So soft, so sweet

This dress was so soft and so sweet. Loved the tulle - although I was scared Sebastian would tear it up from jumping on me.

And y'all, we got out a veil for this one.

Gotta be honest - did not like the belt that came with the dress (featured in the photos).

This could've been the one... But, it just made me feel pretty. And it's totally the dress I would've picked out for myself. No surprises with this one. Is that a bad feeling to have?

Random note - I just love my facial expressions in these dresses. LOL.

Hello, drama!

Look how dramatic this dress is. I LOVED it's dramatic flair!

And damnnnnn, my waist looked small. But I did look like I had a front pouch. LOL.

All kinds of bad

I think my face says it all. This dress was all kinds of bad. LOL

I'm sure it could be beautiful on the right bride, but not me.

Cake toppers!

I seriously have tried on every kind of dress out there. Some people call them princess dresses; some call them ballgowns. I call them cake toppers, because seriously y'all - I feel like I should be on top of a really big cake. Gotta say though - these dresses were so much fun to try on! They're so full of life and personality.

Just not quite for me...

First trip to New York Bride

First off, I LOVE New York Bride. They truly have a no pressure approach. You don't need an appointment to be seen and they have a huge selection of gowns - and perfect for a low budget. Their prices are seriously comparable to David's Bridal. My sister bought her wedding dress there - and they price matched her gown for one at Burlington Bridal Mart!

I visted with them twice, so thought I'd share several dresses I tried on. I don't have specific names/brands/costs for all of them because I think I tried on like 20-30 gowns there. LOL. Here are a few randoms!

Pretty boring, eh? And I have NO CURVES. LOL

This one was an experiment. The dress is such a great idea... but obviously, it doesn't work for me.

I seriously don't think this would look any better even if I was taller.

This is a dress I picked out for myself. I LOVE the idea of a laced top. But after this one, I definitely crossed that out. On our second trip to NY Bride, my mom tried to get me to try this one on again. Um, it was a disaster the first time!

Love the pockets though!

This one is SUPER sweet and SUPER romantic. My boobs look really weird.

Gotta say though, it was a very soft, very dreamy dress.

More to come soon, including a close runner up!

David's Bridal Dress, Number 3

So, there are several others I've tried on at David's Bridal, including these three that I could actually find online: Style WG3512, Style CRL277, and  Style WG3263.

But I could not find this one online. I also really liked this one tulle dropped waist gown.

Pros:

• All the prices were right at David’s Bridal!
• I loved the way this one felt – it was REALLY light.
• It was figure flattering – and this the first time I thought a dropped waist gown might work (which is kind of what I had wanted all along). 

Cons:

• I was worried about Sebastian scratching the tulle.
• The accessories enhanced the dress more than it needed, which would add to the overall budget. You can see, without the accessories, the dress looks kind of blah.
• It just didn’t make me feel inspired. This seriously felt just like another dress on the rack. Maybe too much tulle?
• We all thought it was meh...

 So... still not quite the one - but a good option!

David's Bridal Dress Numero 2

Here’s another dress from David’s Bridal – style T3342. This silk charmeuse gown with an upper beaded lace bodice and cap sleeves. There was also a very cute and romantic keyhole back.

Pros:

• This was the first time I felt like I was actually getting married!
• Loved the simplicity and that the beading wasn’t overly dramatic.
• I loved the back as well.
• Beautiful upclose, beautiful far away.

Cons:

• Back fat… Arg.
• The beading was kind of itchy.
• Depending on the way the light hit the charmeuse, I looked preggers.
• It’s more beautiful in person than in pictures.
• Ada did not like it. LOL

 How it looks on the model:

Attempting to find the dress - Bridal Mart, Burlington, NC + David's Bridal, Greensboro, NC

Finding the perfect dress has been a long journey. I’ve tried on 45 amazing dresses and I’ve finally found THE one. But before we do the big reveal of THE one, thought I’d share some of the dresses along the way.

I didn’t want to share my first dress shopping experience with anyone other than my best friend, Cathy. And since she lives nearly two hours away and just had a baby, I thought I’d take the experience to her. So, on a rainy Saturday in January, I drove up to see her in Greensboro, NC.

First, we went to the Burlington Bridal Mart. This store is known for being a large outlet store for all things wedding and formal dress. They have amazing discounts on their dresses and you can pretty much search the racks for your size at your leisure. Unfortunately, we had a horrible experience there.

First, no children are allowed on the actual floor where the dresses are. It makes sense, but it was just me, Cathy and a 4-year old. Seriously, you couldn’t do anything to help us? I walked the racks all by lonesome while Cathy and Ada waited – which was miserable for all of us. I attempted to try on three dresses there and gave up. We didn’t get any help with finding a dress, trying them on and it even took us a long time to get attention for a dressing room. Probably a bad idea to go to an outlet store on a Saturday. Ugh.

So we took a break. Had lunch. And decided we’d try David’s Bridal – which highly recommends appointments. In fact, I called earlier that day and asked them about doing a walk-in, which was not likely going to happen on a Saturday… But we did it anyway – and I’m glad we did. We had a much better experience and got a good idea of where I could pick up dress shopping. I tried on about six dresses. I honestly feel like we could’ve gone through a lot more but the person helping me was pretty busy that day – and that made the experience a little bit of a challenge. She would put me in a dress – and walk away for about 15 minutes. Even if I disliked the dress, I had to stay in it for longer than I wanted. Arg.

Anyway, here’s an initial look at one of the dresses I tried on - a strapless organza print ball gown with dropped waist (style PK3502). The dress also had a ruched bodice.

 

The little princess and me. She was THE MOST patient 4-year-old.

We were at David's Bridal for THREE hours!

Pros:

• LOVED the colors and the dress had a personality of it's own.
• The price was right at under $1,000.
• It's a very unique dress - for a very unique person.
• It was very light.

Cons:

• It just didn't sit on my hips or waist area right. Maybe it was the sample size?
• I was not a bit fan of the way the fabric wrapped around the bodice. I didn't feel like it was flattering.
• Cathy really disliked it - and from the start. Probably should've taken that as a sign. LOL
• OK, OK... Maybe too funky.

Dress on the model:

So... on to the next dress!