Weddingbee Blog

Before I get into the thick of my recaps, I want to back it up a bit (back, back, back it up!!) to early August when I was home for my fab bachelorette party. We need to discuss my wedding dress. My fabulous, gorgeous wedding dress.

While I was in Seattle for the bach, as usual I knocked out two wedding tasks with one plane ticket (or however the saying goes) and scheduled my final dress fitting for that same weekend—it would be the last time I was in town prior to the wedding and I wanted to be sure that any changes that needed to be made were done in time for the wedding.

Those ruffles! Sigh.

I tried on the dress a total of three times (including when I first laid eyes on that baby) prior to the wedding.

As you may recall, I initially tried on my dress on a bit of a whim – it didn’t fit my original dress aesthetic, but I saw it in the window and thought it would be a fun dress to try on. It was so crazy sexy cool! And different from most other wedding dresses I had seen. Lo and behold, I loved how it looked when I tried it on and it fit like a dream right then and there off the rack. I was smitten! So I bought it.

Now, let’s get real here. After I had purchased the dress and went in again to have it fitted, I had some serious wedding dress regret. As you can see, my dress is, well, ruffly. Fluffy. Froofy. Puffy. Not your typical, classic wedding dress.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like the dress the second time I tried it on, but I got really worried that Mr. CA wouldn’t like the dress. Nagging doubts kept creeping into my mind: He’s going to think it’s too froofy. He’s going to think it’s too ruffly. He’s going to think it’s not classic enough. He’s going to think I look silly. He’s going to hate it.

Look at all that ruffly fabulousness.

I hold Mr. CA’s opinions very highly and I was worried that he was going to think I looked hideous and silly on our wedding day. I worried that I would look back at pictures and think how dated the dress looked. It was not a fun feeling, particularly after my mom had spent so much money on the dress. I wanted to be in love with my dress, but it was hard when I thought Mr. CA wouldn’t like it. I kept my worries to myself, but they lingered in the back of my mind.

Needless to say, I was a bit apprehensive when I went in for my final fitting. In fact, I was dreading it. But you know what? When I went in that last time and they tucked the veil into my hair, and I slipped my feet into those sparkly Kate Spade beauties, and I wiggled into that frothy confection of a dress? I loved it. I absolutely loved it. I felt like a princess. A bride.

And after that, I realized something. Something that all of the wedding blogs and inspiration photos and pretty pictures had clouded in my wedding-inspiration-addled brain. I knew that Mr. CA would love me in that dress on our wedding day because guess what? I loved it and I thought I looked pretty smokin’ in it. Yep, I did. I said it. I looked like a bride. A real bride. And ultimately I knew it wouldn’t matter what I was wearing on our wedding day – Mr. CA would say his vows to me if we were both wearing paper bags and he would still be the happiest man alive because he loves me that damn much.

We replaced the brooch that came with the dress with one my mom let me borrow – my “something borrowed!” Silver and pearls from Japan, given to her when she was living there.

Wedding dress bliss. I think I’m demonstrating the froofy-ness of the ruffles for Mom CA and MOH. That, or saying “get in mah bellay!”

MOH attempting to bustle all of those ruffles. Tough job!!

Vogue.

Happiness!! With my sister and my mommy.

Did I mention that I flippin’ loved my veil? Yeah. I flippin’ loved my veil.

Did I mention that I flippin’ loved my dress? Yeah. I flippin’ loved my dress.

On the bridal salon’s awesome runway. Happy girl!

Just remember that. If you get stressed about your weight, or you start having whispering doubts about your dress, or you decide to go with something a little different and crazy for your big day, just remember that what matters is you and your partner getting up there and vowing to stick it through for better or for worse. What you’re wearing doesn’t matter in the end.

What matters is that you pick a dress that you feel awesome in, a dress that makes you smile. That happiness will shine through on your wedding day. And guess what? Mr. CA loved my dress.

Did you have dress regret? Were you able to get over it, or did you decide to go with another dress? Anyone else out there go with mega-ruffles?

• First, we showered. Tea-party style.
• Recaps commenced. Sort of.

**All photography in this post is personal**