Weddingbee Blog

Prior to our perfectly scheduled New York trip, my mom came down to Nashville for a few days so we could take care of some wedding-related business (she hadn’t even seen our venue in person yet!) and some non-wedding-related business (apartment hunting for Sister K who was moving to Nashville). Since I had never tried on wedding dresses before, we figured we should do a little warm-up before the New York extravaganza. We called and made day-of appointments at a couple of local salons.

It was fun to go shopping where I live because I actually got to go into the stores that I have driven by so many times and stared longingly into their windows. Note to Nashville drivers: keep your distance when passing a bridal salon, because I am not paying attention to the road—sorry!

Distracted Driving! Image via InsideLine.com / Photo from Subaru America Inc.

When we ran into the first store (we ran in part because I could not contain myself and in part because it was pouring outside), I was practically shaking with excitement. The salesgirl was very sweet and let us browse through their entire selection. Between the many episodes of Say Yes to the Dress I have watched and the one shopping excursion I went on with my sister, I always assumed they brought dresses to you. I was very pleasantly surprised when this was not the case. I loved being able to admire all of the dresses in person, even those that I knew right off the bat wouldn’t work for me. That being said, it was even more fun to admire dresses that I thought might work for me! The first to make this list was an A-line with a detailed bodice. (I apologize that I don’t remember the designer or style—I think it is Paloma Blanca, but don’t hold me to that!)

Dress #1

Dress #1 Closeup

Oh my goodness, I felt so bridal! I loved the detail of the top (although I’m not sure Mr. Dalmatian would go for it), and the skirt felt so rich and smooth, like vanilla bean ice cream. As much as I loved this richness, I was worried that the dress was a little heavy. While the thought of swimming in vanilla bean ice cream doesn’t sound so bad (although perhaps a bit chilly), the thought of drowning in my dress was not very appealing. I also felt like a lighter style might be more appropriate for my outdoor spring wedding.

The next one to make the maybe list was the San Patrick Clamor:

Dress #2 - San Patrick Clamor

I never would have thought I would want a dress with so much lace, but I loved it! The shape was very interesting because the first layer was mermaid style and the second layer was closer to an A-line, but made of sheer lace so you could still see the fitted shape of the first layer beneath. This picture of the back might do a better job of illustrating what I mean

Dress #2 Back view

Along with lace, another thing I did not think I wanted was any bling. While this dress was not bling-tastic, it did have a little bit of sparkle. But even with features I was not initially drawn to, this dress shot its way to the top of my list.

The last dress from the first store was one the I had loved prior to shopping: Mikaella Style 1460.

Dress #3 - Mikaella Style 1460

I wanted to love it on me. I liked it on me. While I was pleased with it enough to go out to the big mirror and even snap a photo, deep down I already knew that it wasn’t the dress.

So, the San Patrick Clamor was the one to beat as we moved on to the second store.

The next store stocked a lot of the Priscilla of Boston designers, which I was very excited to try on! Unfortunately, my excitement faded pretty rapidly. While the gowns were without question beautiful and clearly high quality, they just did nothing for me. After trying many on, the only dress that remained a potential was Hamptom from the Vineyard collection.

Vineyard Hamptom / Image via RecycledBride.com

Pardon the model photo—we weren’t allowed to take pictures in the second store.

Again, I surprised myself by choosing the all-lace dress as my favorite! My mom also liked the Hampton best from this salon (luckily we were very much on the same page throughout the entire shopping process), but we were both still leaning toward the San Patrick as our favorite for the day.

Overall, a pretty successful shopping day one! While I wasn’t swept away by anything, I definitely felt I had a better idea of what I liked.

Did you love dresses that you never thought you would have liked?

* All photos personal unless otherwise noted.