Weddingbee Blog

I’ve been drawing out my dress posts because…well, it’s my favorite part of wedding planning. I could probably have an entire blog dedicated entirely to wedding dresses. And as much as I’ve talked about how I could try on wedding dresses for eternity, even I will admit that eventually you’ve got to pull the trigger.

I made five dress-shopping trips over the course of three months. This was not because I was indecisive. Mostly, it was because I really wanted both my mom and my aunt to be a part of the process, and she couldn’t be there until the very last trip. And I’m so grateful that the very last shop we visited was where I found the perfect dress. But before we get there, I’d like to recap the dresses that were almost “the one.”

First, there was a gorgeous Vera Wang dress from David’s Bridal. It wasn’t until I put on this dress that I truly felt like a bride.

There were also two dress that I knew I would never buy, because they’re not my style AT ALL (the skirts aren’t big enough!!!). But they were so gorgeous that I had to post them. (Pardon any weird poses. I’m not going to be America’s Next Top Model anytime soon.)

I have to post this gorgeous Lazaro, because I was absolutely in love with it. But I was not in love with the $6,000 price tag.

The runner-up dress comes from a shopping trip that I haven’t mentioned at all. I found a great shop in Columbia, Maryland called The Bridal Boutique. The shop is a little run down, but they had more Maggie Sottero and Sottero & Midgely dresses than I saw anywhere else. I actually went there three times to try on dresses. If your budget is somewhere around $1,000–$2,000 and you’re in the area, I definitely recommend it. I love love loved this dress. It’s by far the BIGGEST dress I tried on. And in all honesty, if my mom and aunt had been with me on the shopping trip where I found it, this would probably be my dress. But I couldn’t find it anywhere in Atlanta, so they never got to see it in person. And I ended up falling in love with a different dress. So here’s the runner-up (it’s Sottero & Midgely Chrystelle).

It’s got a massive train!

My MOH pointed out that it might not be completely appropriate for an outdoor mountain wedding (not that I cared—who wears any kind of ball gown outside?). But, in the end it didn’t matter, because I found another gorgeous dress.

While in Atlanta (you can read more about our trip here), we (my mom, my aunt, and I) visited three stores. The third and final store was LaRaine’s Bridal Boutique. I didn’t really have any expectations about what it would be like (I just picked random stores in Atlanta based on yelp.com reviews), but when we walked in the store, I saw sooooooo many beautiful gowns. Actually, they were so beautiful that I was afraid that none of them would be in my budget. Fortunately, most of their gowns are less than $2,000, so I had a TON to choose from.

We ended up spending over THREE HOURS in the store. And I had no idea! I was happy as a clam, just trying on dress after dress. Our consultant, Leslie, never rushed us. She was so happy and friendly the entire time. But as much as I was having an awesome time, I was becoming pretty much convinced that I would be buying the Sottero & Midgely dress. I tried on soooo many beautiful dresses, but none of them could top the other dress. I was sad that my aunt hadn’t seen it, but I really hadn’t seen anything that I thought was better.

But, this post couldn’t be about me picking a dress unless I actually picked a dress. So one of the last dresses I tried on was a Lis Simon dress that’s actually fairly similar to the Vera Wang I had already tried. (The style is called Danica.)

In case you haven’t noticed, I really like dropped waists, and I love skirts with lots of folds and textures. I was really hoping that the Danica might be the one (minus the sash). But when I put it on, it just wasn’t. I liked the skirt, but it didn’t wow me.

But our consultant suggested I try a different Lis Simon dress. When she brought it out, I was reluctant at first, because it had a natural waist. Up to this point, every single natural waist dress had just been kind of blah on me. But my mom was really excited. From day one of trying on dresses, she’d said, “You need a natural waist! It will show off your figure!” But I actually felt like most dresses with a natural waist didn’t emphasize my waist. I think the dropped waist dresses are better for showing off one’s figure. But to appease her, I agreed to put on this dress.

And…(you can guess the rest of this story!)

It really wowed me!! I started dancing on the podium. And both my mom and aunt LOVED it. They couldn’t get enough of it. I was pretty sure this was the dress. But being the practical person I am, I told our consultant that I wanted to think about it for a day or two before I committed. She was more than happy to make us an appointment for two days later. And so, two days later, I came back in…and it was still as wonderful as I remembered!

So where’s the picture of this fabulous dress?? Well…I kind of want to save it as a surprise. Also, I’m terrified that Mr. Whale will somehow come across a picture of me in the dress. (He’s also terrified of this. He shields his eyes whenever I’m on the blog because he doesn’t want to accidentally see a picture of my dress.) But, I also hate when people don’t show off their dress.  So I’ll meet you halfway. You can see the model picture of my fantastic dress. It’s Lis Simon Constance from her Spring 2011 Collection.

Isn’t the skirt to die for??? I’ve been told that the dress is made from FORTY YARDS of fabric! Holy cow!! But it’s 40 yards of pure delightfulness!

Now, I did order it with a few customizations. I asked that the applique not be attached, in case I want to use a different belt. I also changed the neckline. It’s going to be a sweetheart neckline, and the fabric will be wrapped in the same way that the Danica dress (from above) is. I’m so excited!!

What do you all think?