I Said YES to the Dress

I thought it was about time that I wrote a blog about my experience with wedding dress considering that it only took 1 day, 2 stores, and about 8 dresses to find my dream dress.

We started the trip in classic celebratory style with mimosas brought by my maid of honor. Then after a quick drink my mom, maid of honor, sister, and I were off to our first store.

Eva’s Bridal is located in Oak Creek and is very close to where I live. We thought it would be a good idea to kick things off here considering that it was close. I had also heard from a few people that they had a ton of dresses.

When we walked in we were greeted and told that the sales associate that would be handling my appointment was still wrapping up with another bride. We were allowed to start looking around and pulling dresses to try on. We began pulling a few at the front of the store and then made our way to the back. I can remember thinking- this is all, once we reached that back of the store. There were a lot less dresses than I thought there would be.

As I tried on dress after dress, I wasn't getting that “feeling” that everyone says that bride’s get. I was very analytical about that experience my MOH told me. We were trying on dresses that were like the one represented in my previous blog. The store did not have the dress but the sales associate was able to pick out the different elements and we could piece them together. There was one dress that kind of stood out. Everyone loved it on me, but again I just wasn’t getting the feeling I wanted to have.

We left empty handed and I was a little down. My sister Jill and I, in the car together didn't talk a whole lot on the drive out to Brookfield for our second appointment. Once we found the bridal shop, Savvy Bride, we had a little time so we stopped in at a local restaurant for some pizza. After we had all finished I told the girls I wasn’t really happy with the way the last appointment wet so we were gonna go with a new plan. I was going to only tell the sales associate the theme of the wedding and maybe a few more minor details but let her pick the dresses for the most part with no idea what I had previously tried on.

When we got into Savvy Bride I could already tell it was going to be a good experience. The sales ladies were awesome and energetic. I loved it. We were brought up stairs and the girls were sat in what I will call the viewing room. The sales associate and I started chatting. I told her I was looking for an Old Hollywood dress, the location of the wedding and that I did not want a ball gown or a strapless gown. She did tell me she appreciated that I kind of wanted to “start over” with this trip into the bridal shop and that I had an open mind even thought I had tried on a few at Eva’s.

We began to search the racks. She had already pulled a few when I walked around the side of a rack and grabbed a dress that was just peeking out. I began to look at it and study it, not completely sold right away. She saw me looking at the dress and told me that she had pulled that one out but wasn’t sure, she told me to grab it since that must be a sign if we both grabbed the same dress. Then we went into the fitting room. I looked at all the dressed hanging on the wall and the one we had just pulled was by far my favorite. So we decided to try it on first. As soon as we got the zipper up I began to feel myself get flushed. I saw myself in the mirror and tried to keep my composure, I asked a few questions and then we made our way out the viewing area and I can remember peaking around the corner with a huge smile on my face. Then I remember my mom and MOH looking at each other and shaking their heads.

We all knew without saying it that I had found my dress. As I got up on the pedestal I again became flushed red. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. I said “I can see myself marrying Phil in this dress!” Of course being the girl that I am I wanted to see what else the store had to offer so I tried on a few other dresses but none gave me that feeling;  soon enough it was back into the first dress. Now it was judgment time, how much would my dream dress cost? I got very lucky; the dress was within my price range but was also on sale due to a trunk show bringing the price down even more. I was actually able to come in under budget.

This was such a great one of a kind experience; I couldn’t have imagined sharing the day with 3 more special ladies in my life. It was truly a day to remember.