Weddingbee Blog

One of the many reasons I have thoroughly enjoyed wedding planning thus far is that I come from a family of planners. We thrive on schedules. We are lost without our calendars. We love itineraries…no seriously, we LOVE itineraries. So, when it was time to go dress shopping (Bah! I couldn’t believe it was time to go dress shopping!), we developed a very detailed, very awesome plan.

I had a little break in the middle of my last semester of nursing school, so we decided to take the opportunity to go to New York to visit family and, of course, to shop for wedding dresses!

Now, if you are anything like me, you hear the words “New York” and “wedding dresses” and a certain store pops into mind:

Kleinfeld, however, was not on our itinerary. My budget would have allowed for me to look at the lower end of their selection, but I was a hoping for a shopping experience that was a little more intimate and a little less television-worthy.

The first place on our itinerary was actually a couple hours outside of New York City in southern Connecticut. Our plan was to fly into New York, rent a car, and then drive to The White Dress By The Shore for an appointment that afternoon.

Image via TheWhiteDressByTheShore.com / Photo by Alissa Dinneen Photography

From everything I saw and read online, it looked like they had a phenomenal dress selection.

Image via TheWhiteDressByTheShore.com / Photo by Alissa Dinneen Photography

After our appointment, the itinerary called for driving back to NYC, returning our rental car, and checking into our hotel. We were going to need to get to sleep early because the schedule for the next day was chock-full of dresses, dresses, and more dresses!

The next morning, we would head to The Bridal Garden, which is a not-for-profit boutique in Manhattan where designers donate gowns, and they are sold for a discount (we’re talking up to 75% off!) with all proceeds going to children’s charities. Because their inventory is always changing, I didn’t know what to expect, but for a chance to simultaneously save money and give to charity I was more than willing to give it a chance!

Next up on the itinerary was the Lovely Bridal Shop. Just look at this store:

Image via Brooklyn Bride / Photos by Sweet Little Photographs

Image via PR Couture / Photo by Sweet Little Photographs

Do you really need any more explanation as to why I wanted to go here? They carry a lot of smaller, unique designers like Ivy & Aster, Sarah Seven and Elizabeth Dye. Their soft, feminine dresses were exactly what I had in mind.

Finally, the last stop on our itinerary was an evening appointment at the Priscilla of Boston salon. My sister had gone into a POB salon briefly when looking at hair accessories, and said that it was breathtakingly beautiful. I had been stalking their website for so long, I could not wait to see the gowns in real life!

Image via PriscillaOfBoston.com

Image via PriscillaOfBoston.com

So with that, our NYC itinerary was complete! Did I find my dress? We’ll have to wait to find out.

Did you travel anywhere to look at wedding dresses?