Hey ALW! I’m so excited to be back and sharing one of my favorite parts so far in the wedding planning process! Yes, I found my DRESS!
I’ll be honest; I was dreading this part of the process. I’m not the girl who had known all along what I wanted to walk down the aisle to my future husband in. I am short and petite with an athletic build, so I was convinced every dress was going to swallow me up and make me look like a big round cotton ball. We southerners love cotton, but we don’t want to look like cotton.
Since my family is still back in Maryland and it was so important to me that my mom and grandmother were a part of the process, I flew home for a weekend solely dedicated to wedding dress shopping. Something I was excited about was having two of the most important ladies to me there for support and honest opinions. It was really special and something I’ll never forget.
I had made an appointment at Ellie’s Bridal Boutique in charming Alexandria, Virginia, and we were off bright and early that morning. I brought in a couple pages torn from a magazine and printed off my computer, and what I handed my consultant looked a little something like this…
I truly felt like my taste was ALL over the place and I had no idea what would work for my body. I also had a very modest budget, because although this is an important dress, on the practical side of things, I’ll wear it once or twice (bridals and wedding day), and that will be that.
Image via Wedding Dress Bee
My consultant, Crystal, was fabulous and super understanding of my overall confusion and modest budget. She told me to literally just walk around the floor and start pulling things that interested me, so that’s what my Mom and I did, and soon it was time to step into the dresses.
Image via Casablanca
The first dress I put on was a gorgeous strapless Casablanca with rouching and a form fitting shape. I was in love. I could not believe how good I felt. We were all so excited and if the first one went so well, I couldn’t wait to try on a few more! So after a few minutes of oohing and ahhing, I jumped into my second dress. It just didn’t give me the same feeling. Nor did the third. Or the fourth. Or the fifth. Each dress I tried on, I’d compare to the first. I’d say, “It’s nice, but I like the first one better” or “It’s okay, but it doesn’t make me feel like the first dress did.” We were definitely seeing a pattern, so I put the first dress back on and that was all there was to it. That was it! I truly didn’t want to take it off. Crystal put a veil on me and handed me a little bouquet and I literally looked like a bride. I really loved what I saw in the mirror and I was elated with how simple and stress-free the process was!
Image via Casablanca
I can’t spoil the fun and share an image of the dress, but I will say I am in love with Casablanca and for what I wanted (something relatively simple, still elegant, but within a reasonable price), I feel like Casablanca is a home run.
Image via Jim Heljm
What was the dress shopping process like for you when it was your turn? Or if you’re in the planning stages, re you dreading it like I was, or you know exactly what you want? It truly is a unique experience for everyone but since I was so uptight about it being stressful and “impossible,” I’m so happy that it all came together like it did. I cannot wait to get back into my dress in the next few months for my first fitting!
