While I’m away relaxing during our Disneyland mini-moon, please enjoy an entire week of these embarrassing photos of me trying on gowns!
DRESS SHOPPING ROUND FIVE. Mindy vs the Wedding Dress Industry
This is it! My final bridal shop experience. A little back story: When I first became engaged I started browsing gowns online and fell in love with a Maggie Sottero gown, the Dallas Marie.
The problem with the Dallas Marie was that, even though it was still available on their website, it was a couple seasons old by the time I started searching for gowns in early 2011. I searched high and low for this gown. I called every Maggie Sottero authorized retailer within 30 miles. No one had it, so I extended my search to within 60 miles. I finally found a store in Orange County that had a sample for me to try on. That store was Ferndales Bridal. I actually called them back the following day and spoke to someone else to double check they actually had it. Then I made an appointment and recruited my friend Valerie, who lives near the bridal salon, to come with me. I was sooooo nervous to try on this gown I had been dreaming of and pining over for months.
We got to Ferndales and were told we couldn’t take any pictures of the dresses. But my sneaky friend Valerie took some covert pics on my iPhone. So I’m sorry these pictures aren’t the greatest. I also don’t have designers or item numbers for these because Valerie was too busy taking sneaky photos to write them down!
Dress #38 – my beloved Dallas Marie
It sounds dramatic but I couldn’t believe I was finally in the same room with my Dallas Marie. Even though I pulled a few dresses to try, I decided to try Dallas on first to put my mind at rest.
The ladies at the shop had warned me the dress was a little worse for wear. I’m not sure if the dinginess of the dress affected my opinion of it, but I was disappointed to find I didn’t have the reaction I was hoping for. It was pretty, like all the other dresses I tried on. But the dress I fell in love with on their website was a golden color, and this one was bright white. It was tough for me to picture what this dress would have looked like in the proper color. I really thought this dress was going to be “the one” but I just didn’t get that special feeling. I hadn’t ruled it out completely but after spending about 15 minutes in the dress, we decided to keep the appointment moving.
Dress #39
The salon had me try on this gown because it was a similar color to the gold I wanted for Dallas Marie. I felt much more comfortable in this color and it helped me to see that maybe the Dallas Marie could still work after all. But, I wasn’t totally convinced.
Dress #40
Unfortunately we didn’t get a shot of me wearing this one but I feel it deserves an honorable mention because it was so pretty! The cut was a little low for me but I’m sure that could have been altered.
Dress #41
I loved loved LOVED this dress! It was so fun to wear, even though I felt it was a bit too poofy for my tastes (I was told that could be easily taken care of). I had so much fun twirling around that the sales person decided to jack me up by bringing me a pair of bright pink heels and insisted I try them on. The problem is that I don’t do well in heels, and these were, like, 4 inch suckers. So I only put one on. There was a lot of pressure to put the other shoe on so I could get the “full effect” but finally I had to sternly tell them I would surely fall off the platform and break my ankle, and I’m sure they didn’t want the liability claim. They took the shoes away and my mood turned a little sour.
Dress #42
My final dress was a similar shape to the Dallas Marie, had a simple design and was very flattering. It also wasn’t bright white, a major bonus. There was nothing I didn’t like about this dress, but I think I was in such a foul mood by now that I just wanted to get out of there.
That night, I came home from the bridal salon and cried to Mr. BFT. I cried because I drove so far to try on the Dallas Marie and it didn’t work out. I cried because I had been to six bridal salons and tried on over 40 dresses and none of them felt right. I wanted to know what was wrong with me? I wanted to know what would happen if I didn’t find the perfect dress. I wanted to know if I was being stupid. Mr. BFT assured me I was. I had found the perfect venue, I had the perfect guy (hehe) and I was going to find the perfect dress. We had plenty of time.
The next day, while running errands at our local strip mall, I found my dress – THEEE DRESS – hanging in the window of a second-hand shop.
But that’s a post for next week! Thanks for following along with my horrendous dress shopping adventure. Pictures of our wedding (and THEEE DRESS) to come next week!
