THE Dress!

Greetings, friends and family!  We did it! Margaret, Rachelle, Nicole and I went to David's Bridal yesterday and left three hours later with wedding dress in hand! (Well, hands.  And bags.  Lots of bags!) I will do my best to describe the process while revealing no details of what the dress - or dresses leading up to the dress - looks like because Justin is adorably superstitious.  And just adorable.

When we got to David's, I had a list of fourteen dresses I wanted to try on; 11 that I picked, and three that Donna suggested after I sent her and my mom a list of my favorites.  I also had shoes, and so the David's staff liked me and my organization and preparedness right away.  There was one other bride trying on dresses; dress after dress that looked exactly the same (Rachelle called them cupcake dresses), with very little constructive feedback from her "posse." My posse, on the other hand, was amazing, and I can tell you right now (and you will see why) I wouldn't have a dress right now without them!  Margaret's prep work of watching "Say Yes to Dress" paid off. :)

The first dress I tried on was one of my two favorites from the website.  I had a really hard time looking at myself in the mirror; I was a little shocked at being in a dress. My secretary, Nicole, wrote, "fits very nicely; flatters figure; likes the (component removed for Justin's sake); shocked." ;)

Dress #2 was the one I thought I would get.  I teared up a little, loved the back, but it didn't fit that well in the bust area.  We switched out the sash for a green one, but I wasn't into the colored bow.  Nicole's notes: "like this even more, back really flattering; liked green belt but white more."

Dress #3 was a lot plainer; definitely not a contender, but still very pretty. Nicole's notes: "looks like a 'real bride gown' (said Monica); pretty."

Dress #4 was the one my mom picked as her favorite from my list, and was also in the running. It was a fabulous dress! This was about the point everyone realized that I liked every single dress I put on. Nicole asked me to specifically state why I liked it so much for her notes: "Mom's fave; likes this a lot; sparkly; feels skinny; bride: not crying."

While I was putting on Dress #5, a David's employee strolled by with a rack of dresses to be put away.  Rachelle stopped her, and asked if they had one of them in my size.  She went to get it.  I came out in Dress #5, which again was very nice but not a contender. Nicole's only note was "not the one."  I played with a veil, and that got some tears, but they were definitely for the veil, not the dress.  The employee came back with Dress #6, which the girls told me they had picked out and hoped I didn't mind.  I didn't, one bit! :)

So, we went to put the dress on. My dress changing assistant/employee Lea explained to me that it was a discontinued dress, so I couldn't order it in any other size.  If it fit and I wanted it, I'd be buying this dress.  For those of you who haven't been in a bridal dressing room before, there aren't any mirrors.  I looked down at the dress while Leah was helping me close it up, and started to have a good feeling about it.  I noted to Lea that it had everything I liked about the other dresses, all rolled in to one, and that the ladies had picked it for me.  "Maybe it's fate!" she said.

Oh, and it was. :)

I came out of the dressing room, and Rachelle, Margaret and Nicole all lit up and then started to cry.  I took one look at myself, fluffed the dress out, and said, "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" That was it.  I was done!  I knew it was my dress!  I can't explain it, but it definitely is.  It has everything I could have ever wanted for a wedding dress, and since it's discontinued, I didn't see it online and couldn't have known it existed.  Nicole's notes? "THE ONE! TEARS, SMILES! :)"

I bought the dress for a phenomenal price (really - it was outrageous in the best way possible!), and then started looking at bridesmaids' dresses with the girls.  Giving very little guidance ("You can wear whatever you want! No, really! As long as it's the color I like.  Seriously!"), and mostly helping find sizes, they played dress up.  Hilariously (to me anyway), the three very different women with me kept picking and liking the same dresses.  So, Erica, we'll just have to get you in some dresses, and then we will know if the bridesmaids will all be wearing different dresses or not!

And then, we were done.  Parched, tired, and in desperate need of a ladies' room.  Done.  Lea packed up my dress to protect it from the elements, put it in the backseat of my car, and that was that.  I have my wedding gown!  It lives in my closet, where I will fiercely protect it from cats, and can't wait to have it fitted and bustled so I can wear it when I marry the love of my life!

The end :)