the ONE

W, DO NOT LOOK AT THIS POST!!!!





This is what I thought I wanted for my wedding dress. Light, airy, wide straps (I really didn't want strapless), simple, GORGEOUS.

However, I when I was trying on dresses I realized that I'm not a tall, slender woman. And my body shape just doesn't lend itself to these kinds of dresses. *sadness*

I'm making it sound worse than it is. Here's what happened:
12/31/07- we got engaged
1/1/08- we drove back to California from Phoenix
1/2/08: My mom, sister (MOH), and two bridesmaids all went to David's Bridal with me. I scheduled an appointment so they'd pay attention to me, but my actual intention was to find bridesmaid dresses.


We really liked these tea-length dresses (which would either be boatneck or halter, depending on what my bridesmaids wanted to wear- I didn't care if they all didn't match.) We didn't decide on anything yet because we had to see what my dress looked like.

I tried on three dresses at DB but didn't love any of them. They were all halters, and after looking at the pictures I realized that they made me look very endowed. (!) I definitely didn't want my rack to be the center of attention! My entourage really liked the third dress I tried on, but I wasn't convinced.



I had made another appointment at this place called "The Wedding Day" which I found on yelp.com. There was only one review, but they listed designers I was interested in (Mori Lee, Jasmine Couture, and Jim Hjelm) and had a positive review. I thought it might be fun to go try stuff on to get a better idea of what I liked.

The woman who helped me balked at my budget (I said less than $500) but decided to give me a chance anyway. She had racks of designer gowns that were discontinued so the price was negotiable (or considerably less than when they were in season). I picked out a few styles that I thought were pretty and she helped me try them on.

She prefaced the first dress by saying, "This is the one you're going to choose." She pulled it over my head, and then started lacing up the corset. I took a look at myself in the mirror and almost started to cry. The dress was the exact opposite of what I thought I wanted- a strapless, A-line ball gown with a long train- but it was THE dress. I wasn't sure if my reaction was just the reality of being engaged finally hitting me or what, so I left the dressing room to see what everyone else thought.



They all had a visceral reaction when I came out- one BM said her heart skipped a beat for a second. (We're so dramatic, I know.) It was pretty evident that I was going to buy this one, even though I tried on a couple more dresses. One was really cute and very romantic/modern, but I thought my fiance would like this one best. I wasn't worried about the strapless issue because the corset kept everything in place. =) It's kinda heavy, but I didn't care. The price was right ($450), it was discontinued so it was one-of-a-kind, and I could take it home that day because I didn't need any alterations except to hem it. We also found more formal bridesmaids dresses at that store.


I'm standing on a chair, I'm obviously not that tall.

I left the dress in California, so I'll have to have it hemmed when I go back in May. After looking at it again and thinking about it I'm not as impressed with it...probably because it looks like every other wedding dress. I was hoping for something unique and memorable. Really though- I'm glad I found my dress. I think the joy and delight on my face will speak more than any dress could.