Confessions of an online wedding dress purchaser (Part 1)

The dress hunt was strenuous, but I pursued with a mission, knowing that so many elements of the wedding would be built around the tone set by the gown.

I first went shopping the weekend after I got engaged, and I brought with me my MOH and a good friend from work who would eventually be added to the bridal party. I really had no idea what I wanted, so we went to a nearby David's Bridal with the plan to try on many different styles and hopefully narrow things down from there. At the time I didn't realize it, but it is wonderful to be able to try on dresses that actually fit rather than boutique-style where it's hard to envision the gown without utility clips keeping it from falling off. Our experience there was okay, and we found a few things that I liked, but it was really too early to make any decisions.

A few weeks later, I set up the wedding boutique gauntlet for myself, while I was at home visiting my mom. I started the day at Macy's bridal salon in the Menlo Park Mall, where I didn't even get excited enough to photograph anything, then moved on to Dolores Bridal which is right outside the mall parking lot and is one of those tiny little shops just jam packed with dresses. The staff there was so excellent that I'm seriously considering having my alterations done by them, despite the distance. There I found a bunch of dresses I really liked, and the one which eventually led me to THE ONE.

The vis-aids:


In the first photo, I test the all-important dance-ability of a dress. In the bottom left, I indicate that I like what's going on in the balcony area. In both photos on the right, my mom is in the mirror, capturing the moment. And by the way, none of those dresses actually fit, but the staff were so good with the straight pins that it looks like they do, right?

Then, lunch, and to mom's local David's to show her the stuff I'd found near Philly. We waited such a long time for someone to talk to us that we almost gave up, but in the end we stuck it out. This trumpet gown was the front-runner from DB.

Next up: New York, Maryland, a phone call to Colorado, and the great internets. How far will she go?

(for a sneak peek at the precursor to the real dress, see here. Fiance, do NOT click this.)