Meeting My Dress

Meeting my dress in person for the first time was overwhelming, happy, sad, and exciting at the same time. Overwhelming because I had been waiting so long. Happy because I finally saw it in my own size. Sad because I had to leave it at the store. And exciting because well shit, I'm getting married!

Can you tell how ecstatic I am in that last photo?! Now comes the daunting task of having it altered. Because it is drastically too large in the waist. P.S. I clearly have to tone up those bulgy arms. Anyway, back to the alterations. Suzanne's Bridal recommends 4 fittings starting approximately 6-8 weeks prior to the wedding. First thing that's happening the bow has got to go.Sorry Bow, no hard feelings but you just don't fit into my design as ethic. Secondly the waist needs to be taken in. And then a very minute hemming needs to take place.

I advise all brides-to-be to keep alterations in mind and ask the sales staff about how much alterations run and how good the seamstress is. Suzanne (aka the owner of Suzanne's Bridal) is the seamstress and she charges very little compared to other bridal shops which makes my alterations a bit less of a headache.

How excited were you when you got your gown? Was it a flurry of mixed emotions or just sheer bliss? Share your "Meeting the Dress" story!

Found THE Dress- Find the Price

Being a self-professed "Budget-Diva" Bride made shopping for my dress, after I found The Dress; a little upsetting. I found it in the first store marked at $1250, well within the manufacturer's suggested retail price, when I went to try it on for Mom approval- it was marked $1350. So in order to find it at an amazing deal I first emailed  a known wedding consignment company here in the Valley, while they were pleased to hear from me again, they didn't have The Dress. So I turned to the interwebs- I looked at Once Wed's Used Dresses and the Weddingbee Classifieds. Unfortunately the best deal I could find was $800+ shipping. Not bad, except that it was shipping from Canada. Back to the Bridal Shops...

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After a few not-so wonderful experiences at Bridal Shops that shall remain nameless my FSIL and I were skeptical at best. That is, until, I found the most glowing reviews of a shop out in the suburbs... a shop I'd never heard of, but certainly had a lot of fans...

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I called to verify that they had my gown in stock to try on, they did! They also informed me that weekend they'd be having a Maggie Sottero trunk show and that if I bought and paid in full any Maggie Sottero gown I'd receive a wonderful 10% off the total price. I explained to the clerk on the phone that although Maggie Sottero is one of the designers The Dress was really a Sottero & Midgely. No problem they said, they'd still honor the discount since Maggie Sottero was one of the designers....

Could it be... was I in my own fairy tale?

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I was!! And on a side note the above cartoon does have a shocking resemblance to myself (dark hair+pale) and my fiancé (auburn hair+pale). So to make a long story, somewhat longer...I bought and paid for the dress in full that day, and ended up paying $1,163.27 tax included.

How far did you go for a good deal and good service? Were you put off from buying your dress by sales staff that were less than courteous?

I Said Maybe to the Dress Pt III

As discussed previously in Pt II, my MOH came to the rescue and sat up on the phone with me whilst I cried out my many frustrations with shopping for a wedding gown. She addressed my three main issues in blunt fashion, so I will do the same for you:

Problem #1: I have an hourglass shape. You would think this would not be a problem, but think again. It means that every single dress in existence looks "okay." Thus narrowing my options... by nothing.

Problem #2: I didn't really want the simple gown I kept telling everyone. I wanted something "dramatic" without being covered in beads and flowers.

Problem #3: I really had no inspiration.

So we sat down and tackled all these problems and came up with a portfolio, so to speak, of inspiration. So that, just like before with colors, I don't mess it up by using the wrong words. This is what we came up with:

Sources: Maggie Sottero AD3274, Maggie Sottero AD8502, Casablanca1831, MoriLee 6506

Maggie Sottero Layne, Maggie Sottero Perla, Maggie Sottero SD3008

Did you sense a running theme of Maggie Sottero? If you did you got that right! This quest for inspiration led to finding the best piece ever...

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The funniest part of all, is that I *thought* I didn't even want lace. Turns out, I wanted LOTS of Lace! I tried this dress on at both Azteca here in Phoenix with the FSIL, and at Bride Beautiful in Atlanta with my Mom. Each time it was perfection. Even my mother who hated the idea of a champagne gown, absolutely loved it. Unfortunately both Azteca and Bride Beautiful don't allow photos until you've purchased the gown- so you don't get to cry like my mom did. This is how I picture myself in The Dress...

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But now comes the hard part of being a budget-diva Bride... finding this at sample sale prices.... stay tuned for "Found the Dress- Find the the Price."

I Said Maybe to the Dress Pt II

As a practical budget-loving Bride, I first decided to look into my options for used dresses or not-really wedding dresses.I phoned around the Phoenix area to any and all consignment shops- asking the same question over and over again. "Do you sell consigned Wedding Gowns?" The overwhelming majority said no. But I did find 2 leads for any Phoenix-Area consignment loving ladies.

The first is My Sister's Closet, but the only the Chandler location sells gowns. They have a good selection of about 50 gowns. The difficult part of trying gowns on at this store is that the sizes are not labeled on all gowns and in some cases the marked size is a far cry from how the gown fits- due to having been previously altered. I was able to find a gem here though.

Personal Photo

The above photo is me in a size 4 Vera Wang that had been altered, surprisingly, to my actual height... which is well... almost 5 feet. Despite the fact that it fit like a glove and would need no alteration, I wasn't in love. It was a simple, chic dress. Which simply wasn't me. I wanted a corseted back and a dramatic look without being overdone or looking like a wedding cake topper. The sales staff at My Sister's Closet pointed me in the direction of a seamstress who had been known to put corsets in and was recommended by several patrons. But I just wasn't ready to throw money down on a gown that wasn't right.

The search continued. I ended up watching TV the same evening and stumbled across a consignment wedding show! My Luck was changing, I thought, and I contacted Pam from Almond Tree Weddings. They explained that at the moment they were working out of a storage facility- which only meant better prices to me. So I high tailed it up to Cave Creek & the 101 to North Phoenix to try on some gowns. Again I found a nice gown.

Personal Photo

Please excuse the "head chop" but I was working with a gown that was about 2 sizes too big and a camera phone. This beautiful number was a Maggie Sottero, and although it was a little big with some simple alterations it would fit beautifully. But again, it didn't quite feel right. So I was off to hit the drawing board again.

This is about the point where I hit a mental wall and a flood of bridal emotions overtook me. Thankfully my fiance was out playing poker, and I came home and cried. I called my MOH/best friend/bridal inspiration and told her my woes. She took a deep breath and told me what I was doing wrong... but that will be covered in Part III.

I Said Maybe to the Dress Pt I

The idea of buying a wedding gown.... to paraphrase Say YES to the Dress, "It's not a gown you wear for one day, you wear it for all the time that it is captured in photographs." But this practical Bride did not worry about that. Not at first. In fact, as I think a lot of Budget Brides are prone to do, I snapped up an amazing deal at Nordstrom the week after we were engaged. $114 with tax and alterations... it was a steal not to be surpassed. So I bought this beauty, which was probably returned to the store since it isn't sold in any brick-and-mortar stores but online only. Kismet I thought!

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But almost a month after buying this dress, which has now been christened my "Rehearsal Dress", I had buyer's remorse. So I set off to Alfred Angelo to try on a couple of real wedding gowns. You know the fluffy princess gowns that everyone thinks of. Unaware of what I wanted or was even looking for, I headed in with the thoughts that the gown would find me. Oh how little we recently engaged women know.

Personal Photo of AA2032

Please note the look of sheer displeasure at what my mother would eventually term "my petite form" being unable to hold up against straps.

Personal Photo of AA1151

This dress on the other hand came recommended for "Petite Frames." I would say being slightly under 5 feet tall would be Petite. But this too has the same slightly displeased look on my face. So the quest began. I apparently wanted a "gown" but didn't want it to overwhelm my tiny frame, I wanted it on a budget, and I had no idea what style or fabric or color I wanted.Oh and my Mother lives 1851.52 miles away and my MOH/design guru lives 1754.75 miles away! But I set off on a mission anyway, all by my lonesome. See how it plays out in I Said Maybe to the Dress Pt II.