Finding the Dress

Ah, the dress. It's what brides-to-be dream of, literally. We dream of how we will look on our special day. Finding the dress is one of the most exciting parts of the wedding process. We spend hours looking at images online, flipping through catalogs filled with dresses trying to find the ONE. I've watched hours of Say Yes to the Dress, watching other brides searching for their perfect dress and anticipating my own wedding dress shopping experience.

For me, it only took an afternoon, one bridal shop and six or seven dresses to find the ONE. I went to a shop with my mom, my sister (MOH) and my aunt expecting to just browse around, try on a few dresses and get a better idea of what I style dresses I liked. I imagined we would need another day and several other shops before purchasing a dress. Boy, was I wrong.

I went to the shop with a few dresses in mind but not thinking I was going to find a dress that day or at that shop. I imagined on my wedding day I'd walk down the aisle in something romantic and elegant and perhaps something conservative, not strapless.

Like this  beautiful Maggie Sottero gown

Or this dress from Allure Bridal

Or this Jim Helm gown I absolutely fell in love with

I tried on dresses with cap sleeves and halter style tops. I tried on lacy gowns that I loved in the pictures I saw. But once I was wearing these gowns that I'd love in the pictures, they just didn’t wow me.

The second dress I tried on was stunning and got rave reviews from my family. But in the back of my mind I was holding out for a different dress waiting for me in the dressing room that I thought was going to be the one. So I tried on a few more, holding out for what I thought was going to be my dream dress and when I finally tried it on…. Cricket, cricket. It wasn’t it. It was a beautiful dress but it wasn’t my dress. 

 

I tried on the second dress again and when the consultant put a veil on me, I cried. It was the one. It was exactly how I wanted to look on my wedding day.

My aunt asked me if I wanted to keep trying on more dresses and I said, “…only if they look like this one…” That was it – I was done.

And guess what ... it's strapless!

The Thing About Themes...

Like many brides, shortly after getting engaged, I was on the internet checking out wedding websites and scouring the shelves for bridal magazines.

A personal favorite of mine is TheKnot.com which has just about every resource you could ever want, including a Wedding Day Countdown (423 days!) and provides hours of entertainment looking at “Real Weddings”

As I looked at the photos of all these beautiful weddings, a theme emerged: themes. There was a theme of wedding themes.

There were beach weddings, green weddings (not just the color but the eco-friendly kind) there were Caribbean weddings and Tuscan weddings… 

And each wedding theme had details that so perfectly tied the theme together, from the unique color palette down to the hand-crafted favors and escort cards…. I started feeling the pressure to pick a theme for our wedding.

Did I want a vintage wedding or something more modern? I felt restricted by the idea of a theme, and tying everything together.

An engaged friend of mine was panicked about her ceremony location changing her theme. She originally wanted a beach wedding but was already having nightmares about inclement weather ruining the moment. She found a beautifully winery but thought she would have to change her beach themed wedding if they had the ceremony at a winery.

That’s when I began to realize how complicated themes can be.

But the magic is in the details. Pick the details you like first, and a “theme” may emerge.

I can’t decided on a traditional, two-color scheme because while I like the idea of plum colored bridesmaid dresses I can’t seem to choose a second coordinating color that I like.

I know I like fall flowers but don’t necessarily want the bright reds, oranges and yellows. 

Then I came across bouquets like this:

Fall colors yet more muted, more rustic.

I fell in love with these calla lillies

And then I found myself using that word, rustic. Is it our theme? Maybe, maybe not. (Our reception location certainly isn’t rustic…)

But I have a detail, and that’s where the fun begins!