So I knew that the search for the perfect dress was going to be hard and time consuming. I am especially thankful for the gals who were able to accompany to as many of those dress hunting sessions even ones that were so far away. We expended a lot of gasoline. Plus, those that were out of town still could put in their input from the photo postings that Kathy set up. It was really helpful getting feedback. I am also thankful that I got to experience shopping with my mom and sisters in Hawaii. That was really unforgettable.
So I can't post any pictures or share too many details since Paul can read it all. I am just going to briefly write about the whole darn process. It was 5 months of hard work, but I am glad we did it. I could never feel really comfortable about spending so much money on a dress that I only wear for one day without shopping around first to make sure it really is the one. Plus, I totally want to get a good deal. Who wants to pay full price for anything?
The first trip was to David's Bridal in May. I was accompanied by I think Kathy, Charissa, and Paul's mom. Charissa took extremely meticulous notes, Kathy and her mom took pictures, and picked out dresses. Even though, I didn't start tearing up, it was an extremely important and productive day. We figured out the general style of a dress to look for. By the way, I have to say that the sales person helping you out with the dresses have to be nice. This woman was nice in the beginning, and then she became really bossy. It kind of takes away from the whole fairytale feel of it. No matter, because in every website and book that I've read, there's been horrible experiences with David's Bridal adding expensive fees for alterations. At the very least, we got to try on a variety of dresses even some fun ones, and we narrowed down the style and general feel of this dress.
End of June/beginning of July, was an especially busy time for Paul and me. I have all the things we settled/figured out in some earlier blogs, but I didn't get to really write about trying on dresses in Hawaii. I don't know if it was because we didn't really go into any boutiques in California yet, but the dresses we tried in Hawaii, I felt, were much prettier. I really enjoyed this experience...and my heart was really torn when we tried on some dresses at Kiyomi's which was closing and selling their dresses for really cheap. I must have scoured each and every dress around my size. It wasn't really that I didn't find a dress that I liked. Some of them looked really beautiful and for about $200-$600 (normally $800-$1000). I just didn't find the dress that I loved. I kind of wish I could snip out the bodice and attach it to the train from another dress and combine it with another bottom. It was extremely hard for me to walk away from that store. We even went twice to make sure that we didn't miss something special. The owner of the store said something important to me because I think she could tell that I wasn't 100% happy. She said that if the dress doesn't make you smile and happy, then you won't look as beautiful in it. So we left Kiyomi's, but I didn't regret that decision.
We tried on a few more in Hawaii, and the dresses, although they were so beautiful, they were also out my budget. At most I wanted to spend $800. Paul's really sweet telling me that if it is something that I love, I should get it no matter how much, and that we'll figure it out. Even for a wedding and a perfect day, I cannot resist a good deal. If it just so happened that I find a really lovely dress with the elements I like for a decent price, then it will be the one.
Hawaii was the farthest I've traveled looking for a dress, but in California, I drove 2 hours away for a Bridal store that was closing in Santa Barbara. Sarah (a friend from college) and Kathy were able to accompany me to this store. I treated it like a road trip since we don't go to Santa Barbara that often. This store sold high end dress, and they were advertising 80% off, which wasn't true. The discount was more like 20-30% off which wasn't enough. The dress there still would have ended up costing $2,500 at the least. We all had lunch together, and enjoyed the afternoon taking pictures and taking in Santa Barbara which was beautiful. I did feel a little disappointed that we drove all the way there for really nothing, but it was still a fun short trip. A couple of weeks later, I received emails that the price of the dresses dropped. It was still like $1,500...what were they thinking? I'm just not that kind of girl; so I knew that those dresses were not for me, and I could wait until another opportunity comes along.
There were other dress trying sessions in between. I ended up going to a bridal place called Pebbles located in Woodland Hills. There, I found I dress that I loved by Maggie Sottero. Only problem was that in the back there was a narrow strip of decoration that ran straight down the back. I would have preferred a little more decoration than a straight line...So I decided to sleep on it.
Later, I did an impromptu visit to a bridal show at Knott's Berry Farm Hotel. There was a bridal store that was retiring and letting go all of their inventory. They were selling dresses for as low as $199.00. I was there really early, and by myself. As soon as they let us in, I went directly to the 9th floor where they were letting people try on dresses. I had contacted them earlier on which dresses I was interested in, and they had them all ready for me. I tried on about 5 dresses. 2 looked really good. 1 of which was by the same designer as the Pebbles Bridal store (Maggie Sottero). It was a good thing I got there early. Some of the later girls were eyeing some of the dresses I was trying on, but since I came there first, they had to wait until I had made my decision. I narrowed down the choices to 2 dresses, and one of which I really loved, but I was kind of worried about this satin strip of color that was on the dress, and there was no way to remove it or change it. After a whole bunch of phone calls and a lot of thinking, I ended up buying the dress. I was really excited. I knew that there was a way to incorporate this extra color in my bouquet or something. It pretty much fits. I would probably benefit from losing an inch or 2, and the only other alteration would be to chop a little off the bottom in the front.
Overall, I am happy with my decision. I love the way it looks, and I am happy that it fell into my price range. It has everything I've been looking for and more. Thank goodness this part of the process is over because dress shopping is hard work. Now, that I've found the dress, I can start other decisions like bridesmaids gowns, jewelry, bouquet, etc. I am totally excited about checking more things off my list.
