Rouching and Poufs and Trains-Attempt 3

After some hits and misses in bridal stores and after gallivanting around strangers' homes, I gave up dress searching for a few months. I breathed some non-wedding-dress-breaths into my life. It was nice. Until January came, and those breaths (along with my heart rate) quickened significantly when I realized that if I was planning on getting married (check) and I didn't want to do it naked (double check), then I better buck up and buy a dress.

Luckily, I stumbled (metaphorically) across an online ad for a sample sale at Marina Morrison. Marina Morrison is a bridal salon in San Francisco that I never considered looking at during my extensive gown search because it's quite fancy schmancy. And while I can appreciated fancy schmancy, I'm not much for fancy-schmancy-this-dress-can-buy-a-car-prices. But with my ensuing panic attack, I decided to make an appointment.

The salon is like an art gallery for wedding dresses! [Source]

My parents and I were immediately bowled over when we arrived at my appointment. Marina Morrison was 1. above Gumps (oh la la), 2. we had to be buzzed upstairs by a doorman and 3. the salon was A to the Mazing. Despite feeling a bit intimidated, the ladies at the store quickly put as at ease and then let us loose on the sample sale racks. We grabbed our loot and I set to work trying them on (with my mom as official zipper-upper and my dad working as paparazzi).

I tried on a dozen or two (bringing my total dress try-ons to 1.64 bajillion, if you're counting). And . . . I BOUGHT ONE! It was not an easy decision. We had it narrowed down to two dresses which were quite different. I tried them each on 3 times, asking "This one? Or this one?" Here are the pictures of the top two contenders. Can you guess which one I bought without looking below?

Dress on the left by Suzanne Erman. Dress on the right by Carolina Herrera

I hemmed and hawed for a solid 15 minutes in the dressing room trying to decide between the two. My parents each gave their opinions. The saleswoman provided her two cents. I tried on the dresses again. And then I bit the bullet and chose the Suzanne Erman dress (the dress on the left)!

The designer is French and is known (or so I was told, as I'd never even heard of her) for her use of hoop skirts in her wedding dresses. My dress does have 3 hoop skirts at the bottom, which always makes me think of Gone with the Wind (too bad a mint julep couldn't appear in my hand each time I try it on).

We were able to walk out of the store with my dress in hand. It sure is an adrenaline rush purchasing a wedding dress! My dad said he hadn't seen me smile that big in a long time, and that he didn't know if it was from my actual dress, or just that I was happy to be done with the search. In reality, it was a bit of both! I was beginning to think I would end up a dressless bride (I could have been birthday-suit bride).

My happy self with my mom after I had made "the decision"

I never had the feeling that some brides talk about- the "this is the ONE" moment. I think that even if I tried on all the dresses in the world, I would never have found "the one." There are just too many gorgeous dresses out there to pin point the best one! Though I never had that feeling, I still love my dress to pieces, and the whole process was a hoot and a half.

What did you feel like when you bought your wedding dress? Who had tears? Who had cheers? Did anyone's heart rate double like mine did?

Rouching and Poufs and Trains-Oh My! Attempt 2

Along with the 713 dresses I tried on at bridal stores, I also explored my 'once worn' wedding dress options. I visited the site Pre-Owned Wedding Dresses pretty frequently (an excellent source of procrastination [who said that? I NEVER procrastinate!]), emailed a dozen people and visited three ladies' houses to try on their dresses.

Let me give you a bit of insight. It is odd (to say the least) to visit a stranger's home and undress down to your skivvies in their bedroom while they help you shimmy on the gown that they wore at their own wedding. Each part of the experience is awkward enough on its own, but add them all together and you get one big smorgasbord of uncomfortablness. Cue awkward laughter from Miss Pin Cushion.

Thankfully all the women I met were exceedingly nice, and didn't seem to mind me prancing into their house and taking photos of myself dressed in the most expensive clothing item they probably own.

The first dress I tried on was by Cymbeline, style Cherie:

My expression in the photo on the right says it all; I'm pretty sure I'm trying to hold in my laughter. The dress had been so cute in the lady's photos online, but on me, 'ridiculous' is really the only way to describe it. The fabric was too shiny. The bottom tier was removable (to assist with boogeying down at the reception), but that only made the look sillier. And there was quite a bit of a fabric pouf in the tush-al region.

Next, was a beautiful dress that I loved online and loved in person almost as much. But the seller was charging nearly the full price. I thought I'd be able to talk her down, but no such luck. (Note to self: add "learn to bargain" to my post-wedding to-do list.)

So many tiers! I still love this one.

Lastly, was a simple Monique Lhullier dress. The woman had bought it at a sample sale and never wore it. I had a moment of thinking it was working for me, but the photos don't lie-it was not working. The color wasn't right and it was too simple. Plus, I'm not used to showing that much cleavage.

Head is cut off in the second photo to protect the innocent (you all) from seeing my scary zombie face (though it's still peeking out).

The thing about trying pre-owned wedding gowns is that even if you know immediately that you don't want the dress, you're standing right in front of the owner, so you can't come right out and say you don't like it. You have to act like you're thinking, "Oh yes. So lovely. I think I might just buy this." Probably all three ladies I met thought I was going to call them back lickety split and buy their dress. But they were wrong.

Who else had awkward moments during dress shopping? Any underwear-gone-array moments out there? Or bad mouthing a dress while the next bride over tried it on?

Rouching and Poufs and Trains-Oh My! Attempt 1

I'm 97.6% sure that I spent more time finding my wedding dress than I did on anything else in the wedding planning process. How did I accomplish this feat? It required a grueling regime of: 1) a general lack of wedding dress research; 2) poor organizational skills (like not charging your camera, so you have to try on the same dresses twice because you can't remember what they look like); and
3) doing things willy-nilly (which ensures you will do things in the least efficient way possible).

I followed this system for about 2 months. I tried on approximately 71.5 dresses (that 0.5 dress I got on half way and knew it was going to be a disaster). I visited 8 bridal stores on both coasts. I visited 3 people's homes to try on their used gowns. I searched online. My mom sent me listings from Craigslist.

And it wasn't until mid-search that I finally developed a list of criteria I was looking for (a tactic which also helps prolong the dress search by a month of so). My hope was to find a dress that: didn't have rouching or beading, wasn't satin or super fancy schmancy, had a sweetheart neckline and wouldn't break the bank (I didn't want to to know I could feed a small village with the money spent on my dress).

Rather than discuss every. . . single . . . stop along the way (which would take me 115 posts), I'll just inundate you with photos of myself in dresses (many of which are not too cute [note to self-try to comb hair and wear makeup sometimes]). I guarantee you'll be sick of looking at me by the time I finally get to the dress that I bought.

In this post, I'll show you (some of) the dresses that I tried on in the stores. I'll give the designers and names of the gowns when I know them, but I tried on so many, that the details have often gotten lost in the muddle that is my brain. Holler if you know any of the style numbers.

In no particular order (as my life seems to have lost any semblance of order):
1. The Wedding Party, in Berkeley. They only have 1 appointment at a time here, which was fabulous. The consultants are the co-owners, and the one that I worked with was so nice, and had great suggestions. They had very reasonably priced, beautiful gowns.

A Nicole Miller number. It felt very art deco, which would go great with my engagement ring. But it felt a bit matronly to me (another note to self: photos from below=not flattering).

Such a sexy back on this one! But the front was 'meh', and showed every nook and cranny of my body (and I'm no dieting maniac, so that just wasn't going to work).

I wasn't taken by this one, but my girlfriends (ie advisers) loved it.

Nicole Miller HG0013. I loved this dress. I tried it on at multiple stores. But I didn't like the way it looked wrinkled at the bottom (it's supposed to look like that-it has metal in the fabric).

2. Kate's Kouture in Berkeley. As soon as I walked into Kate's I knew I wouldn't find my dress there. The owner told me right away that they didn't have anything simple, which you can see is true from the photos below. Hello bling! I should have turned right around when I walked into the store, but I don't think that's proper etiquette (I bite my thumb in your general direction, Emily Post).

(headless photos alert [probably better for all of our sakes])

3. Trudy's in San Jose. I loved Trudy's (so much that I went there twice). I went over my appointment time on both occasions, but they didn't rush me out. Looking back at these dresses, I would have been really happy with any of them, but I wasn't "ready" to buy at the time (I hadn't mentally [or emotionally] prepared myself!).

Pronovias La Sposa. Probably the most flattering garment I'll ever wear. But the heavy satin just didn't make sense for our outdoor wedding.


Mori Lee #4164. We pinned it to have a sweetheart neckline. We were this close to buying this dress. If we had, it would have saved a lot of time and money (but I like to make things difficult on myself). 

This dress was gorgeous! And flattering. But it had weird pickups (is that even the right term?) on the sides of my knees, which were a bit odd.

4. Bridal Galleria in San Francisco. The owner was so sweet, and had the best French accent.

Loved the one-shoulder, but it seemed a bit "opening night at the opera" rather than "wedding dress". I'm getting a kick out of the lingerie in the background.

Simple, but I liked this one. (Hello super hero pose!)

5. Glamour Closet in San Francisco. Rad store. They have sample dresses, so designer gowns are sold at a great discount. And the place was impeccable. Like hypoallergenic impeccable. You put little clips on the hangers of the dresses you want to try, and the consultants bring them to you, so customers like me aren't dirtying the gowns up with our grubby hands.

By Lian Carlo. I loved this gown. The lace flowers were sewn on so they popped up a bit. (Ooh! 3-D!) I would have bought it on the spot if it was in my price range. It was originally just under $5000, and was reduced to about $3000. Still too much for me. (And I think I was going for the androgynous look with my hair and makeup that day.)

Too tight. I could barely walk. But it had a bow on the top that was very cute indeed.
(Hi there dad! Looking good.)

Sheesh, are you totally sick of me yet? This is only a few of the places I visited, and just a sampling of the dresses I tried on. Everything started to blur together. Looking back, there were many gowns I tried on that I would have been so happy with, but I think I had reached gown overload and nothing was standing out anymore.

Did anyone else have gown overload? How many dresses did you try on to find YOUR dress?

Rouching and Poufs and Trains-Oh My!

While most of my wedding planning was going to take place post graduation (as in, after December 2009), I had been warned that wedding dress shopping should not wait that long. If I planned on getting married in July (which I was), and wanted to wear a dress (which I did), then I had better start looking early.

In July of 2009, I took the plunge and started my search. But please, learn from me- if you haven't done any planning, or even chosen your venue, wedding dress shopping should probably wait! (This is sort of a smack yourself on the forehead, "Duh" moment, but I was a bridal novice-what did I know?!)

My first foray was at Hitched in DC. It was a gorgeous store, which was my first hint that it was out of my budget. (I didn't have a set budget, but knew I didn't want to spend more than a grand or two). I had walked by the storefront many times, and always lusted after their gowns on display, so when I saw they had a sample sale, I decided to join in on the fun.

Some of the beautiful gowns at Hitched. Source

I took my friend/roomie and strolled into the store. Immediately, I was overwhelmed. So much satin! Beading! Tulle! I realized I had no idea what I was looking for. But no matter! I still tried on about 8 or 10 dresses, and fell for 1 in particular- Ulla-Maija Etoile.

From here.

I have no photos of me in dresses from Hitched; they are on the no-pics-of-dresses bandwagon (why do stores do that?). But, as you can see from the pic, the Etoile is, um, quite fancy. And big. And satiny. And you can't see it from the pic, but it was too pricey for me too (about $3000). So, while I didn't have any wedding planning done, I had a hunch we would choose an outdoor venue, and we wouldn't be too fancy (wear jeans every day? check). So, while this dress was GORGEOUS (and it made my friend cry-the only time a person cried during my dress shopping adventure), it was a no go.

This first unsuccessful foray into wedding dresses should have taught me something (be more prepared!) but sometimes I have a hard time learning. I waited until August when I was back home in California before continuing the dress search, but as you will find out next time, I continued to have many of the same problems.

Were you unprepared when you first tried on dresses (I couldn't have been the only one . . .could I)? Or did you march in with pictures in hand, and a style in mind?