Weddingbee Blog

*WARNING* This post contains pictures of me in wedding dresses…if you don’t want to see any pictures of me in a wedding dress then look no further! Yes, Mr. Gazelle, that means you. Thanks, honey!

When we last left off on dress talk, I mentioned that I wasn’t sure if I fit into the typical bridal style like most of the dresses I had seen on Say Yes to the Dress. And then I saw this picture from Justin Alexander:

Image via Justin Alexander Bridal

When I discovered that it also came in a full-length gown, I realized that there may be something to this wedding-dress thing after all.

Image via Justin Alexander Bridal

I did some research on the net—scoping out a few dress shops in town and the different designers they carry. Because my mom is a seven-hour drive away, I figured it would be worthwhile to try a few dresses on with my MOH and BM, see if there were any styles I liked, and try to narrow things down before my mom would be able to visit. I printed off some styles that I liked and made two appointments for a Saturday afternoon.

MOH-T put together some wicked emergency bags for all of us for our day out. They contained tissues, some lens-cleaning cloths, hand wipes, mini Toblerone pieces, granola bars, gum, some baked Pringle sticks, and bottled water.

First up we went to the Bridal Centre, easily one of the more posh bridal stores in Calgary. To make an appointment you have to fill out a form online detailing your budget and styles you have tried on or that you like, plus you have to agree to only bring two people with you, no children, and no food or drink.
My consultant took us upstairs to the princess room, took a look at the printouts I brought, and pulled a few dresses. The first dress was a ball-gown style. When I put it on I felt…not a whole lot different. I don’t know what I was expecting, but was I supposed to feel different in a white poofy dress?

Unfortunately, they didn’t have my favourite dresses that I had printed out in stock. I found bits and pieces of dresses that I liked, but no dress that really stood out as something that I would actually want to buy. After trying on probably 15 dresses, we exhausted all of the options in my size and budget. I wasn’t sure if I would have that “oh my god, this is my dress” kind of feeling. It was time to call it quits, so I got dressed. We had another store to hit up!

For our second store we were making our way just north of Calgary to Embrace Bridal & Formal Fashions in Airdrie. This was a very different experience compared to the Bridal Centre! No appointment necessary. There was a lone girl working at the front of the store. She directed us toward the wedding dresses and let us have at it! The dresses were not in bags, and we were able to pull whatever samples we were interested in trying on. Fun! I pulled a bunch of gowns, and the girls had a blast pulling dresses, too, making me their personal dress-up doll!

For the first couple of dresses, the girl working the shop was able to help me in, but pretty soon the shop got busier. She was spread pretty thin as more groups came in, so it was then up to the girls to help. Serious laughs ensued as I attempted to jump and wiggle my way into dresses and the girls attempted to do me up. Thank goodness I didn’t mind either of those girls seeing me in my skivvies!

I think for the first time I came out of the dressing room with a smile on my face. This one was the Venus AT 4448. This wasn’t the dress, as I wasn’t a huge fan of the mini-pickups or the fabric of the main dress.

This other dress also wasn’t the one, as I wasn’t really feeling the asymmetrical ruching over my stomach. The girls liked the sweetheart neckline, and I liked the bow on the back.

Boy, I look like I’m taking this dress-shopping thing seriously, eh?

No sign of Justin Alexander dresses here, though…sigh…

After making my way through all of the gowns we had selected to try on, it was time to go. As we were putting our shoes on the girl working in the shop asked us if we had been to their other location.

Other location?? Stay tuned!

Did you share a lot of laughs with your girls when you went dress shopping?

*All photos are personal unless otherwise noted