A few days...two weeks. Pretty much the same thing, right? I guess a couple brief updates before I regale you with the not-even-remotely-dramatic story of wedding dress shopping.
The talk with the parents went better and worse than I was hoping--a little more emotional than I would have liked, but they're still very supportive of me. We still need to have a chat about money, because apparently these things cost way more than they reasonably should. My parents paid for most of one brother's wedding, but his wife had a lot of talented friends who offered to do things like cook dinner, make the cake, take photos, decorate, etc., so there wasn't a ton left to pay for. So I don't know if they have any concept of how spendy things can get. Then again, mom was surprised to spend less than $1000 on my dress and veil, so maybe they do. (Upon reflection, I probably could have made my own veil for cheaper but they gave us $50 off for buying with the dress so it wasn't
that much more).
Mr. Pants and I are going to visit a few venues on Monday--only one of them needed an appointment, but he wanted to confine the torture to one afternoon. The one place I mentioned before is still a favorite, but I was worried that it may be too big and look ridiculous with less than 100 people, so I found another option. It's a bit more expensive, but they are more flexible about decorating before our reserved time so we might not have to book it for as long. And it has a full kitchen, which could come in handy. The third place we are looking is for the ceremony site. They have a reception hall at the same palce, but it doesn't have a ton of great spots for pictures or much of a view. (Why I care about a nice view when the reception is most likely going to be after dark, I don't know, but I want a pretty place, dang it!) Anyway, the ceremony place is a greenhouse, which looks nice in pictures but may or not be so great in real life. And I don't know how warm a greenhouse is in the dead of winter... I would like to find a church or something, but there aren't a ton of gorgeous churches around here and we aren't affiliated with any of them, so I don't know if we can find one that would work or not. Alternatively, we could use the reception place as a ceremony site as well. But then I feel like we have to have them back to back and I kind of want a break between. Hopefully I'll have a better idea after our adventures on Monday.
On to the dress shopping!
I only went to one shop, I only went there once, and I only tried on a total of nine dresses. And yes, that has caused me a bit of anxiety because
What if I missed the perfect dress because I didn't look long enough?! But that's the crazy talking. Really, I didn't find any reason wedding dress shopping had to be a dramatic affair. I wanted one that I liked, looked good, and could actually feel like myself in (as much as one can in a wedding dress). I didn't know what to expect, but I was determined to make a decision because, knowing me, I would debate over three dresses forever if I let myself (plus this place discounted the dress if you bought it your first visit). I've watched my fair share of Say Yes to the Dress, but I didn't see myself bursting into tears over the perfect gown any time soon. I brought just my parents--I'm the only daughter, so it was up to put them through that rite of passage. My two best friends were in two different states, so I messaged them photos that my mom took to involve them. The consultant was relatively new, so she was getting a lot of help from another lady, but she was good. Again, I didn't know what to expect from the consultant, but I was glad she wasn't pushy and was patient with me wanting to try on the same dresses 2-3 times.
They didn't have the one dress I fell in love with online, even in the bigger size that was available when I called the previous weekend. I was disappointed in that, but we found quite a few options that weren't that similar but were equally pretty. The first one I tried on was really quite awful. (Side note: one of my facebook friend's wife had the same dress and it looked stunning on her--it just wasn't for me). As my mom tactfully put it: "Are you supposed to like the first one you try on?" It was a bit disheartening, but the next one looked great so it made up for it. Note: nothing makes you more self-conscious about your body than wedding dresses. They all fit, for the most part, but some zippers were a lot more difficult to zip than others, and some tops were way too baggy. Still, none of the other dresses looked anywhere near as bad as the first one, so my ego wasn't too bruised. There were three dresses I really liked, especially once I threw on the veil. One, I decided was just a little too boring and I didn't particularly like the accessory beaded belts they had. The other still pains me a little that I didn't get, but I wanted white (not ivory) and just couldn't decide if all-over lace was really my style. The one I chose wasn't a style I ever thought I would like, but I kind of love it. It's a little bit different, but nothing crazy. Plus, it will prevent major freezing in the winter. Also, it has a train. Who would have thought I would ever love a dress with a train?
Now, for the pictures! (Sorry for the quality of the first two--my mom isn't very well-practiced in cell phone photos)
The dress I liked, but chose against (I should probably delete this photo so I don't feel sad, but I like pictures I look good in--wow, that sounds way more conceited than I intended):
The dress I chose, with the veil:
Details of the dress, that I adore:
And a mirror shot I took in my messy bedroom the night after I bought it. I was freaking out about making such a rash decision and had to remind myself that I liked it.
So, I have had a dress for two months now. I hopefully won't need any major alterations besides a hem and bustling the train. It is a pretty tight dress and won't be very forgiving if I put on weight in the next 4.5 months, but I think I should be okay. And I think I need to get one of those slips with a hoop on the bottom (whatever they're called). Yay for spending more money!
I'm debating getting/making a colored belt for it, or maybe a beaded one if I can find one that is white, not silver, so it matches the neckline beading. I am quite fond of it the way it is, but it does have a non-pleated part that sort of begs for a belt or sash. And I can't decide what to do with my hair. I originally envisioned a half-up style, but the super-high back kind of warrants a full updo. Any people with actual style have opinions on that front?
Only bad things about it: no pockets and I have no idea how I am going to pee.