Shopping for my wedding dress wasn't too high up on my priority list. I'm not sure if it was because I was nervous I wouldn't be able to find one I liked or if it was because I wasn't thrilled by the idea of having to sift through racks and racks of dresses in multiple stores. To be honest, dress shopping didn't go too well. My first stop was David's Bridal {lest we forget I was on a budget!}. I found a dress I liked, but I wasn't in love with it. I went to every other bridal store around town, but all the dresses were either too expensive or didn't have what I was looking for. For about a month I searched and searched and wore myself out. I thought I would never find the dress. One day, I went back to the David's Bridal website and saw that the Spring line had arrived. I saw a couple dresses that I liked, so I went back to try them on. None of them were right. But my "bridal consultant" listened to all that I wanted in a dress and told me that she had "the perfect dress" from the new line that I hadn't already tried on. She brought it over, I tried it on and I was in love. It was the one. 
{note: this was when we couldn't find the top clasp to close my dress. i jumped on my blackberry and read a couple of my favorite wedding blogs to pass the time and distract myself from the fact that my dress wasn't clasping. Once again, I refer you to Lesson Learned #5. } The picture above really shows the detail of the dress and how beautiful it was. The picture below shows one of my favorite parts of the dress, the bustle. It was divine. The best part about the dress? It's price. $499 {after a coupon from a bridal show}. You can pick your jaw up now and wipe away the drool. So there you have it, the dress is from Davids Bridal and was quite affordable. Would you have guessed?! 
Lesson Learned #15: Don't be scared to go to a "discount" shop like David's Bridal. Gorgeous dresses aren't only sold at boutiques.
Lesson Learned #16: Don't judge a dress before you try it on. This is what my dress looks like on-line, which is totally different from how it looks "for real." Since I didn't like the on-line image, I hadn't bothered to request to try it on at the store. Once I saw it on me, I was in love and couldn't believe I had overlooked it.
Lesson Learned #17: When I first started looking at dresses, I was convinced that I wanted a puffy princess-y dress. When I actually tried them on, that style looked horrible on me and I was lost inside a mound of tulle. Be willing to change the visions you have of your wedding dress once you really start to try them on since different dress styles look different on different body types.
Lesson Learned #18: Go back to stores that you have already visited to see if new lines/dresses have arrived since your last visit.
Lesson Learned #19: For most brides, alterations will cost about half as much the dress itself. Accept it. Find a different location for alterations, if possible. The store/boutique will cost substantially more than the women that your friends {or women on the knot local message boards} can suggest that performs alterations out of her home.
previously in the series, "how i tied the knot": getting ready, our first look, bouquets and boutonnieres, socks and shoes, bubbles and getting away, the cake, thank you cards, blurb guest book, outside the mansion
all pictures by: nicole green. please link back to tying the knot when posting any of these pictures.
The dress fit, with room to spare, and that made for a very happy bride.
above: the Sydney dress. below: the Lia dress.
I have yet to decide if trying on dresses for me will be more like pulling teeth or one of the most exciting times in my life. I imagine somewhere in between!
