She's Mine, All Mine!

I made the leap and bought my dress, and was told it would be 3-4 months before she came in. Being the doodle-on-calendar lover that I am, I marked the 3 month date and the 4 month date...the 4 month date happened to be my birthday so I figured that would be the perfect birthday present.

BUT, a short three weeks later, a call from the 505 area code came in..."Whaaaaattt? My dress is IN!?". I promptly (okay, it took me a few days to call them back because I was working on getting the rest of the funds together to pay for the dress) called the shop and set up an appointment to go pick her up.

After work one Friday Mama Honey and I hopped in my car and started the 45 minute trek to New Mexico. Half way there my car started to shake and began making this terrible sound..I had gotten a flat tire. Boo! Neither Mama Honey or I had changed a flat tire, but fortunately this nice gentleman stopped to help us. We told him we were on our way to buy my wedding dress and he got us up and running in a hot second. I feared we would be late, the shop would close, I would not get to see my dress that day and I would have a meltdown on their front step. Fear not, even after having to drive 50 mph for over 30 miles, we arrived on time.

I suddenly had this nervous feeling rush over me; before it was the sample dress I had fallen in love with, but this time it was my fabric, my flowers, my lace up in the back. Wow. We skipped the Spanx and corset for this try on, that's too time consuming, plus I knew she wasn't going to fit me. We ordered the dress a size bigger then I think we should have. I could have fit into the size down, but the girls (both the sales consultants and my, ahem, girls...I seem to gain weight in the upper torso area) insisted that it's easier to take in a dress than it is to let one out. I'm not gonna lie, the size of the dress we ordered was hard for me to accept because I just felt like I wasn't that size. And that was confirmed while I was swimming in my dress the day I picked her up. I know that it will be tailored to fit me, and it's comforting knowing I won't be squishing into my dress on W-Day. But, damn you, wedding dress designers, help us girls out and DON'T size up your dresses 4 sizes, boooo!

Moving on, and moving on to pictures of me in my dress! Mama Honey was just flailing around the salon taking pictures without warning me so the shots of me looking happy and not making funny faces are slim pickin's. Looking at the pictures I can tell the dress is too big for me, but even with it not fitting perfectly, I.love.it. Have I said that yet?!

At the risk of sounding negative, but to also assure myself that the dress is in fact too big: the boob cups pook (all technical terms, of course) out beyond my chest. The point where the flower bottom begins need to be raised an inch or two, closer to my hips. There is excess material in the abdomen area, that could be fixed either by lacing the back properly or by altering it.

{Mama Honey and I}

The Details! Obviously the lace up ribbon will be tucked in properly, and hopefully the flowers will hit my booty in all the right places, not far below it.

When I picked up my dress we were still nine months out so I have plenty of time to get her altered AND kick my butt into gear for working out and trimming up. For now, she sits in her purty little bag, tucked not-so-nicely behind our spare room door.

Mr. Honey and I are pretty un-traditional peeps, and sticking with non-tradition I showed him the dress the day I got it. He didn't see me in the dress but he saw it in raw form, which for any guy, it's hard to picture the bigger picture: hair done, fitting right, perfect makeup and accessories on the big day so I'm not worried. I don't think our marriage will be cursed because he saw the dress as a piece of fabric. He woke up the next morning and said, "I love your beautiful wedding dress, babe". That's when I knew I made the right decision to show him. I got to point out my favorite details and say "Feel how soft the flower are! Look at the perfect neckline!" Things I'm not sure I would remember to point out to him on the big day, and let's face it, most males don't pick up on the details we fall so in love with about our dress.

Who else showed their soon-to-be-hubby the elusive wedding dress?!

Saying Yes

So I had tried on dresses and left you in suspense about which one I had chose. I thought about it a lot over the next twenty-four hours and the the way I see it is that a girl could go on and on and...on trying on dress after dress. I seriously could have and would have enjoyed another adventure in wedding dress shopping. However, ff we wanted to do another shopping trip, it would entail us driving either to Albuquerque (3.5 hours away), Grand Junction (4 hours away), Denver (6 hours away) or California (12 hours away...hey while we're driving, might as well go to the beach!). On top gas, you gotta throw in hotel rooms and food and all without a guarantee that I would find a dress that I loved *as much* as I loved the one from earlier that day. On top of the added expenses, it's tiring...fun, but tiring, trying on wedding dresses. Is it possible that the more you try on the more you are indecisive? I was positive that's how I would end up.

Image via Piccsy.com 

But we left New Mexico that day empty handed. When I got back home the first thing I did was Google the dress that I loved...and stared and stared at it. Yup, I wanted it. An extra bonus, the Allure Trunk show offered a 10% discount if I purchased my dress by the following Wednesday. Done and done.

As luck fate would have it, I actually had to drive back to Farmington on Tuesday for a work test. And, AND Silk Bridal was right.across.the.street from the testing location. I called Mama Honey and told her I was going to get the dress. Her response? "Oh goooood! I loved the dress!". If we wouldn't have gone on that Saturday, the trunk show, I would not have been able to try on my dress. I wouldn't be getting the 10% discount. The universe was screaming to me GET THE DRESS! So I listened.

I was excited to go pay for the dress and take pictures, since I wasn't able to before. But, she had moved on to her new bridal salon for another trunk show. That didn't stop me, I threw down the card, signed on the dotted line and was told it would be 3-4 months before my dress came. My wedding dress!!!

Oh what's that? You want to see which one I picked? Okay, here she is:

{Allure 8806}

Yup, the second dress I tried on, on my first wedding dress shopping trip was THE DRESS. The top is flattering with the sweetheart neckline, but the bottom of the dress is my favorite detail. The flowers are soft and flowy and add a little whimsical detail, while still keeping it down to earth for our rustic venue. I love her.

I never had the tearful, angels singing, meltdown moment when I put this dress on BUT I did know as soon as I saw myself in it, that it was the one I wanted. Buying the dress was a big chunk of money and our wedding budget...and buying the dress makes the wedding real. Not that I didn't feel like it wasn't real before. But I bought a wedding dress, the dress I will become a wife in.

Hive, tell me how quickly or not-so-quickly your wedding dress shopping was! Anyone else feel like the universe was telling you something about a certain dress?

My Two in One

And by Two in One, I mean two wedding related activities in one day. This was big for me.
My dad called me one afternoon and said he heard on the radio that a casino in our area was hosting a Bridal Show. Now, to the best of knowledge the Durango area only has one Bridal Show a year and I had missed what I thought was my only opportunity to attend it because I was in Mexico drinking Margaritas and lounging in the sun...but I'm not complaining. I marked it on my calendar and made plans with Mama Honey
to attend. We also decided we would make a trek across the state line to the nearest Hobby Lobby.
Guess what else is across the state line? An awesome bridal boutique called Silk Bridal. I decided to make an appointment but I was insanely nervous; my voice was a little shaky and for some reason I was very intimidated to make the call. I pulled it together and dialed the Salon. When I asked the consultant what times were available for the day I would be in her area, she kind of laughed at me. Not a mean laugh...no, a laugh that was preceded by this statement: "We are having an Allure Bridal trunk show that day!". She then said, "Girl, I have got to get you in. Let me move around some appointments. There we go, you are in at 12:45." Wow, and just like that I had an appointment.


Saturday rolled around and we attended the Bridal Show...which was a waste of our time...and then we headed to the Land of Enchantment for my first wedding dress shopping experience. I had actually been to Silk Bridal once before with a girlfriend and I remember having a very pleasant experience. The bathroom has this painted on the wall: Your Fiance Called and He Said You Can Have Anything You Want.

{Silk Bridal, via their Facebook}

I had some inspiration pictures from all of my drooling and even did my research on which Allure gowns I wanted to try on. The consultant met with us and and I gave her my guidelines:

• Interesting Texture
• No ballgown
• No Satin
• No beading

This is a no-picture boutique (boo!) so you'll have to settle for Allure's models and my descriptions of the dresses. I find it funny that you can't take pictures of brides for fear of brides going out and buying them after the fact somewhere cheaper, but us brides have a fantastic memory when it comes to remembering which gowns we tried on...just sayin'. Here are the dresses I tried on that day:

{Allure 8810F}

The first wedding dress I ever tried on was the 8810F, I will always remember it *grins*. I actually loved this dress, the texture on the bottom was so romantic and frilly. It had the poof but didn't feel too ball gowny. I was feeling confident and was only one dress in. Can I get a Woop Woop?!

{Allure 8806}

The second dress did not disappoint either. It was very similar to the first dress, just not as poofy. The flower detailing was superb and I was amazed at how small my waist looked and how good my booty looked. So far, so good! Why on earth did I avoid this for so long?!

{Allure 8808} 

Dress three was gorgeous, I was really drawn to the structured silhouette of the dress, and adored the mixture of the fabrics in the dress.
 

{Allure 8854F}

My consultant pulled dress 8854F for me 'just to try on'. It's a ball gown, it's silk, and it's full-o-beading. Mama Honey loved this dress, but it is very much her style so I wasn't surprised that she loved it. It was very pretty, and I was shocked that I was looking in the mirror and enjoying it. I felt very bridal, in a very traditional way.

{Allure 8801F}

Dress 8810F was a combination of the ballgown style with a beaded bodice and the texture I like on the bottom. I just couldn't decide it it was too much all together. While I was admiring myself in the mirror in this dress, the other bride across the room was eyeing me. I'm pretty sure she ended up with this dress.

{Allure 8851F}

Another satiny ballgown, pretty similar to the other one I tried on. When comparing the two satin gowns, I like this one a tad better because it was a slimmer silhouette. But again, I was shocked that I was even liking the way these dresses looked.

{Allure 8526F}

I'm not sure if it was this exact one I tried on, but something similar. Towards the end I was getting tired, overwhelmed, and hot (those things are heavy!) so they all kind of started to blend together. This style is so simple and I was imagining a big statement making necklace because it was so plain. I did like the taffeta feeling as well.

{Allure 8751F}

Last but not least, this lacy number. It's a beautiful dress, and I really liked the scalloped neckline and the deep plunge.

Mama Honey and Honey Aunt demanded requested I try on one in particular again because they knew just as much as I did, that it was the one. That means one of these pretties is my dress, squeee!

There I was, at my first bridal appointment, contemplating the purchase of a dress that I LOVED and that was way more then I had planned on spending. It wasn't out of budget, but it was more than I originally thought I would spend (hello David's Bridal $99 gown specials?!).

So, what did we do? We left empty handed and went to Olive Garden for never-ending soup and salad...and beer. I needed a Blue Moon.

Did anyone else find the dress on the first attempt?

*All wedding dress pictures are from Allure Bridals website

Drooling Over Wedding Dresses

I kind of always thought I would be overly eagerly to try on wedding dresses. The truth? It took me eight, yes 8, months to step into a bridal shop. Why? I have no idea. Perhaps the long engagement? Maybe the cost? Could it be that we only have one bridal store in good 'ol Durango? I'd say it's a combo of all three. BUT just because I didn't physically meet some pretty dresses for eight months, that certainly didn't mean that I didn't oogle over many of them online.

I did sign up for The Knot the day after getting engaged. My other immediate email subscription? David's Bridal. So beginning the very first full day of being engaged, I was receiving daily emails from these two websites and obv's they are filled to the brim with wedding dress pictures. I found it far too intimidating to just casually browse the 'web for pictures and I found The Knot to be very sufficient in showing me pictures of thousands of dress all one site. I'm ridiculously intimated by designer gowns and their prices and therefore looking at the fancy-schmancy names of wedding designers sent me with my tail between my legs. After a few months of browsing, I just wasn't too concerned with what I would wear. I felt so un-bridal.

But on the other hand I knew I would find A dress and I knew that I would fall in love with something. Plus, just looking at the pictures on a screen monitor is a bit overwhelming. I mentally told myself (read: told my mom) that I was only interested in attending a David's Bridal, and that I didn't need to spend lots of moolah on a dress for one day. They have dresses for $99 that are perfectly beautiful! The problem was that the nearest David's Bridal is just over three hours away. I still managed to save a handful of images in my inspiration folder and here's what my browsing had provided me:

{Oleg Cassini CWG352 via David's Bridal}

{Galina Signature SWG354 via David's Bridal}

{Galina Signature SV415 via David's Bridal}

{Allure 8808 via The Knot}

{Alfred Sung 6837 via The Knot}

{Alfred Angelo 2034 via The Knot}

{Jenny Lee 1117 via The Knot}

Pick up on a very noticeable trend in my inspiration pictures? I clearly liked structure and detailing on the bottom of my dress. I was drawn to strapless, non-ball gown, non beaded type dresses. I liked something that made a statement but that was also simplistic, but had one some sort of dramatic element. I feel like I had a good idea of what I envisioned myself in, it was just a matter of getting out of Durango and to a bridal salon to actually try them on.

So, bees, who else had a nonchalant approach to trying on dresses?