Weddingbee boards

Has anyone else ended up with two dresses...or more?  How did it happen?  What are you doing with the dress you are not wearing?

Sorry for the long note below--these are just my rambling thoughts! I am so happy with my recent dress purchase, I wanted to share with others!

I never thought I would be a two-dress bride.  I was content on getting one perfect dress...but I could never find the one.  I love fashion, clothes, and shopping, so I thought finding the one would definitely happen for me.  As you can probably guess, I never cried, got teary-eyed or shaky or anything over a dress that would indicate it was the one. Believe me, I tried... After a six-month dress hunt, I finally settled for a dress that I thought would be perfect...with a few minor changes, including modifying the neckline, back, train, and waist.  As I waited for my dress to come in, I started to get panicky about the changes.  What exactly did I want to do?   Could the changes be done?  How would it look?  How much extra fabric would I need to get?  How many times would I need to visit the alterations lady...who lives 2 hours away?

I realized I was freaking out.  I needed to just calm down and see how things happen.  I would recommend trying this--whenever I do it, there always seem to be certain signs pointing me in the right direction...

Luckily, last weekend all of my worries were pushed away by a series of random events that led me to...THE ONE.  I was working on some homework when an ad popped up for a sample sale at the Pronovias store in NYC.  I just happen to be in Long Island right now for school, so I thought I could give it a try.  I had never been to a sample sale, and it sounded like fun.  Literally a few minutes after seeing the ad, my fiance offered to let me go shopping in Manhattan while he went to the museum on Saturday, which happened to be the day of the sale.  My fiance never, ever, ever encourages my shopping habit, especially without any prodding from me!  My mouth dropped, and I explained the issue of how I wasn't in love with my dress and was worrying about it.   He was understanding and pushed me to go look one more time.

So finally the day of the sale arrived.   I was welcomed at the Pronovias shop and greeted by Elise from Kleinfelds--you know, the Say Yes to the Dress Show? I have loved that show for the last several years, even before I was a bride! I couldn't believe it was her!   I almost asked for a picture but was quickly shuffled out of the elevator into the sample sale racks and frantic brides and their helpers grabbing at any dress they could. Oh my gosh...what had I gotten into? And I came alone? With my lunch packed in my purse so I couldn't even carry many gowns at once?  I dove into the sales rack and grabbed for any dress that caught my eye--lace ballgowns, slinky sheaths, and empire goddess dresses.  The staff was very nice and professional, and my helper put me into a dressing room with 8 other brides...they all ended up being friendly too!  We traded gowns, compliments, and suggestions. By the end of the hour (my self-imposed time limit so that my fiance wouldn't be all alone for so long in the city), I was exhausted. I realized that I was not going to find another dress. Nothing was exciting or captivating to me, not even the dress I tried on that was similar to the one I purchased. But then, one of the salesgirls walked in lugging a handful of gowns.  A scooped, beaded neckline with a matching beaded waist caught my eye, and I asked the bride if I could try on this gown when she was done with it.   As I stood there waiting awkwardly in my underwear (as I had run through all my other gowns), she said to just take it.  So I did and realized that the skirt was dingy and ripped and there was a huge hole over the zipper in the back...darn! I still wanted to try it on, even if it was so damaged.

I stepped in the beautiful organza layered skirt and tugged at the zipper.   It fit perfectly! (maybe a little too long, but that usually happend when you are a few inches over five foot...) I swirled around and stared into the mirror. The gown literally took my breath away.  The jeweled neckline was unique from anything else I had ever tried on, and the beading seemed to cinch in my waist.  The layered skirt floated gently away from my waist.  I felt like a princess, which is the look I was not going for originally, but the dress felt right! Everyone stopped to look at the dress.  A few of the girls commented that it looked like me, even though they had me me just minutes ago.  I had someone take pictures for me, and as I looked at how happy I looked in the dress, it happened--I started to cry.  The tears were rolling down my face, and I couldn't believe it.  I finally found THE ONE.  It is a Manuel Mota for Pronovias Veneto, an off-white, full A-line with a scoop neckline and organza skirt.  The sample was ripped and marked down from $3600 to $899.  It is very different from my first dress purchase of the Casablanca 1831 in ivory silk taffeta.

After standing in the gown for 30 more minutes, I bought it and met my fiance outside of the shop.  He noticed my hands were shaking, and he couldn't believe I bought the dress.  Either could I!  How was I going to lug the dress around Manhattan?  Amazingly, FedEx is next door to Pronovias.  I shipped my gown, THE ONE, off to my house in NE.  Lessons learned:  don't give up hope on finding the dress that make you feel like a million bucks.

So what will I do with my old dress? Not sure yet...hopefully the shop will take it back! Otherwise, anyone interested in a dress...?

Link to dress pics:

http://mandj101709.shutterfly.com

Thanks for all of the wonderful comments!

@ thecolorteale:  I go to pharmacy school...we write sometimes :)

So anyone who is selling a dress, where are you selling it?  I was going to try posting on local boards, preownedweddingdresses.com, ebay maybe.