Weddingbee Blog

The search for my dream dress has been a bit of an ordeal, to put it mildly. Over the course of a year, I’ve tried on over 100 dresses, at nearly a dozen stores in three major cities. To be honest, the process was really stressful and frustrating, and I found myself more anxious at each successive appointment…for the record, that was no help.

Forget “saying yes to the dress.” I said no to lots of dresses, more than I can count. Some were so unflattering on my curvy body I didn’t want to leave the fitting room, much less show pictures on the internet. Others were not nearly as bad, but just didn’t give me the look or feeling I was searching for. I wanted to share some of them with all y’all, with the caveat that these dresses were wrong for me, my figure, and/or the Archer wedding. Just because these dresses were “bad” for me doesn’t mean they are bad dresses. (I don’t want anyone who chose one to get their feelings hurt just because I like themed blog posts and have a flair for drama.)

The discards included…

I liked the straps and amazing low back of this dress, but the stretch chiffon fabric was more casual than I liked, and the snug fit plus the ruching and wrapping was a little sexier than I wanted. Let’s be honest—it was overly booty-licious and more attention-getting than need be.

I don’t know what was going on here—a lot! I tried this dress on when trying to be open minded, but I felt like I was wearing a cream puff—and I wanted it off promptly, as you can tell by the awesome face I am making. The shiny bodice, blingy belt, tiers of ruffles, and the giant floral on the skirt were all overwhelming me.

Flower Girl C joined us on one dress-shopping trip, and I let her make a selection for me to try on—she felt like such a big girl! She chose this one, and while it was pretty, it was a little traditional and princess-y for me.

This was another dress I tried early on, in the open-minded stage. Honestly—I couldn’t get this off my body fast enough. It was far from comfortable, genuinely looked like I had toilet paper stuck to my feet, and somehow made my body look straight up and down, which is really a practical impossibility. There are women on whom this dress would be a vision—I am not one of them.

I liked that this dress was lace transitioning into tulle. It would have been far more flattering if the drop waist was not quite so dropped—it made me look very long waisted. I could barely walk or breathe, even in the correctly sized dress, and I felt like this was way too much dress on me.

I love Bridesmaid S’s “Um, I don’t think so” face in the mirror. The salesgirl chose this one off a mannequin as being figure flattering. It looked great in the shop window, but on my body, I looked and felt like I was wearing a couture diaper—not really the look I was going for on my wedding day.

Up next, TWDC continue with Part 2, The Good.

What was the wedding-dress hunt like for you? Did you leave dozens of discards in your wake, or find your dream dress right away?