So much has happened since my last post. 1. I went wedding dress shopping. 2. I found a wedding dress! 3. I bought a wedding dress! That is pretty much all that has happened in the my wedding world (so I guess not that much has happened after all)
So I went to a grand total of 6 bridal boutiques... 6, and let me tell you, by #4 I (and my fearless partner in crime - my mom) were sick of dress shopping. We started off at Brandi's Bridal in New Glarus, WI. Brandi's was fantastic - a phenomenal start to the shopping process. The consultant who worked with us was so helpful, and the dress selection within my price range was enormous! I found several that I liked, and one that I loved. I loved it so much that I was asking myself if it was The Dress, but Mom and I were unsure, so we did not buy it (pictured below).
Next stop - Vera's House of Brides. To be honest, I really have nothing good to say about Vera's.
So, the next day, Mom and I went to Sara Grace in Rockford, IL. This probably would have been a fun trip, but my mood was just atrocious. I had nothing good to say about any dress (even though, looking back, I really like several of them). We left disappointed and frustrated (I was disappointed and Mom was frustrated - with me).
So we took about a week and a half break from dress shopping. During that time I helped my fiance coach his high school speech team, and I had an absolute blast (so much so, that I am now considering pursuing teaching, but that is another story).
The fourth shop was Beautiful Brides in Madison, WI. I found a dress I really liked, but I read the price tag wrong - I thought it said $610, but I missed a 1... it was $1610... too far out of my price range after alterations.
#5, Premiere Couture... the only thing I have to say about this place was that it was waaaay to expensive for my blood. Now after this, Mom and I had not planned on going to another shop, but she hates ending shopping days on a negative note, so we remembered a store in Monroe, WI called Mahin's, so I called and asked if they could squeeze me in - they could, so off we went.
The final shop... Mahin's in Monroe, WI. From the minute we stepped foot in this store, Mom and I knew that we found a winner. There were so many dresses (over 1000 we were told). By this point, I was much more adventurous in dresses that I was willing to try on. There was a dress in the front on a mannequin that was more interesting and wild than any I had seen or tried on yet. I loved it, but my mom was iffy about it because it was too wild for her taste. Next, Mahin brought me a beautiful, elegant, and most of all, bridal. It was the first dress I truly felt like a bride in. However, I felt that the dress was not "me" enough. So Mahin brought another dress that had been on a mannequin in the front, and Mahin had just put it on there that afternoon and nobody had tried it on yet. As soon as I put it on, I knew it was The Dress. It was the perfect combination of fun, elegant, sophisticated, and beautiful (just like me :) ).
I would put up pictures of my dress, but a certain fiance of mine reads this blog and neither he nor I wants him to be able to see me in it before the wedding day.
