Weddingbee Blog

People are going to ram down your throat the notion that this is the most important dress in the whole wide world. It has to be absolutely perfect and it is going to be expensive. I didn’t really care for the pressure that those kind of thoughts evoked. Instead I decided I’d find a pretty dress and hopefully one that was affordable. It’s a dress I’m only going to wear for ONE day, and since my wonderful mother offered to pay for it, I wasn’t going to take advantage of that and demand she spend a ton of money on one garment.

You know that it wasn’t all sunshine and daisies for me to dress shop. Finding one (and one at a GREAT price) freed up my mind to focus on other aspects of the wedding and freed up some funds that could be spent elsewhere—like on yummy food for our guests.

Dress Shopping Tips—What I Did

1. Make an appointment in advance.

The appointment should be free. (If they charge you run far, far away!) Having a scheduled appointment ensures that you have personalized service and a fitting room. The consultants will help you in and out of the dress as well, which makes things go LOTS faster.

2. Show up with full hair and makeup.

It makes it a lot easier to see the overall look if your hair and makeup are done. If you aren’t feeling pretty because your hair is a messy bun on top of your head and your skin looks washed out—it will be harder to find a dress that makes you feel pretty.

3. Try on every style.

Originally I was in love with the Grecian, flowy, sheath-style dresses, but they weren’t doing ANYTHING for my figure. The detailed ornate dresses were wearing me, not the other way around. I wound up in a satin A-line dress, which I never anticipated winding up with.

After trying on every style available in my size in the store, I finally found my dress buried in the rack. The dress felt different from any of the other 20-plus dresses I’d tried on, and it was in our price range. There weren’t any tears or anything; it was more of a very calm and confident feeling. “Yes, this is definitely it.”

We just happened to ask if it was on sale, and it turned out that it was. It was a discontinued model and was 50% off. Woo! I am so going to enjoy finding accessories for this baby to really jazz it up. I think it makes for a really unique, vintage-y piece. I can’t wait to wear it!

Dear Mr. High Wire,

Image via Alpine Importer

Thanks. I love you!

As for alterations, I plan on removing the current straps and adding thicker ones, possibly from the same material that we take off when we hem the dress…because it is too long right now.

Here she is!

The dress is from David’s Bridal and it is style number WG3102, but you won’t find it anywhere online, I don’t think, since it is a discontinued style.

She makes me feel beautiful and happy.

What do you think? How was your dress-shopping experience?