I had another Summer Friday today (yay for days off!) and I went… wedding dress shopping.

SQUEE.

(This will probably be a long entry. You have been warned).

I visited 2 salons — My first stop was Marina Morrison where I got absolutely impeccable service. I tried on 7 dresses and out of my 3 favorites in the end, 2 were chosen by my consultant, Rebecca. She was amazing! She listened to what I wanted, made suggestions, and was incredibly patient and respectful of my budget. She was so great that I would be pleased if I ended up choosing my gown from here. LOVE. My second stop was The Unique Bride where I had a subpar consultant. She rushed me (I tried on 9 dresses in 30 minutes!) and didn’t really have any helpful answers to my questions. She did make some great recommendations, though, so I’ll give her that. And I found 2 dresses (and 1 bridesmaid dress!) that are definitely contendors so it wasn’t a completely horrible experience.

Anyway, I learned a few things:
1. I *really* need to get my arms into shape. Most of the dresses I love are strapless and my huge, flabby arms just won’t cut it.
2. Speaking of my arms, I have scars on the back of them (above my elbows) from a bad rash I had a few years back. I rarely wear tank tops because of the weather here so I’ve never really bothered to pick up Mederma to minimize the scars. Now I can’t wait to go to the drugstore.
3. I need to work on walking in high heels. Granted, all the sample dresses I tried on were loooooong cause I’m vertically challenged. But there’s no 2 ways about it. I’m pretty klutzy in heels. Can you imagine if I fell on my face walking down the aisle?!? Nightmare.
4. I’m going to go over my dress budget. At least I have time until I absolutely have to get a dress ordered (roughly Jan/Feb) so I can save some extra money for the purchase.
5. You absolutely cannot be self-conscious. The bridal consultant is in the dressing room with you and you are in nothing but a bustier and underwear. I was prepared and wore modest undergarments but I was still uncomfortable at times. (I have body issues).
6. Try on a variety of dresses, cause you just never know. The ones you love might look horrible (this happened to me) and ones you wouldn’t have chosen for yourself end up being the most flattering.

Anyone want to see some pics? Not on me, though, as I forgot to take pictures. :/ (Rob, this is the part where you stop reading).

A few Dresses I Tried On (And Ruled Out)

Judd Waddell. Not sure what material this is but it has a lace overlay on the sides. Horrible. It made me look wide.

Reem Acra. Beaded strapless top with a ball gown skirt. I have always, always envisioned myself wearing a strapless ball gown. I saw this on the rack and HAD TO try it on. But it looked awful. There was too much dress. It was overwhelming on my short frame.

Monique Lhuillier (my favorite bridal designer). A-line dress with a really elongated lace top. Since I’m short-waisted, this didn’t work. There was fabric bunching up around my hips. Not pretty. (According to my consultant, the top could not be shortened so it would sit on my actual waist).

Alvina Valenta. Strapless lace top with A-line skirt and sash. LOVE the sash but it felt like a very “safe” dress. Not enough oomph.

Alvina Valenta. Lace v-neck top with a wrap style A-line skirt. I didn’t think I’d like the way the skirt gathers at the top and falls into layers at the bottom, but WOW. I really liked it. I just liked others more.

The Top 5 Dresses I Tried On Today

Reem Acra. Beaded strapless top with A-line skirt. Mmmm. I’m learning that the A-line skirt is what works for me. The skirt is full without being over the top. Yet it still has the feel of a ball gown.

Monique Lhuillier. You’ll have to imagine this without the bolero. It’s a gorgeous beaded/embroidered/lace strapless top with a gathered skirt. Lovely. But waaaayyyy out of my price range. I’m not going to get this but I still love it.

Reem Acra. Beaded v-neck empire top with an A-line skirt. This was one I didn’t pick for myself. I don’t know how comfortable I would be with suck a low v-neck but I loved the way it skimmed my body. It made me look and feel taller.

Monique Lhuillier. Lace strapless top with tulle A-line skirt. This one took my breath away. I think the tulle is what did it. It took me back to my ballet dancing days. I felt like a ballerina again. LOVE.

 

Carolina Herrera. Eyelet taffeta strapless dress with a trumpet-style skirt. This is the very first dress I tried on! Another LOVE. You can’t really see the eyelet detailing in the pictures but it’s beautiful. I like this dress because it’s different and unexpected. And it hugged my curves perfectly. Plus, the ribbon is customizable and they happen to have a lovely shade of pink.

The last 2 are my favorites. 😀 All in all, not a bad first round of shopping. It was even kind of fun! I’ll probably hit a few more salons and take some friends next time around.