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Wedding-dress shopping is kind of a big deal. (Hello, there are even television shows dedicated to the process!) And although I usually L.O.V.E. most shopping trips, the prospect of finding “the dress” totally turned me off. Besides watching other brides find their dresses on TV, there really wasn’t anything appealing about it. As various people found out I was getting married, many of them excitedly asked, “Have you found your dress yet?!” I became accustomed to my go-to response of, “No, net yet. And I’m really not looking forward to it.” (This was typically returned with the you-have-three-heads look.) I guess dress shopping is a part of the wedding process that many brides look back fondly upon, but I thought it was going to be a disaster.
I’m a pretty averaged-sized girl who takes care of herself with exercise and healthy eating most of the time and, like most women, I wanted to look exceptionally beautiful on my wedding day. Through reading many magazines and articles, I had learned that wedding-dress sizing did not correspond with street-clothes sizing. In fact, wedding dresses could be a whole one to two sizes smaller. Since it would be impractical for most dress shops to have a sample in every size, they only kept certain sizes on hand. To me this translated as a warning cry. “Prepare yourself! Nothing will fit!” I, like any bride, wanted to enjoy the shopping experience, but I had fun-house-style images in my head. Although the label size never bothered me, I pictured literally nothing fitting. Even though I really enjoyed them, I don’t think all of the dress shows really helped to ease my fears either. The episodes all captured so much drama! (Tears, broken budgets, and family squabbles, oh my!) And even though more recently they have started featuring brides of all sizes, most of the shows I watched featured itty-bitty girls. (And model-thin, I was not.)
A not-so-happy Minnie pin via Okey Dokey Goodies
One day, a girl and her fiance went to run some errands. While driving out of the shopping center, the girl saw something out of the corner of her eye that made her squeal with delight. A bridal salon she had never before noticed! She quickly called and made an appointment for later that week (AKA the next day).
When she walked into the bridal salon for her appointment, though, she became disappointed. There were only 20 or so bridal dresses in the entire store, and none of them looked anything like the style this girl was looking for. While all of her instincts said to leave, the girl felt bad and so she talked to the consultant. She explained that she wanted a fitted dress, preferably one with lace, tulle, petals, flowers, etc. The consultant said she knew just the dress but it was already in a fitting room. She took it out and it was just a plain lace dress, limply dangling on its hanger with odd straps. The girl was disappointed. She didn’t really like it very much, but decided she would be polite and try it on.
Once the dress was on, the girl looked up into the mirror and…SPARKS FLEW! The girl did not want to take off the dress! She looked at it from every angle, confused. This was not what the girl had wanted—there were no ruffles, no petals, no rosettes, none of the features of the girl’s dream dress. But the girl quickly realized all of the dresses she had tried before that had had those details never seemed right. They were all too childish or too trendy or too overbearing and, simply put, too much. This dress, though, was simple, understated, elegant, and classic. The girl realized that the other dresses she loved so much on models she would have looked back in five years and wondered, “What was I thinking?” but this dress, even if it became outdated, would always be stylish.
To be quite honest, Mr. Elk isn’t really big into fashion. With two pairs of jeans, one pair of sneakers, and ten button-down shirts in varying colors, it would be more accurate to say he doesn’t care about clothes at all, which will become all the more evident when you hear this story: When I first started dating Mr. Elk, I had an event to attend and wanted his advice on what to wear. I tried on two dresses: one was a long red dress with thick straps and a deep V neckline. It had ruching on the side and floral detailing. The other was a maroon strapless chiffon dress with a sweetheart neckline and natural waist that had an ombre effect. He looked at me in both dresses and asked, “What’s different about them? They are both red dresses.”
Image via Really Funny Pictures
Hi there! Remember that time I started telling you about my dress shopping adventures and then totally left you high and dry without a drop of info about my final purchase? My bad! In case you missed the beginning of the story (or in case you need a refresher since it has been so long), I fawned over some inspiration dresses, planned a trip to NYC, and did a little bit of shopping here in Nashville with Mama Dalmatian.
Now, first things first:
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| Image via The Daily Puppy |
Okay, now second things second: I have a very important warning for those of you who have not yet embarked on wedding dress shopping:
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I know that I told you I was not going to show my dress until the wedding, and I know that it’s a little rude to talk about it and then not show you, but this is kind of a big deal part of the wedding planning and I felt I had to share!
Tomorrow is my first fitting! I am so nervous and excited. My mama Aardvark is even coming to Wisconsin to come with me since I deprived her the fun of actual dress shopping by dress-not-shopping. This will be the first time I have actually had a wedding dress on, not counting the ones I tried on at the second-hand store that had any combination of stains, sleeves from the 80s and beaded fringe (the fringe was actually a bit appealing but the placement was in poor taste).
I am hoping tomorrow I will feel totally at ease with my choice to not go shopping. I am hopping the dress looks as good on me, and is as bridal as I imagine it will be. I am hoping that even though this is only a muslin mock-up, I will be able to envision everything the way it will be for the wedding. I am hoping it is comfortable. I am hoping it helps me narrow down veil concepts. I am hoping the shoes I spent so long obsessing over go with it. As you can see, there is a lot of hope riding on tomorrow’s fitting. (I hope I am not building it up to be something its not?)
And now, because I am a total tease, I will show you handful of dress patterns, one of which is mine.
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When I started dress shopping, there was one brand that stood out above all the others: Watters. I was beyond convinced that my dress was going to end up being one of their creations, which are filled with lace, three-dimensional floral details, and all things pretty. Unfortunately, of the eight salons I had managed to shop in, only two carried the brand. And of those two salons, they each only had one Watters sample. BAHHH. I was not a happy camper. I decided I had to go to a store that carried most of the line, and so I traveled an hour and a half away to another city in search of my beautiful Watters dresses. Before I tried them on, these were some of the clear contenders.
(Note: all dress images from Watters)
Dallas: Loved the V neckline, loved the lace and floral detailing!
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
I…am…an…addict. Yes, I admit it, I am addicted to wedding-dress shopping. For almost a full month after getting engaged I did not allow myself to walk into a bridal salon. I knew that Mama Elk would be hurt if I began the search without her, and since we were five hours apart and I was on my surgery rotation, there was no way we could get together until I was on break from school. When I did finally allow myself to begin the dress-search process, I became crazed. I would walk into a bridal salon and, in a frenzy, rummage the racks. I would pull three dresses at a time, dragging them in my wake. I did not listen to the advice of consultants. I was manic. I pulled dress after dress onto my body, sausaged into my Spanx.
I went to nine different salons in three different cities, some on multiple occasions. I tried on well over 50 dresses, all within a three-month period. While I never went to a blowout sale, or Kleinfelds for that matter, I feel that Monica sure represents who I was while dress shopping (read: crazy).
PS: Don’t you just love their version of Kleinfeld? I especially love how few brides are waiting and how unimpressive their version of the store looks!
Have no fear, hive. I’ll come right out and say it: my dress is officially (and finally) in my possession!
Also, Foxy…
…be gone, long one. Sneak pics ahead!
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Before dress shopping I had never really heard of the brand Marissa, because they do not advertise. Many of the salons I visited carried their dresses, and since they’re simple and in my price range I found myself trying on a lot of them
I really wanted to like this dress with bias-cut layers, but it didn’t do much for my body. Having a belt with it, though, made it a lot more appealing.
This is the dress that made me realize I wanted to wear something fitted. In the store I didn’t think much of it, but once home and looking at pictures I LOVED how this dress accentuated my waist. I tried this dress on in two other stores, but in the end felt it wasn’t quite right.
My first fitting went well! Well…mostly. I showed up a few minutes early with my dress, shoes, proper undies, and payment all ready to go. The seamstresses were really nice, nobody got stuck with pins, and I was given plenty of privacy while changing.
We love Watters and Wtoo for their accessible, feminine style. The Watters Spring 2012 line featured easy movement and light layers, with something for brides of all seasons!
We’re kicking it off with my favorite from the day:
Tule over sparkle made this a close runner up:
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So it was finally time for me to go dress shopping after stalking browsing every designer website I could find. I had realized early on in my search that I have high-society tastes on a pauper’s budget. Therefore, I made it my mission to find every brand with dresses for a more reasonable budget that upheld the style I was looking for. One of the brands I loved before I began dress shopping was Enzoani. They provided a lot of the details that I loved and with a budget I could stomach! And they have a second line, Blue, with lower-priced creations. I was delighted to find that a few of the salons nearby carried the lines!
So, wanna see some dress porn? (All photos in this post are personal pictures.)
Enzoani Fabi: I didn’t really think I wanted a true ballgown, but I thought this dress was so pretty I couldn’t resist trying it on. It was the first one I ever tried on, actually. My grandma seemed to love it, but I don’t think it did much for my body; my torso looks pretty square in it without any waist definition, but I love it from the side!
It’s a sad day for bargain hunting brides. Filene’s Basement, a subsidiary of discount retailer Syms Corp., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and plans to liquidate operations. This is the third time Filene’s has gone through bankruptcy and it appears to be the final hurrah. (Read a full article of the announcement at ChicagoTribune.com.)
It is no coincidence the bankruptcy was announced just in time for the upcoming holiday season. There really seems like no better time to liquidate inventory. The word is that liquidation will run through January 2012 and store closings will occur when the merchandise is depleted.
What this ultimately means for brides, and future brides-to-be, is that the famous “Running of the Brides” events are a thing of the past.
Image via Boston.com
I have a confession—I love weddings, and not just because I am planning my own. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for them. When I was younger and people asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always replied, “I want to be a doctor but a wedding-dress designer in my spare time.” Want proof? Here are some wedding dresses I designed back when I was 12 or so! (PS: Don’t judge too hard—I was 12 with no artistic talents, and I never claimed to be Vera Wang!)
God have my tastes in dresses changed! Velvet? At least the black was ahead of my time!
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