Some other stuff happened too…
- we went to the hardware store and grabbed paint swatches so we could get an idea of colors we like
- put together some potential color sets to show our BM’s and MOH’s and get their feedback
- we tried on a few more rings- I am falling for rose gold and starting to think I want a wedding set rather than just a band
- I was able to give one of my bridesmaids her proposal and she said “yes!”
The big news is the dress though really. It is super surreal to know my wedding dress is in the closet in our room. Amanda and I decided we wanted to have each others opinions on our attire so I showed her my dress via photo along with the dresses I did not chose. When I told her it was now here in the closet she got excited- it was very cute… and when I got it out and showed her the top so she could see the beading and the shade/tone of white we needed to match she was suitably gushy about how beautiful it was ❤ I couldn’t have hoped for a better reaction (thanks love, if you read this). We are waiting to wear our clothes in front of each other until our wedding day but I think it was really nice to be able share the excitement via photo. I am a terrible secret keeper.
I was not planning on buying a dress so soon, and not from a store most likely. My plan was to get one used, likely online… but I had no idea what size I was or what would look nice on me. I read all these online articles that mostly convinced me that because I am short and I have a booty that nothing would look ok on me. My (confirmed) bridesmaid Shea convinced me to try some on even if I just went alone. She said when she was trying on dresses she found that most of the stuff she read online about her body type didn’t hold true.
I am a take action kind of person so I pretty much immediately made an appointment for the next day. I have big gaps of free time mid day, and other than Shea none of my party live in town, so I figured I could just go alone and try some stuff on to get some ideas- I wasn’t going to find my dress for a while…
I decided to go to Alfred Angelo because I wanted to try on the Disney collection (why not, right??) and I knew that it was possibly not going to be continued so I wanted to see it in person. I went in and they were pretty slow so all the really nice girls working helped me to pick some dresses. They were very knowledgable about what they had and helpful, which was good because I came in basically saying “dress me!”
I told them I liked the idea of a ball gown but didn’t know if I was too short to wear one and that I was open to ANYTHING that looked good on me. I was probably a pain because I wouldn’t narrow anything down… lace? sure! beading? why not? color? whatever! They set aside 4 dresses for me including the Disney Cinderella dress they had. This store sells only off the rack, but they were having a sale of 50% off all samples, so everything I tried on was half price!
The first dress was terrible- I didn’t even take a picture… it was almost a nude champaign color and it blended in with my skin too much. The next was a mermaid, which was pretty actually- would have needed some alterations around the waist and hips, but was very hard to walk in. The next was my beautiful dress! The Alfred Angelo Signature Ballgown. I knew when I stepped in front of the mirror that it was special. It just felt so good on and it made me feel like a princess, but like a sophisticated princess. I told her it would be hard for her to find something I liked better… I tried on the Cinderella dress next, which was also very pretty but just didn’t do as much for me. I learned I really like trying on fancy princess dresses.
It was really hard to leave my dress in the store that day. My MIL convinced me to sleep on it and go try on dresses somewhere else and I think she was right because it made me very certain that I was making the right decision when I went back in the next day and bought it!
On my MIL’s advice I also went to David’s Bridal to try on a few dresses and see how solid my conviction about the other dress was. I told them my budget was the same price or less than the AA dress. I tried on 4 dresses there, 3 in my budget and one Vera Wang ballgown that was a little over double. I found one $600 dress that I liked but the material just felt cheap… it fit well but it was very little girl princess-y and it felt a little scratchy. The VW dress was pretty but wasn’t any more special than my AA dress and was more expensive.
I went back to Alfred Angelo, all the girls laughed when I walked back in not more than 24 hours later. They asked if I wanted to try on my dress again and I did. It was just as beautiful as I remembered and I didn’t want to leave without it again. Upon the advice of a girl from the DISbride Facebook Group I checked all the beadwork and stitching carefully since it had been a sample. There were about 5 spots with loose beads or beads that had come off so the girls gave me a whole bunch of matching replacement beads. My mom, who is a talented tapestry beadworker, had offered to embellish a veil for me, but since I don’t want a veil she is going to fix up my dress top instead!
It will be an expensive alteration to hem it, but I just love the bottom and I think it is worth it especially considering I saved almost $700 on it! Here are some photos of the dresses I tried on.
And here is the dress I got, with a close up of the skirting. Even with 5 inch heels I will have to have about a half foot of fabric removed. Hopefully it doesn’t change the look of the layering in the skirt.
Amanda and Sara's Disney Wedding 