Quest for the Dress

After our trip to DC and being super disappointed with how all the Aria dresses made me look, I didn't look forward to future dress shopping. It didn't help that I had over a year to procrastinate finding one either.

My sister has always been my style guru. So whose opinion did I want the most on dresses? MOH P. She knows my personality and always looks at the things I don't. For instance, she reminded me that the guests will be looking at the back of the dress throughout most of the ceremony and I would want that to be flattering as well.

During a trip to VA Beach to visit P and to go to the B&D concert, we decided to take some of the free time for dress shopping. We looked up some local dress shops P knew of as well as David's Bridal. We hit the road to the first shop. Nothing. All the dresses looked like they were from the 80s or early 90s. They were all covered with beads and sequins. As you could probably tell from the Aria dress, I wanted something simple and plain. We quickly left the store without trying on a single dress.

We then decided to bite the bullet and go to David's Bridal. I originally didn't want a dress from this store because the quality tends to not compare to designer gowns. P reminded me I would be wearing my dress one day and then never again. Why pay big bucks for a dress? So we made an appointment and pulled some dresses that fit what I was looking for. They were all strapless, plain, and simple.

 

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These are just a few I tried on. These dresses did all the same thing, make me look wide. So we decided since all the strapless dresses were making my waist disappear, I had to scratch that requirement off my list. The third dress shown was fun, but my curves (and boy do I have them), were accentuated by the mermaid/trumpet style. So that was a no go as well. The lady assisting us was so helpful. She pulled a few dresses that she thought would look good on me. We tried the tank top look and boy did it look good. This particular dress gave the girls va-va-voom. I now had a waist. While I looked great in this dress from the front, the back of the dress looked cheap. This was not what I was going for.

The lady helping brought her favorite dress for me to try on and even though there were things about it I liked, like the lace detail and the straps, there was too much sparkle going on. Since I liked the lace, she decided to get the other lace dress in a similar style for me to try on.

 

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When I first put it on and stood in the mirror, I wasn't over come with a feeling of This is It. The dress has a sash that is covered in beads, and in my opinion, it looks tacky. Also, I felt the dress didn't show the curves very well. But as the lady showed us, there was room to take it in up top and make it more fitting, and the sash could be removed and a colored sash put in its place. This made all the difference.

Forgive the bump in the belly region. The strapless corset I was in was bulky. The real winning factor for this dress was the back. It was stunning. The circle the lace makes around my back is gorgeous. Also, this dress didn't have the cheap look as the other one did.

It was at this point we decided I would wear a birdcage veil and have my hair up. We also decided on the theme of the wedding.

Was your dress shopping experience what you expected? Did you choose a dress that had everything you planned it would?

All pictures are personal photos unless otherwise noted