Saying Yes to the Dress

Patrick and I got engaged on August 20, 2011. I made it almost 48 hours before I started planning. I made it almost a month before I got the urge to start trying on dresses.

I started searching online at David's Bridal and was excited to see a Vera Wang collection. I am highly intrigued by her designs and have dreamed of wearing a Vera Wang wedding dress for some time. Her designs for David's Bridal are gorgeous and affordable.

I immediately fell in love with this dress.


Image found on twylah.com




 

Image found on dhgate.com

It was all I could think about. I had to have this dress. Unfortunately, it had to be purchased and shipped to the store, and there are no exchanges or refunds. I didn't know what to do.

I decided that I would go to our nearest David's Bridal and see if there was a similar dress that I could try on to see how it fit my body. We made a day of it and my mom, sister, bride's maid, future mother in law, my sister's mother in law and my niece all went.

I don't know if it was because it was a different dress or if the style just didn't fit well with my body, but I had to say no to my dream dress. I couldn't justify spending hundreds of dollars on a dress that may or may not be "the one".

The search began for other dresses to try on, all the while the printed picture of my dream dress was staring me in the face in the dressing room. I couldn't get that dress out of my head. It made the process frustrating and stressful.

My sister picked out this dress:



Image found on onewed.com

I immediately said that it wasn't my style. (In fact when we got engaged I bought a bridal magazine and every dress that looked even similar to this we both said we didn't like.)

I tried it on and fell in love with the bottom part of the dress. I don't know why, but I didn't like the top. Everyone said how beautiful I looked and blah, blah, blah.. But I couldn't purchase a dress that I only half loved. I wasn't going to settle.

Back out to the sales floor. I tried on approximately 10 dresses that day. I couldn't have imagined trying on anymore than that. It was exhausting! Somewhere around dress 7 I put on "the dress". It was like everything else went away, including the image of my dream dress. I walked out of the fitting room with the biggest smile on my face. Patrick's mom walked away with tears because it was just that awesome-sauce.

I still wasn't sold quite yet though. From the beginning of the process I wasn't sure if I wanted a veil or not and was leaning more towards not having one. I didn't have a reason one way or the other.

My mom walked over while I was looking in the mirror and asked if we could just see how it looked with a veil on. She put the veil on and I immediately welled up. It was "the one". I couldn't help but cry. You see it on the wedding shows and you think "Really? It's just a dress. Why are you crying?" But when it happens, you seriously have no control over it. I found my real life dream dress while searching for what I thought was my dream dress. And they couldn't be more different.

I think the important thing I learned that day was that it's important to try different things. Just because I didn't like something in a magazine didn't mean I wasn't going to like it on me. In fact it was the exact opposite. I loved a photo and it didn't give me that spark. I hated a photo and fell in love.

The only issue with my dress was that they had two sizes in stock as it was being discontinued (yay for saving money!). I would have fit perfectly into a size 10, however they only had an 8 and a 12. I knew what I wanted to do and what I needed to do.

I wanted to get the 8 to push myself to lose the remaining weight and fit into it for the wedding. I needed to get the 12 because I didn't want or need to add any extra pressure on myself. So I took the 12 home and will be getting it altered in 2 weeks.

My dress is currently at my parents house. Every once in a while I will go over and try it on. I'll just sit there in it because I feel so pretty. It is the greatest way to make a bad day better.

I cannot wait to have it altered. Thankfully it doesn't need to be hemmed, only taken in. I am also having a bustle added as well as cap sleeves. The whole dress is going to look so different when the sleeves are added. It's going to feel complete.

I can't post a picture just in case Patrick decides to check my blog, but pictures will be posted as soon as we get married.