Weddingbee Blog

After my incredibly disappointing experience at Lovely, I was tempted to call up Priscilla of Boston to cancel my appointment. My already fragile ego had taken all the blows that it could bear. But it was too late to cancel, and I’m too cheap to let anyone charge me $50 for not showing up to an appointment. So I dragged myself to Priscilla of Boston.

Plus, POB is the home of a gown that I’d been pining after, and there was no guarantee I’d find it in another salon—it was JL202, from the Jewel line.

Image via Priscilla of Boston

This dress was pretty close to perfect: simple, with straps, fitted but not too tight. And you can’t see it here, but the back is a simple scoop with fabric-covered buttons down to the skirt. Sigh…I couldn’t wait to get myself into this thing. Sadly, I also couldn’t wait to get myself out of it. It was so unflattering, and in a strange way, I felt like it was too much dress for me. Of course it wasn’t, but I just felt uncomfortable.

After that, I let the consultant put me into any dress she thought I might like, but it was too late for me. I’d had a few too many letdowns for the day. She brought in a couple gowns that I refused to try on: too much lace, too heavy for July, too big. Yeah, I didn’t make it easy on her.

Until, she brought in Maldives, a gown in the Reverie by Melissa Sweet collection.

Image via One Wed / Gown by Melissa Sweet

My immediate thought was “un uh,” but when I looked up at my mom and Lil $is, I saw that their expressions had changed. There was a tear in my mom’s eye. And then I turned to see the back…

…and my jaw dropped. I loved it. I loved the sweet and romantic drape of the fabric, I loved that it showed just enough of my back. I turned around to the front for a better look.

I loved the way the top looked on me. I loved how it hit my natural waist. But…I felt like I was more in costume than in my wedding dress, and did I mention the hip swags? It was too Greek goddess for this half-Greek. But was that a bad thing? It would go really nicely with our venue—but why would I need to buy a dress to match the venue?

I paraded around in a veil, mostly to please my mom and $is, and also to convince myself that this was my dress. But as much as I tried, I couldn’t bring myself to declare that Maldives was for me even though my family had. I ended the appointment, cut my losses, and headed home.

Close but no cigar. Did anyone else have to go against the opinions of their friends and family when choosing the dress?