Weddingbee Blog

When I finally got the email from Bliss letting me know that my dress had arrived at the bridal salon, I was so happy I actually squealed. Mr. P came running into the room and asked, “Good news or bad?” When I told him my dress had arrived, he gave me a hug and said, “I am so proud of you!” (Is it possible to over-train a man?? Hehehe.)

Back to the news at hand. I immediately emailed my seamstress Susan to set up an alteration date. Susan is a-MAZing! She was not only able to travel to my house for the fitting, which was so crucial since I was right in the middle of finals, but she also volunteered to store my dress for me while I’m in Amsterdam. Did I mention she is a-MAZing!?!

Within hours of receiving the email, I was plagued with second thoughts! They washed over me and consumed my every thought. I couldn’t study. I could barely even think straight. What if it wasn’t THE dress!?!?

My three doubts about the dress were:

1. The neckline isn’t a true sweetheart neckline, which I knew when I bought the dress, so I was just hoping it would be a pretty easy alteration.
2. I wanted an all-lace dress, but Mr. P and Momma P hated all-lace dresses. (No, Mr. P did not go wedding-dress shopping with me, but we did look at a few dresses in magazines together so I could get an idea of what he liked.)
3. Most importantly, the bottom of the dress isn’t very full. The reality is, I don’t really remember how full it is and it was like five sizes too big, so I can’t really get a sense from the pictures of how the bottom will sit.

Once I bought the dress I tried really really really really hard to stop actively looking for dresses, but now that the dress is here all bets are off! I immediately started Googling mermaid dresses to figure out what I really wanted.*

The reality is, I love a full mermaid skirt. I mean, have you seen the size of Vera Wang’s spring dresses?

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However, it just didn’t seem practical to try and get a dress that size to Costa Rica. Also, I am not sure I’m tall enough to carry it off, so I decided to focus on a more modest skirt.

I love the shape of this Jim Hjelm, and I think it’s a good compromise size. I just think she’s so elegant, romantic, and feminine:

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However, I think that it’s also really important to look at real brides to get a sense of the way different shapes photograph and move throughout the day. Here are three of my very favorite real brides.

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1. The fullest—I love this tiered skirt. My dress isn’t tiered, but I love the shape this dress gives the bride. I think this skirt has the most crinoline, and I kind of the love that it doesn’t need to be messed with in order to get that great shape. However, my train is a little longer than this one, so I have to figure out how that would look.

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2. Medium fullness—I think this dress is the closest to my own dress shape, and if it isn’t then I think it’s the shape that I want the most!

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3. No fullness—This dress doesn’t seem to have any crinoline and still has an amazing shape. I think this has a lot to do with the bride’s natural shape and the tiers of the skirt.

At the end of the day, I think its gonna come down to my budget versus my obsession with having the “perfect” dress. I haven’t even met Susan, but I get a great vibe from her (AKA she answered my emails while on a Caribbean cruise and even apologized for taking 48 hours to respond!), and I think she’ll be really helpful in deciding which of these looks will be best for me. I hope that this process of looking at dresses has helped me collect my thoughts so that I can both articulate my feelings and be at peace with whatever decision I make.

*I am obviously also trying to keep open the possibility that I will just love her once I get her on and perhaps I did pick the “perfect” dress.

How much did you alter you dress? How bad were your second thoughts, and when did they finally stop!?