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Chatting with another bee today got me to thinking... how many of us actually wore the style of dress we liked before we started looking? I was all about lace and keyhole backs until I saw myself in them! I was so sure I didn't want a ballgown, I wouldn't let the consultant bring them in the dressing room. Finally, I listened to a wise and soft-spoken consultant who brought out a ballgown that made all my worries melt away.
This was my first dream dress (there have been many dreams along the way, lol)
And this was my wedding dress (minus the fabric flower)... after an exhausting search!
Not even close to what I originally wanted!!
It's funny how you think you know what you want to wear, and then when you actually try things on, you realize they don't look good on you. I thought I would get an a-line dress because I could never see myself in a fit and flare...well, I ended up with the fit and flare. lol!
I was also looking for a lace dress with a keyhole back originally. They looked ok on, but some were a bit itchy or blah or hard to sit in. I ended up with an a-line dress with a fairly full skirt. Not what I thought I would be in, but I love moving around in it.
For like 43 years I thought I would marry on the beach and wear this Nicole Miller and my bridesmaids would wear white. I was obsessed. I built everything around this dress:
I am now getting married here in my hometown wearing a white, fit and flareish true-blue wedding gown. My girls are wearing color. FI hated the idea of a colored non-wedding wedding dress. Killjoy.
@KristenGotMarried: Gotta say it... that Nicole Miller is AmAzInG!! lol You can always have a vow renewal and wear it then! :)
My style is rather simple, so I swore I wanted no lace or sparkles etc. on my dress. I wanted & even initally purchased a very simple one. Then after I picked it up I had dress regret b/c I am getting married on NYE and felt I should have a bit more of a wow factor. Dress #2, which I love....Go figure!!!
@sheilad72: It's such a relief when you finally put on the dress that makes sense... I walked past my dress so many times, b/c it looked so sad and boring on the hanger. When she brought it out, I was too exhausted to argue!
NYE!!! Yay!! Congrats.
@heather5743: I was so desperate to wear the lace fit and flare that I stuffed my spanx with foam hip pads... I thought I could fake the hourglass! Ummm.... no. I can't imagine what my consultant was thinking!! :)
My dream dress was extremely romantic with loads of stuff including pick-ups and flowers. I really loved Prestyn by Maggie Sottero (never actually tried it on) or something with similar volume and drama on the bottom. I also quickly realized that I didn't want taffeta which eliminated a lot of dresses I liked.
I ended up with something completely different, simple on the bottom with loads of bling on the top. Who knew?
Prestyn:
My Dress:
I was planning on going with an A-line since I didn't think I'd look good in anything else. The consultant put me in a mermaid instead and, well, that shot my A-line theory right out the window.
@linguo42: Exactly what happened to me!
I forgot to add in my previous post: I also did not want a lace dress. I hated lace...then I put it on, and sure enough I bought a lace dress. lol
i guess i'm the opposite story! haha... i had one dress i adored, but no one in my state had the sample anymore... so i went to a nearby bridal shop, pictures in hand of "dream dress" and several other styles and sillhouettes that i thought were pretty... i tried on many dresses, but i kept coming back to the one that they'd brought me to mimic my dream dress.... it was close enough, i decided, and i bought it.
fast forward months, and it came in... disappointment. i just couldn't get over that it wasn't the dress i'd been wanting forever. i picked apart pictures of me in it, finding all the little differences. finally, i called around my neighboring states (duh!!! why i didn't i think of this the first time!!!) and found a place that had it 3 hours away as a sample. i put my butt in the car and drove by myself down there to try it on. *cue heavenly music... it was perfect!
so now i'm a two-dress bride! oh well, at least i have my precious! ;) i guess the point is that if you have a dress you adore, really make the effort to put it on to see if it's awful (as they can often be! haha) or perfect!
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Dream Dress
My Dress
I ended up getting a dress pretty close to what I wanted originally
Dream dress:
Not a far cry from what I ended up with. I needed straps, and wanted some bling, rouching and a dropped waist. I saw all of those in both the dresses.
My Dress:
I was super in love with this Rachael by Sottero & Midgley! I was "SET" on this gown and I requested it be the first I try on as well. Well to my surprise it look HORENDOUS on me and my shape. It did NOTHING for me. Then I said "No Tafetta." My gown is Bourdeaux Tafetta...lol
This is an old pic before my weight loss...I've been too chicken to try on my dress since.
The first day I went dress shopping, I KNEW I wanted an A-line, with some bling and either satin or taffeta. Well, turns out I hated taffeta, but I did orignially fall in love with an A-line satin blingy dress
Then I went to another shop and tried on a mermaid, which my mother had to pretty much MAKE me try on because I was certain it would not look good on my body type. Well, I was wrong. Then I tried on the Adorae by Sottero and Midgley and loved it.
I wasn't ready to commit that day so I went home empty handed but was still in love with the Adorae. Then I found out my cousin was getting almost the same dress and her wedding was before mine... and I was already having second thoughts about the Adorae just becuase it is sooooo popular (because it is so gorgeous!) but I wanted something that no one else had... kind of dumb I know, but that's how I felt!
After looking through probably THOUSANDS of dresses on-line, I decided I wanted to try on a lace mermaid dress. I originally DID NOT want any lace what so ever, but after I saw it in person with the added bling on the applicae (spelling?) I was in love. My dress is "Tracey" by Sottero and Midgley. I don't have a pic of me in it, but I will take one the next time I go back to my mom's (it's at her house. The store I bought it from let me buy their sample and it was my size, no alterations needed!)
I ended up getting exactly what I wanted, style-wise.
Dream dress: 30s/art deco style, silk bias cut, low back. Ideally by Johanna Johnson or Jenny Packham (neither of which are really even available in the US AND are waaaay over budget).
If you do a google image of either designer, you'll see the styles I'm talking about.
Actual dress:
Yep, 30s style, silk bias cut, low back. Since I ordered it on etsy, it was a HUGE relief when I finally got my dress and was able to try it on. I was panicking that I would have one of those moments you all had where you try on your ideal dress and didn't like it. It fit perfectly and I love it - phew!
I went in wanting fit and flare or mermaid and tried on 3 dress and it just wasnt working! I literally walked past "my" dress twice and said "Ugh... no way" So my awesome consultant asked did I want to try on something ball gownish etc. And I said yeah... Keep in mind I didn't want Ballgown, tulle none of that.. I tried my dress on my dress and couldn't believe it...
@LOGAHN1981: Your dress looks great on you! Congrats :)
Like a few of the previous posters: I knew exactly what I wanted out of a dress: ivory, fit-and-flare, lace, princess seams, deep sweetheart neckline, button back with buttons all the way; and no belt, seams, beading, nor ruching.
The poor bridal consulants kept trying to get me to have a "more open mind".
My "ideal" picture I brought to all the shops was this $7000 Justina McCaffrey:
As it turned out: I know myself pretty well, this was exactly the silhoutte, neckline and fabric that suited me. (pics of my dress in next post)
@Ivorybuttons: I am so in love with that look! I wish I had been able to pull off a lace fit n flare!
And this is me in my dress (bad lighting, it is actually ivory). I paid just over $1000, and my mother & I did the alterations myself to make it look like my "dream".
I can't wait to wear it.
Love this thread! I ended up with the opposite dress! Totally different than all those pictures I cut out of magazine, saved on my computer. I wanted big, ball gown, fairly simple, sweetheart neckline, strapless. I came out with the strapless and sweetheart requirements! The first dress I tried was the Alfred Angelo Snow White dress. As pretty as it is, as soon as I put it on, it was a BIG NO!
Here's something I would have went for before I went dress shopping.
And here is my very lovely dress!
@Ivorybuttons: Beautiful! And how great that you and your mom could alter it together... :)
@Ivorybuttons: That dress is perfect for you! You look amazing! :D
@gmcurtis your actual dress is so much prettier on you than the first would've been.
@jjmomma thankyou. I'm glad I could pull it off too ^___^ although not the keyhole back, as you originally posted.
@Ivorybuttons: Thanks! I looked up a picture of it on the internet and I am not really a fan of it on the model but still love it on me!
@jjmomma Yes, it was an amazing bonding time: the alterations took us 3 very intense days, but we talked and talked and laughed and tried not to bleed on the lace. It saved me $$$, but all the money in the world couldn't have bought that time and teamwork together.
@gmcurtis and thankyou *blush*. It's funny how sometine the model pictures of our beloved dresses do NOT do them justice, eh?
@Ivorybuttons: Yeah, the shoulder things just didn't work on me... I actually prefer the look of your dress (just sweetheart) but for the style wedding I was planning, I thought the vintage look of the keyhole was perfect. And then I ended-up picking something with no consideration of the venue. I think I fell in love with 20 different gowns and planned 20 different weddings for them! :)
Your dress is stunning! It is so elegant I am in love!
when I first started looking at dresses I fell in love with floaty chiffon and tulle and loved the sweet look of an empire waist with some sort of embellished top, beading or such, like this
When I tried them on I cannot tell you how bad they looked on me. It was embarrassing, I almost cried. For one thing, I am short, for another, I am built like a boy. I looked like I was drowning in a sheet of floaty fabric, they made me look even shorter and more shapeless than I am.
I ended up falling in love with this dress, which fit my overall theme much better
@Annabelle86: Yay!! The keyhole lace!! *cheering* Love your pics, you guys look so happy! :)
@jjmomma: Aye, I coldn't pull off a keyhole back either. Well, the keyhole yes; but it's the cap sleeves or straps that don't work with my shoulders. I needed the sweetheart downplay my shoulders and emphasise my bust.
@Annabelle86: but here's the girl who could (and did, beautifully) rock a keyhole back lace dress. Congrats, you two look so happy!
The dress that I love:
And the dress that I got:
II was also interested in lace, chiffon, flowy fabrics, but one store I went to had a dress that was everything I said I wanted (soft fabrics, a-line, lace, sweetheart neckline, etc. etc.) and I felt like an imposter. The dress I got made me feel like me, and I could shorten it and wear it again if I wanted to, which I quickly learned was actually pretty important to me. I also quickly learned that I hate trains, and this one only has a little one that moves with me! Hooray!
Thank you! The keyhole lace back is what made me fall in love with the dress! And yeah we were pretty happy!
Your dress looks so stunning on you! I love the buttons and obviously I love lace and I think your dress is even prettier than your inspiration dress, its so impressive that you did the alterations yourself!
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