Heyyyy guyyyyys.
I bought a wedding dressssss.

I’m still trying to decide if I want to broadcast to the world what dress I’ll be wearing on June 22 (I’m leaning towards no…) but I’m not being very secretive about it either. Meaning, if you ask me, I’ll probs show you 😉

I’m super excited to have another thing crossed off my list – a pretty big thing too! Now we can focus on some smaller details which is fun 🙂

I’ve been busy cranking out photos since I go on vacation this weekend so that’s where I’ve been. You can like this page if you want more updates from me about professional shtuff. I take pictures of some pretty cute kids.

OK. Enough business.

You want to talk about dresses some more?

OK.

Say Yes to the Dress

So I, along with millions of other women on the planet, watch way too much Say Yes to the Dress on TLC. I can’t help it. I just love it. I also love Amsale Girls, mostly just because I LOVE Amsale dresses. That one isn’t on very much though – and I think it’s on WE.

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I knew that dress shopping would be different than the shows about dress shopping, but it was definitely funny to see how different it was. So I’ve compiled a list.

How Dress Shopping is different than Say Yes to the Dress

1. Store Size

A lot of these are going to vary simply by where you live, but I don’t know of any place that is as big as Kleinfelds in New York. The dress shops I went to were all very spacious, but nothing crazy.

2. Dress Selection

At Kleinfelds, they have every dress you could ever dream of getting your hands on. At Amsale, they have every Amsale dress you could ever dream of getting your hands on. At normal dress shops, they have a lot of dresses; but it’s nothing compared to that. Actually, because I was only really interested in A-line dresses, the selection was substantially smaller. I did try on a few not A-line, and I’m glad I did just because it was fun, but they weren’t my style.

3. No champagne when you find “the dress” 

What. The. Hell.

4. No fancy bathrobe to sit in while you talk with a consultant

What. The. Hell.

5. Nakedness

They don’t show it on TV (OBVIOUSLY because that’s called porn…) but there is a lot of nudity going on bridal salons. The first time I tried on dresses I would get into the dress and then the consultant would come back and zip/button/tie/Crisco me in. I think this was because they didn’t care if we took photos or not, so they knew I wasn’t gonna try to get myself alone in front of a mirror to take an iPhone pic. At the second place tho (the fancier place; shockingly where I found my dress) they had a no photo policy and I was never alone in the fitting room. Which means I just stood there in my bra and underwear chatting it up with the consultant in between dresses. Good thing I’m not shy.

When I went BACK to the first place, I had a few bigger dresses, so the consultant just helped me into my dresses. These dresses happened to have built in bras…

This consultant got a show. That’s all I’m gonna say about that.

Moral of the story, don’t be shy when you go try on dresses. Also, do not eat Mexican food right before you try on dresses (“No, I’m not a pregnant bride, that’s just a food baby…” is an awkward conversation to have, especially when you’re naked.)

6. Price

Shockingly, not all dress cost a bazillion dollars! I won’t get too into finances here, but I reallyreallyreallyreally did not want to spend more than $1,000 on a dress. Cuz really. You wear it once. And it will probs get super nasty and dirty cuz I plan to get super nasty and dirty on the dance floor (I’m kidding; eh, I’m not really). PLUS the dresses I am drawn to are really rather plain and simple, so shelling out a down payment on a house for essentially a piece of [really nice] fabric is just a bit ridiculous.

I ended up trying on a TON of dresses less than $1000. In fact, I think only a handful were more than that. (One was actually priced less than my sister’s senior year prom dress, which I told her was a bit pathetic…but still!) The one I ended up getting was a great price (note that “great” is relative, because it’s still a wedding dress and they still charge you accordingly) PLUS I got a free veil with a coupon PLUS you get discounts on accessories and alterations since you buy from them (they’re not great discounts, and there’s a good change I’ll find my accessories and get my alterations done elsewhere especially since the dress is so simple…but it’s a nice bonus).

Like I said, I like simple dresses, so I’m sure if you wanted a blinged out pearl-ified dress, you’d be paying for it – but I was happy that the dresses were priced rather appropriately!

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I had a great time dress shopping, but I’m also glad to be done. Seeing yourself in pretty dresses is a blast, but it’s stressful, too! I came to the conclusion that these dresses are MADE to be gorgeous, so it’s expected that you’ll like a lot of them. When I found “the one” and realized I wouldn’t change a single thing about it, and it was a so much like I what I pictured I’d be wearing, I knew I wanted to snatch it up and quit the search. I LOVE dresses, and I LOVE the dress I will be wearing, but it’s not nearly as big of a deal as WHO I’ll be marrying – I’m WAY more excited about that 🙂