we left the store and continued on our way to see Phyllis. Mum and I showed Mr. CB’s mum the dresses I’d tried on previously, and I tried on a new one that was a semi-hit with both mums:
Both mums liked it…but it wasn’t the expensive dress.
At that point we called it a day, and for the rest of the evening I thought about the expensive dress.
After mum left that weekend, I tried to stop thinking about dresses. I was so horrified with myself that I was even thinking of choosing a dress that cost that much that I just ignored it. A week or two later, I went for lunch with Mr. CB’s mum, and she surprised me by saying that if that was the dress I loved, she would pay the difference between what mum and I had originally budgeted and the actual cost of the dress, which was almost exactly 50%. It was an amazing offer, and I thanked her profusely, and then I stopped thinking about it again. The fact that I might actually end up wearing a dress that cost that much, a dress that cost almost as much as the food?! My little brain couldn’t handle it, so I ignored it. I continued to look at dresses online, hoping I’d find something wonderful and cheap that I’d love even more, for about 2 months.
I hope I’m not the only one who has put a wedding task on hold because it was too overwhelming to think about!
Did you fall in love with a dress that was outside of your budget? What did you do?
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