Weddingbee Blog

The day finally came to try them all on all over again, so after a quick breakfast with Mama Bacon and coordinating parking with FMIL Bacon, I was back in the dressing room.

I’m pretty sure that the consultant could hear my heart thumping away as she brought the Amsale to the room. Then with a deep breath, in I went and up she zipped.

Source (Sorry it’s a stock photo. The salon doesn’t allow pictures.)

I knew when I looked up that this was a beautiful dress, but she wasn’t my dress. Regardless, this appointment was to try on just two gowns, so I emerged from the room in my borrowed too-big heels. Then both moms smiled as only moms can—that slightly weepy smile of a woman who always knows what’s best for you. We talked about the lightness of the fabric, the elegance of the neckline, the swish of the train, and the lovely embellishment at the hip, but in the end, we talked about how this dress wasn’t the one that has been keeping me up at night.

We headed back to the dressing room with the consultant, and we put on the Vera Wang that was double my budget but had definitely been my favorite from the start. We had to shimmy a bit to get it on since it’s a snug style and was still a couple sizes small, but with the help of a few clips, I waddled out to the front room. It’s a gorgeous dress: drop dead gorgeous. What’s not to love about this form-fitting beauty? The fabric is stretch mikado, which means that she hugs each curve, but she has enough give to let you move all night long. Realistically, I knew even before putting Helene on that she wasn’t going to be the one on my big day, but man, oh man, did I love wearing that dress. So we thanked the fabulous consultant, and we on our way to the suburbs to visit Mila.

Source (This salon didn’t allow pictures either.)

Sidebar: The Chicago suburbs are FAR! It took us just about an hour to drive 21 miles to Priscilla of Boston!! That is crazy pants!

Anywhoooo, once we got to Priscilla of Boston, we took a couple loops around the store to grab any dresses we might have missed the first trip, and then I found myself back in the dressing room. We pulled a bunch of dresses, but I knew that Mila had to be the first one I tried on. She is the dress that has been haunting my dreams since the moment I put her on four months ago. It took borrowing my mom’s hands to help us get the very top zipped, but once I stepped in front of the mirror I knew exactly why I loved this dress. Mila is so elegant, so flattering (check out that itty bitty waist!), so delightfully dreamy, and has just enough edge to almost make you forget that it’s a wedding gown. I sashayed all around the store, beaming at my reflection and getting approving nods from the moms. When they asked me what I liked about it, I simply said, “This is the kind of dress I always imagined myself in, and I’m pretty sure I have cutouts of it from magazines since before we were engaged.”

Personal Photo—Please excuse my weird expression.

But I still had at least six dresses left! So I tried on the rest of the gowns we had pulled, including a new one that almost brought the moms to tears. It had a touch of whimsy, fit each curve of my body without being too sexy, and felt totally bridal because of the soft and beautiful silk organza. But despite their excited faces (and the FABULOUS price tag), I felt nothing other than pretty.

Source (We forgot to get a picture of me in this one.)

Finally, I put Mila back on and took a turn around the salon while Mama Bacon was talking money with the consultant. I was certain that after trying on Elaine the next day, we’d be back to put our money down on this, my dream dress. We made an appointment for the next afternoon to get me measured and were off to meet the Baconator for dinner.

The next afternoon we were back in the ’burbs, and my heart was beating a mile an hour as we pulled into the parking lot at the strip mall. We were a few minutes late (we got our bumper bumped by a cab on the way there, but we were all OK), so I was even more anxious as the consultant brought me back to the dressing room where both Mojave and Elaine waited for me. The plan was to try on Elaine last, so we pulled Mojave off the hanger, and I put her on for the first time in months. She felt amazing—so comfortable and light and airy and playful. I made my way to the stage to show the moms, and FMIL Bacon’s face lit up. (This dress has been her secret favorite since I showed her the picture back in September.) I was able to turn, sit, and wiggle in this dress, even though they sent the size six instead of the ten. Such a good sign if I plan on eating all that yummy food at the reception! So I wandered the stage, trying to check out every last angle and trying to put off the inevitable: Trying on Elaine.

Source

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The instant I put Elaine on, I knew that there was no point in going back to Priscilla of Boston. All the changes we were making to Elaine were going to make her as close to Mila as possible, so it really wasn’t worth spending all that money to get something so similar. Looking in the mirror at myself in the dress that I bought—the one that I planned to wear on one of the most important days of my life, the one that I have plastered all over the internet, “the one” from October—I felt the same as I had in the Amsale, the Vera Wang, and the second Priscilla of Boston dress: Pretty, but nothing special. I took a deep breath and went back to the dressing room.

We put Mojave back on and took some pictures, and it was time to start seriously trying to figure out what we were going to do. Just the day before, I had claimed that the more form-fitting one was the type of dress I’d always dreamed of, so why was this A-line dress at the top of the list? All the other dresses that I’d been drawn to for months were mermaid with ruching, so what was it about the floral-print dress that kept me second guessing? That’s when the tears started to fall. I just felt so guilty about wanting this other dress. Sure it’s half the price of the first dress and way cheaper than anything else I’d looked at, but I still had to buy the first dress. I was locked into a nonrefundable contract! So we did the responsible thing and agreed to think on it for a couple of days.

After changing back into my jeans, I got measured to figure out the right size in case we did decide to order it later this week from the city (Lost a total of four inches off my waist, bust, and hips since October! Woot!), and then we prepared to leave. I was in tears again, and the moms were conspiring behind me as I searched for tissues. Then Mama Bacon walked over to me, gave me a big hug, and told me to buy this second dress. “But, Mom, it’s a lot of money, and we’re already spending so much on this wedding.” She wouldn’t hear it. She could tell that I would be heartbroken if I left without the dress, so we promised to do our best to sell Elaine (Anyone need a dress??), confident that we’d make up the difference, and I left with a smile. In the end, I bought the dress that really made me cry and the one that shattered all my preconceived notions of what a “bride” should look like.

Personal Photo—The One

Did anyone else second guess their dress and go back for another one?