lady in a dress

I downloaded a new action today which means I had to apply it to pretty much every awful picture I have. Who doesn't do that? One of those pictures happened to be one of me in my dress.

dress is here..

Want a peek?

after.. party dress

I don't have any details of the after party planned. I just know I don't want the night to end at 11pm and we will probably end up at a bar. But a bar is no place for a Vera Wang, no no.

So I foresee the need for another - cheap - dress. Here's my pick:

(source)

Too. Damn. Cute.

dress!

My dress is flying here tomorrow. With my parents.

That is all.

the mighty dress search, part 4

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

The tally on dresses that were just beyond, in the immortal words of Rachel Zoe? 2.

I wasn't ready to give up still. I had the J.Crew and it was fine. But I knew there was a whole world made of tulle out there and I just needed to find its discount aisle.

Again, bless the blogs. I was just doing my normal reading when Miss Perfume of Weddingbee mentioned one of her sample dress sources: Bridepower.com

I combed the entire site for the Two, but they weren't there. After reading a description of another Vera though, there was hope: it was from the Vera Wang store in Chevy Chase, i.e., where I found the marvel of perfect poof. I signed up for the email notifications and then largely forgot about it.

A few weeks later an email appeared. New Designer Styles, it said. I looked around the office for hoverers (we don't have cubes, shudder), and followed the link. I clicked over to the Vera Wang section and scrolled down ever so slightly... what is this? MY dress?

And the price! A MERE $300 more than the agreed-upon dress budget (and nearly 1,000 cheaper than the store)?

I frantically called my mom. She needed to think. I went home absolutely delighted/ecstatic. The next morning she said it was obvious, as long as I agreed to pay the difference. I returned the J.Crew dress that weekend.



Unfortunately I have no pictures of me wearing it - when I visited my parents last month, I didn't think to take a picture, which saddens me. Boo.

Did you go to great lengths to find the one?

the mighty dress search, part 3

Part 1
Part 2

So there I was, owner of a J.Crew wedding gown I didn't love. At some point during this saga, my parents visited DC. But first, let me come clean:

I went to Vera Wang a few weeks after Saks. I asked to see their sample gowns and said my budget was $3,000 (fearing I wouldn't be shown anything for less than that). Amazingly enough, dresses existed in that range, albeit a range I couldn't realistically afford.

So I tried on these two dresses.

(source)

Obviously we can conclude which one I was smitten with. It was $2700. A little bit too much.

Thus when my parents were visiting to look at cherry blossoms, I dragged my mom over to the store. She agreed it was perfect and there was a brief time, maybe 30 minutes or so, where we all seriously considered purchasing it. But then we all started thinking rationally again and that was that. They left and I was Vera-less but not dress-less.

Did you have second thoughts about the dress you bought?

the mighty dress search, part 2

Part 1

No, of course I wasn't getting my dress that easily.

The seller became slow to reply and eventually admitted she wanted to keep the dress. I was heartbroken. But determined to find THE dress and completely bitten by the designer bug, I looked at my options.

Preownedweddingdresses.com

This became my addiction. Everyday I'd check under Vera Wang, Carolina Herrera, and Oscar de la Renta for new gowns.

Oncewed.com

Another site with used gowns, I'd check it weekly.

A month or so passed of obsessively checking these sites and I needed even more options. I was opening up the field to vintage. Vintageous became another mainstay of my browsing at work, except the really fab dresses sold out lickety-split.

I was getting antsy. Nothing was crying out to me. So I considered the old standby: J. Crew.

Enter Fontaine. I think the style has been discontinued at this point, but I saw potential. With some great accessories and perhaps a monster head piece, this could be chic.

I went to the nearest J.Crew and asked about ordering it. They said they would have it shipped to the store so I could try it on and see if I liked it (no charge). Wow. That's some amazing customer service.

After about a week the dress was at the store. They called me and I went to try it on. It wasn't an OMG LOVE moment, but I kept rationalizing to myself how I could make it work. And the price was within my ideal budget of 1500. So I bought it.

o hai old studio apartment

Perhaps not the best decision.

the mighty dress search, part 1

The first store I went to on my magical dress journey was Saks. I heard they were getting rid of the wedding departments at most of their stores, so I lunged at the chance for a sample designer gown. The DC area store was already sold out, so we ventured down to Richmond, VA.

I was allowed to pull whatever I wanted from the racks. All of the gowns were in bags so it was hell figuring out what was what and I will admit, I was looking for big name designers. I ended up with an Amsale, Carolina Herrera and who knows what else in my dressing room.

(source)

The Amsale was pretty but it didn't spark much in me. The Herrera I found by chance -- it actually looked a little scary in the bag, but I noticed the grosgrain ribbons and decided to give it a chance.

(source)

Oh. My. Lordy. It was ballgown-tastic. There is something about a giant Scarlet O'Hara skirt that just makes me die. I wanted the dress and I wanted it bad. However, once I found out the price my mood quickly changed to despair. It was a sample gown; it wasn't in perfect condition and it was still $3,000? Spending a fifth of the wedding budget made me nauseous.

I lamented on the Weddingbee boards. I was looking for validation, a "it's okay to spend that much on an imperfect but beautiful Herrera gown!" Instead I got a lead. A sleuthy Weddingbee reader had found the SAME dress listed on Craigslist. Apparently it had been bought at a Neiman sale and the seller wanted $1,000. WHAT.

I emailed the seller immediately. I started researching safe ways to make that sort of transaction. The girl sent me pictures of the dress and it looked flawless. Was this really happening? Was I getting the dress this easily, on basically my first try?

oh, dresses

Before I start the magical series of dress posts, I must say, I have my dress.

Yes, indeed. It's currently living in my parents' guest room. In a box. A very big box.

So while I may write longingly about a particular dream dress, I have mine and there's a very happy ending. So do not fear!

Anyhow, I had started saving images of dresses before I was engaged. I was that person.

(source)

I wanted tulle. A hot tulle mess. It's romantic, ethereal, and girly and such a flipping throw back, I had to have it.

However, tulle is not very "in" these days. Mermaid and trumpet gowns are about all you can find at bridal stores. And if they have a tulle skirt, it's covered in rhinestones and beads, straight out of a Bedazzler sweatshop. I wanted simple. 

Oh, silly silly me.

Did you have a certain expectation for your wedding dress that made things a teense difficult?