Say YES!

Oh, last night went so much better than Saturday.

Brian and I arrived about 30 minutes before my appointment and wander the racks. I let him pick out two dresses for me to try on. He was desperate to stay to see me try one on but I put my foot down.

My consultant was great. She took her time to listen to me, Brian and Jenn. She also looked at the pictures of me trying on dresses from Saturday and it felt like she immediately picked up on what I was looking for.

The first dress she pulled for me to try on was it! I feel in love with it right away. Which was a completely different feeling than when I tried on at David's Bridal. The sample size fit me perfectly. The dress was out of my price range, but the consultant felt confident that she had wiggle room with the price. After seeing how well it fit and how much I liked it she came up with an idea. The sample was nearly brand new, the dress is from a new 2013 collection. She knocked 34% off the price if I'd take the sample.

She had pulled about 6 others, and with the two that Brian picked, I tried on the others. I did like them. Really liked an off the shoulder tight dress. But didn't love any like I did the first one. By now Katerina and Aly had joined Jenn and I and I put the dress back on. Every one else liked it. The consultant lead me to the big mirror in the front of the store, and left me there for a second while she went to grab a flower for my hair. While I stood there by myself staring at the dress, I knew. Happy tears. I'm actually starting to cry a little as I type this. This was the dress.

So on budget, I have my dress. It's at home in my closet.

Recommendations:
1. Go shopping when you're comfortable. If you're not in the mood, you won't find the dress.
2. Pick a less crowded/busy time of day. Middle of the day on a Saturday felt very different from after work on a Monday.
3. Talk a lot about what you want the day to be with a lot of different people. I love all my bridesmaids, and they all know me well. Getting each of their perspectives individually helped make me feel confident in what I eventually went with.
4. Know you're beautiful. I look at the pictures from that first shopping trip and I see someone very unhappy and unsure of themselves. Even in the dresses that we're perfect yesterday, I didn't see that person.
5. The second I picked my dress I wanted to text Brian how much I loved him. That's how I knew. The dress should make you feel good, but with me, it also reminded me of my fiance and my love for him.

dresses, dresses and more dresses

First off, we have a photographer! Emily, a friend of Jenn's who I have known for years takes great pictures.  She's graciously said yes to being our photographer so long as we feed her that day :)
Our current photo plan is to have Emily take all the pictures, but then also ask select family members with good cameras and good eyes to help capture specific times. Like one cousin will do getting ready, one the ceremony, one reception, etc. That way we won't be too taxing on our relatives and we'll also get a lot of photos!

Went dress shopping with Jenn, Katerina and Aly on Saturday. I was in a mood to begin with. Brian was out all night, helping celebrate his brother Trevor's last weekend in Cincinnati and I was feeling lonely having no member of my family coming to help me try on dresses or even helping in the prep. I tried on about 7-8 dresses and just wasn't feeling any of them. I think a lot of it was me. Having trouble really embracing this whole bride thing.

It's not that I don't think we're getting married or that I question our decision to. I just have trouble sometimes believing that good things happen. That this is my real life. I also do not relish being the center of attention. When I get a hair cut, I don't like it when people notice. The attention makes me uncomfortable. I also don't feel the most beautiful right now. We'll truthfully, I never thought I was all that pretty. I have a big nose, and weird teeth and I squint funny. And, although I have lost about 3 pounds in the last two weeks, I'm no where near a comfortable weight. Looking back though even when I was 20 pounds lighter, my body still made me cringe...

And then the dresses, they just weren't me. They were pretty, but not right. And I got overwhelmed very easily. So I made an appointment at a different Bridal Salon for tonight after work. Thankfully, all of my in town bridesmaids are able to make it - which I totally didn't expect. Brian also has off today, so him and I are going to meet there a couple minutes before my appointment so that he can walk through the racks with me and pick some out for me to try on.

Also today, I was able to share all the pictures of the dresses I tried on (David's Bridal lets you take pictures which is totally nice) with Katie. And I pulled a LOT more from online and got some really good feedback from her. Was like I was able to walk through racks with her just online.

I also had Nancy from InRETURN, where I work, make a couple mock ups of Save the Dates. She's going to do more tomorrow but hopefully we'll have those out soon.

Brian and I also sat down and worked out a tentative guest list. our ballpark of 100 was pretty spot on.