Weddingbee Blog

I was easily lured into dress search obsession and it didn’t take long before visions of lace, beads, chiffon and all things tulle were burned into my eyelids keeping me awake at night. I needed to try wedding dresses on… badly.

With the general ludicrous price of anything in Switzerland, I was making tentative plans to find a dress in Zürich and buy it online in the US, but first I needed to see what the darn things looked like on me.

(Image via Liluca)

Still favouring the Maggie Sottero designs, I found one boutique that carries MS in Zürich and I made plans with my girlfriends to make the rounds at the bridal shops. I patiently waited for the girls’ day to arrive, twitching with excitement by the time it fiiiiinally came. Friends A and B met me at my flat for a fabulous homemade waffle brunch before started what can only be described as a day of pure JOY for me.

First stop on the list was Zauberbraut, a bridal shop that happens to be at my local tram stop. I mean, it’s not like I stared at the wedding dresses in their windows like oh, ever since we moved to this neighbourhood. Mr. Funnel Cake didn’t even know it was there until I pointed it out after we were engaged. Finally I would see what was inside!!

I apologise in advance for the lack of personal photos in this post. Photos are not allowed in any of the boutiques I went to, and so I only got a couple secret snapshots from my friend’s iPhone.

The sales lady hated that green necklace and made me take it off later.

(Personal Photo)

Same dress from the shop’s site:

All the dresses from this shop were off brand. (Ie, affordable)

(Image via Zauberbraut)

I had a bit of sticker shock when they told me this dress was over $2000. Uh… excuse me?? Isn’t this store supposed to be “cheaper” than the designer boutiques downtown? For $2k I better damn well love the dress. This one was just average, so we moved on.

We went to three other wedding boutiques in Zürich and I had THE time of my life getting in and out of dresses. I just loved it! Every dress fit. It’s like they were making them just for me! I was so so happy trying them on. This doesn’t mean every dress looked flattering on my figure or that I loved them all, but I wasn’t standing there trying to imagine what it would look like if my breasts were bigger, hips smaller, legs longer, etc.

One of my loves was a Cosmobella gown from Zoro. But I barely figured out who made the dress! The staff wouldn’t tell you which style it was or write down how much it cost. This one was around $2200 if I recall. If I wanted to see it again I would have to go back to the store and try it on again to decide. (Not helpful!) Because I snooped and found out it was a Cosmobella, I searched the entire 2010 and 2011 collection to find pictures.

(Discontinued dress by Cosmobella)

At the second to last boutique we finally found the Maggies and I was more than excited to finally try one of her “legendary” fitting dresses. They didn’t have the Sabelle I kept eyeing, but I could try on some of her other dresses and see how they fit.

Honestly, I wasn’t impressed by the styles I tried. The dresses they had were too silky and shiny and didn’t have the full skirt elements I was searching for. They were also some of the only dresses I tried that actually were a tad too long… and it really dampened my reactions. I was disappointed I couldn’t find what I was looking for and it was difficult communicating with the lady (in German) about what I was aiming for.

Does this Maggie gown look as stupid on me as I think it does? P.S. I totally tried on that see-through corset dress to the right and the short, feathery mini to the left!

(Personal Photo)

That’s when I saw the Rembo, and bees, she was gorgeous.

(Personal Photos)

Soft organza, relatively simple “elf bone” colour dress with a full skirt and a killer matching bolero. I knew without a doubt that Mr. Funnel Cake would love this dress. Don’t believe me? Look at more proof I found when I searched for the dress at home:

(Dress by Rembo Styling)

(Last three pictures via Brautkleid-Gebraucht listing)

So why didn’t I just buy it? Price.

The dress alone was over $2600. The bolero was $475!? And the underskirt they quoted me was over $200. All in all it would cost over $3300 to buy from the store.

By this time I’d been quoted several gown prices and the $2000 price tag at the first boutique was starting to sound like a good deal. I went home and desperately searched online for my two favourites from Rembo and Cosmobella and realised these were not sold anywhere in America. Crap.

I was also running into another problem: Dresses, styles and elements that I loved on the hanger did not look good when I tried them on. I had major doubt that if I didn’t buy a dress I’d physically tried on, it would be a disaster. Yet all of the designers I liked in the stores were expressly European. Double crap.

It was a conundrum. I was beginning to wonder if I would have to totally blow my naive $1000 budget and buy a dress locally…

Did you have problems keeping to your budget when you were dress shopping?