My wedding dress.
I didn't really know
what I wanted. I did know that it was going to be hard to pick a dress.
I thought I knew
what I didn't want in my wedding dress:
- no bling
- not strapless
- no lace
- no tulle
At the moment, I
didn't like any dresses I have seen and nothing has even interested me enough
to want to even try on a wedding dress. Seems hopeless...little did I know...
One late evening, at
the start of 2011, I was flipping through a wedding magazine at the local
Walmart...flip, flip, flip...ugh, ugh, ugh...then OH! I saw a picture of a
wedding dress, well, actually, the back of a wedding dress. It was a very nice
picture of the back of the wedding dress. I showed it to Richard and he thought
it was pretty nice too. We left Walmart without purchasing that wedding
magazine.
Days later, I found
myself looking for that wedding magazine, looking for that picture. It seemed
that particular picture left a very lasting impression on me and I just had to
have that magazine to have that picture of that dress. It was the only dress I
have seen in wedding magazines that I actually liked the look of. I found a
magazine weeks later with that same picture of the back of that dress I
saw...different magazine, but I wasn't going to be picky about it.
-----
February 2011, I
went online to find more images of the dress and found great photos of the
dress. I found out there were local stores that carried the dress. After a
little humming and hawing, my mother and I went to Tiffany NY Bridal Store on a
whim one afternoon to try on the dress. It was really the only dress I was even
a little bit interested in.
We went to Tiffany
NY because it was the first store to answer my mid afternoon phone call and
didn't require me to make an appointment. They said they had the dress on
display and can take it down for me to try on and to come on by any time. DONE.
It was the first
dress I tried on when we got to store. Luckily, they had something close to my
size, snug fit. It was amazing wearing it. I couldn't believe I was trying on
and wearing a wedding dress. Furthermore, I was soooo surprised that I really
liked it. I would have never guessed I would like a dress like this one. It was
very different from what I pictured in my mind.
Mom got me to try on
a few more dresses, but they were okay. Some were nice, some were "I don't
think so". In the end, I got back into that first dress. It was still
great. Furthermore, it was within my budget that I was willing to spend on a wedding
dress...well under the higher budget that Richard gave me! We left the store
without buying it, because there was lots of time still before I had to really
pick and order a dress.
-----
November 2011, less
than a year to go before the big day...I was bound for Ottawa, a surprise visit
to Julia. I made a decision shortly after booking my flights that I will pick
and buy my wedding dress before boarding that airplane.
I snuck out of work
Monday afternoon for a dress appointment and lunch date with my mother and
future mother-in-law. This time, my appointment was at Isabell Bridal in North
Vancouver, they also had the dress that first interested me. Once again, they
had the dress in my size and it was the first dress I tried on. Yet again, it
was just as I remembered, and I loved how I felt in it. I stilled tried on
other dresses, and what surprised me was that I tried on a very different dress
and I found that I also liked it...helped that it had pockets, though my future
mother-in-law was quick to say I was not allowed to hide my phone in the
pocket!
I tried on THE dress
again. Walked their show floor in it. Twirled in it. Checked out all the
mirrors with the dress on. Had a gorgeous veil to go with it.
I told myself and
everyone that I was not leaving that store without choosing and buying a
wedding dress. It was a now or now decision time. It helped that Isabell Bridal
offered a 20% off discount for the first visit purchase of a wedding dress.
Mom and my
mother-in-law said, pick the dress that I want. I looked great in the dresses,
no matter which of the final 2 I chose. (By the way, my sister said she's be
pissed at me if I didn't get THE dress.) In the end, after careful
considerations of all the things that could possibly influence the choice of
wedding dress. I chose THE dress.
I chose the first
wedding dress I saw in a magazine with Richard, that I liked.
I chose the first
wedding dress I ever tried on.
I chose the first
wedding dress I tried on at each store.
I chose THE wedding
dress.
I can't wait to
reveal THE dress to everyone on my wedding day!
