I Said "It Costs How Much?!" to the Dress

Before I got engaged, the aspect of a wedding that I looked forward to most (besides marrying the man of my dreams!) was finding the dress. I planned on looking for dresses in the summer because that would give me plenty of time to have it for the wedding day, and plenty of time to get toned up and a nice summer glow to feel confident. As luck would have it, my dress would find me long before I planned on finding it.

In February, my mom, my grandma and I decided to walk into a bridal store, just for fun. We looked at all different styles of dresses so I could see all of the options out there. There were a couple of dresses that stood out to me, but one in particular that I wanted to schedule an appointment to try on when I was ready to seriously look for dresses.

After going home and doing more research (Thank you Say Yes to the Dress and Pinterest), I found a designer that I really liked, who happened to be having a trunk show at the bridal store I had been in. I figured it couldn't hurt to try on dresses, so I made an appointment. I had heard the warnings that if you bought a dress too quickly, you would end up regretting what you chose later, so I wasn't going to buy anything unless it fit me perfectly; then I would take that as a sign of divine intervention.

My experience trying on dresses wasn't like what I had seen on tv. I didn't give my consultant a certain set of criteria and wait while she selected gowns she thought I would like. I searched through the racks of the trunk show designer, and I selected a variety of styles to see what would look good on me. I then scoured the racks of their normal merchandise, so I could try on a couple of the dresses that I had noticed on my first visit to the store. I searched through every single dress and couldn't find the dress that stood out to me on my previous visit. I took that as a sign that it wasn't meant to be.

Right before my consultant gathered the dresses to take them to the fitting room, I noticed the dress I had seen previously on another brides' dress rack. I asked my consultant if I would be able to try that dress on, and fortunately for me, the other bride had selected another dress, so we added it to my rack. In all, I chose five dresses to try on.

Even though I had come for the trunk show, I decided to try on the original dress first. The verdict: I loved it! I knew it would be hard to top that dress, but I was definitely going to try. I tried on dress number two, which was a completely different style from the first one,  and I was not at all prepared for what happened next...I loved it too. And then I tried on the third dress...and I liked it. I didn't think I would even find one dress that I loved, let alone three! I was so relieved when I tried on the fourth dress and hated it! The final dress was just ok, so I ruled 3-5 out.

I tried the first and second dresses on again to try to gain some clarity. As I was putting each dress on I looked at the price tags. People are not lying when they tell you to look at the price tag before you ever try the dress on! The first dress cost significantly more than my budgeted amount, and the second dress was several hundred dollars below my budget. I wasn't sure if I was willing to break the bank for a dress that I would only wear once.

I could picture myself walking down the aisle in both dresses, but there was just something about the first dress. When I tried it on, I didn't ever want to take it off. I knew no matter how many stores I went to, and how many dresses I tried on, I would always compare everything to that dress. The final selling point was that the sample size of the dress fit me like a glove and I wouldn't have to pay to have it altered (cue divine intervention). I said yes to the dress! I also ended up getting a discount for buying the dress the day I tried it on.

I'm beyond happy with my decision and haven't had any regrets. The extra hours I'll have to work to pay it off are completely worth it!