The firs thing you have to think about is who to bring shopping with you. I decided to bring three people because I did not want a whole lot of opinions being thrown at me. I brought my mom, my aunt( my maid of honor's mom, and my Maid of Honor.
I told them I should have made them paddles to hold up but I just never got around to it...that was a joke by the way. But anyway the first store we went to I just wanted to try dresses on to see what type of style I liked the best and to determine what my budget should be. Almost all of the gowns I liked were by Martina Liana who I decided was way too over budget. My comfortable price range was under $1200. And no surprise here I liked the more fitted mermaid style dresses because it really suited my body type.
So my first experience ever trying on dresses lasted about three hours with us leaving to check out other places the next day. On the way home I made an appointment for JCREW because I liked a lot of the dresses they had online and they were decently priced. But we never made it to that appointment since I found my dress at Formal Affair before hitting up JCREW which was a surprise.
I did not actually think I was going to find my dress while Stephanie was in town so it was great that I did. Oh and I never mentioned my horrible experience at David's Bridal when I burst into tears because everything they had in my opinion was cheap looking which I guess is what you get for the price but just not my style at all. That's what is in the picture. Wow that made me sound kinda bratty but i'm sure others know what i'm talking about. And no this is not my dress this was a dress from DB. I am not putting a picture of my dress up because I don't want anyone to see it before the wedding.
But anyway back to A Formal Affair....I loved this store and they were so helpful. We had a little drama but I was so happy to find my dress and it was under my budget at $1075! Not only that but it is Martina Liana as well and I bought it as a sample so her $2,075 dress cost me only half of that price :) I was thrilled and my mom liked my purchase as well. It is so me, which is important. It is a little on the plain side but when I add a beaded sash it will dress it up for sure. And the material is very lightweight which will fit in with our wedding in FL nicely.
OK so here are 5 things I learned while dress shopping for all of you ladies out there:
1. Not everybody knows when it is "the one" meaning the dress for you-I did not get a special feeling when I put on the dress I bought for the wedding, and it is ok if you don't that doesn't mean it's not your dress. The price was great and it looked great on so I bought it!
2. Sometimes it's not about what you want but what you should have-Going into the first store I really wanted a lace dress but by the time I bought my dress I had something completely different because who the heck would wear lace in the summer in florida except for a crazy person? And plus surprisingly lace dresses are heavier then others. Oh this applies to pricing too.
3. Brides are not always the most difficult members of a bridal party-The emotions and stress of weddings get to everyone including your parents, bridesmaids, groom etc and this stress can backfire at the worst times like dress shopping. Also sometimes it is easier for the bride to pick a dress then it is for the Maid of Honor or a bridesmaid. Which leads me to #4.
4. If you want things to go smoothly while picking your bridesmaids gowns do not let them choose-I thought I was being nice by letting my Maid of Honor pick her dress and my coordinating bridesmaids dresses but it seemed like that put a lot of stress of her to pick something she knew I would like which is where the fighting began. Yes you should pick something they can wear again but that does not mean you can't pick it for them.
5. Bridezilla's are just misunderstood-Ya I said it and I meant it. I was called a bridezilla and I think that's completely false. And I know what your thinking...but I am a laid back bride. It just gets very overwhelming hearing a lot of different opinions about things you like that people put you down for liking. So it is very easy for people close to you to say hurtful things like this without thinking about what they are saying or how you may be feeling about their comments or just about the stress of a wedding in general.
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