I Found The Dress!!!

On Friday May 20th, I had an appointment to go wedding dress shopping at David's Bridal. After getting a taste for dress shopping just one week before at Luftenburg's with my mom, I had an idea about what I liked and what I might be looking for. After my shopping trip to Luftenburg's I browsed through the David's Bridal website once again to narrow down the list of dresses that I wanted to try on. I chose 5 dresses from the website and made a list to take to the appointment. Here are the 5 dresses that I put on the list:

    

So on Friday, my maid of honor Sarah, my bridesmaids Amy and Amanda, Zac's mom Tammie, and my mom Roxanne joined me at David's Bridal to look for the perfect dress. I am so disappointed in myself. I neglected to bring my camera while dress shopping. This could have been a seriously huge mistake, but luckily I went with a group of ladies who came prepared with cameras in hand. A big thanks to these ladies for snapping pictures of each dress I tried on.

Amy, Sarah and Amanda waiting while I tried on dresses in the fitting room.

Kim, the consultant in charge of my appointment, was really great. She listened to what I was looking for and in addition to pulling the dresses that were on the list I brought in, she helped by suggesting a few other dresses that I might like. After taking a quick look around at the racks of dresses, it was time to start trying some on.

I tried on seven dresses and in the end there were three that really stood out. The votes were divided for a little bit until I tried the third dress on for the second time and the decision was clear. It was the only dress that made me hold back tears (I hate crying in public), and the dress that made my mom start crying and snapping pictures like crazy. The other dresses were both beautiful but there was just something about that third contender that made me say "This is the dress!".

I won't be posting any photos of me in THE dress. That will have to be a surprise for everyone to see on the big day. As it is, Zac will be avoiding my blog and my Facebook page until after the wedding. When I returned from dress shopping I asked him if he wanted to see the pictures of the dresses that I didn't choose. He very quickly shook his head and smiled. He told me that the only dress he wanted to see me in was the dress that I chose and he was excited to see it for the very first time on our wedding day. Of course this will make the next year pretty difficult for me. When I get excited about things I like to share it with everyone, especially Zac. Keeping this dress a secret, especially since I am so excited about it, is going to drive me crazy. Thankfully, I have a few saving graces out there who have offered an ear and have so generously agreed to listen to me blabber on and on about the dress whenever I feel the urge to show it to Zac. (Poor things might not realize what exactly they've agreed to!)

So here are the two dresses that caught my eye and held strong in the top three until THE dress found me.

Dress #1

This dress was the first dress that I tried on at David's Bridal. It was one of the five dresses on the list I brought in with me.

I loved the simplicity of it. There were small touches of bling and shine that made it feel special. The light weight fabric was definitely a bonus. Some of the dresses I tried on were SO heavy. Just walking around in them felt like a work-out; dancing the night away certainly wouldn't be an option.

This was the only dress I tried on at David's that had a corset back. The corset certainly did wonders for my figure but it took a while to get situated. I'm sure had I chosen this dress that my girls would have had quite a time putting me in it the day of the wedding.  

Dress #2

The second dress was still elegant but added in a little bit of fun to the mix. The whole bust was covered in fabric flowers and the silk chaffon laid lightly on the top of the dress; the pleats floating to the side.

The dress did a great job at maximizing my bust and properly accentuating my rear. Not surprisingly, not too many dresses  were able to do this. :P I have a smaller chest but JLo has nothing on my booty. Finding a dress that didn't "hug" that specific curve too much was slighltly challenging...at least in my eyes. A few of my girls were all for showing off the ba-dunk-a-dunk.

I tried it on with the cathedral length veil and it was almost the one. The only problem was that I didn't get emotional in it. I didn't have a special connection, that unique "this is it" feeling when I tried it on. Don't get me wrong, it was certainly a contender for a reason. All the girls thought that this dress had Teeny  written all over it. For the most part it really did. I loved the fun, less traditional aspect of the dress, but it just didn't scream "wedding" to me. It felt too much like a party dress. If I could find it in a shorter version it would definitely be a cute dress to wear to the rehearsal dinner or maybe even to the bridal shower. Cute is not the look I'm going for, but if it was, I'd be all over this dress.

So what does my dress look like? Well, with my three wonderful ladies, my two amazing mamas, and one helpful bridal consultant, I was able to find a dress that was just what I was looking for. I wanted to find a dress that was exactly like my ring: simple, elegant, with sparkle.



When Zac heard that this was what I told Kim, he got excited. Since the day he proposed, he has assured me that if I am not in love with the ring he will happily exchange it for something else that meets my fancy. I wouldn't dream of it! I love the ring he chose for me. It's perfect in so many ways. The thin band is so elegant and dainty. Just knowing that he deliberated over which ring would be perfect for me and decided on this one makes it a pretty special ring. It makes me feel like I'm wearing a piece of treasure on my finger. I definitely think that the dress I chose compliments the ring nicely. I can't wait until Zac sees me, walking down the aisle towards him, on our wedding day. Only 343 more days to go, right?! :P