Bride-to-be Blogger Alyse: Dress Shopping Day: The Final Chapter
iStockphoto courtesy of ThinkStock.com.
And so, the one day of dress shopping that required three posts (see Part One and Part 2), comes to an end.
After we left Kleinfelds, with all intentions of returning to buy a dress we loved there, my mom, aunt and I raced up to Mark Ingram Salon. When we got there, I immediately knew that the experience would be different. The waiting room was small and intimate, there were no camera crews in sight and the dressing rooms were spacious and comfortable. With a clear head, I told the consultant what I was looking for—which had dramatically changed from a mere three hours before when Dress Shopping Day began.
As I’ve mentioned a few times, my preppy and earthy sides have been having problems deciding who would make the most appearances at my wedding. Well, little did they know that Secret Side Number Three, who is apparently pretty fancy, would win out in the end. I went into the day with pictures of simple, sheath dresses, but when I tried on those styles, I found myself continuously saying that I loved the dress, but I felt like I would own a regular dress that looked like this some day. So I needed a little help letting fancy Alyse out.
The consultant at Mark Ingram put me in an intricate and large mermaid-style gown and asked me how I felt about it. I said I really liked it, but I didn’t know if I would pick it. She asked me if the dress “excited” me, and I said yes. So she asked, with a slight attitude, What’s the problem then? I like the way it looked and it excited me, isn’t that how I wanted to feel about the dress bought? And so, the rustic barn wedding that I envisioned well before getting engaged was dealt its final blow. I started trying on fancier gowns and wound up in one that I didn’t want to take off.
The final purchase wasn’t completely devoid of the excitement that I felt at my other appointment. Mark Ingram himself was there and helped me with the final touches, such as a sash and a veil. My mom and aunt were convinced that it was the dress when they saw the whole look come together.
After purchasing the dress, the three of us headed straight to a bar to get some food and a drink—the hectic day with cancelled appointments, missed lunch reservations and rushed cab rides left us with little choice. Although, much to my dismay, we didn’t follow my meticulously scheduled plan, I am so happy and excited about my dress. And most of all, Dress Shopping Day is one that I will look back on as one of the most fun and meaningful days of—pause for effect—my life. I should probably remember this for my future wedding-planning adventures, but I am sure this is a lesson I will learn more than once.
Did your dress-shopping day go as you planned? How did you finally decide on a dress?
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