Whirlwind & Tulle

We managed to get through the first hurdle of the holidays: Thanksgiving…  Last Wednesday, we headed to Detroit, arriving in late afternoon.  We spent a little time with the FMIL and then met one of the FI’s previous co-workers for some drinks at Dragonmead in Warren (if you’re ever in the area and enjoy unique micro-brews, definitely check it out).

Thursday morning led us to Croswell, up near Port Huron, to spend time with the FGIL (is grandparents in-law a thing?).  Food, football, a tour of some of the 40 acres (stopping to pick a bit of moss for my terrarium) and more food filled the day.  Finally, an hour and a half drive put us back in Detroit.

Friday was some shopping, time spent with the FI’s various family members and a new pair of dark red cowgirl boots (after stops at three different stores).  We finished up with a late night drive back to Pittsburgh because we were both looking forward to spending a bit of time at home.

Saturday was some light errand running, resting and getting ready for… drum roll please… my first bridal shop appointment.

Sunday morning, I woke up and did my Insanity Fit Test (3^rd time, more than half way done with the program) and got ready, feeling sick the whole time.  I picked up my mom and we headed to Greensburg for my appointment at MB Bride.

I’m not 100% sure what I pictured the appointment to be like but it was probably something like what you see on Say Yes to the Dress…  A consultant would lead me to a fitting room, ply me with lovely dresses and I’d have that moment when the sun shines through the (non-existent) window, harps play and I know I’ve found “The Dress”.

Not so fast there.

We arrived a bit before noon to find cars full of other women waiting in the parking lot.  I hadn’t realized that the store didn’t open till twelve and there would be a mad rush for the doors and salespeople.  Being the laidback type of gal I am, we hung back and waited a few minutes till someone became available to help.

A few minutes later, my consultant came out and met my mom and sister (whom we met at the store).  She gave me a quick tour around the different areas of the store, showed us to the fitting room so we could drop off our stuff (i.e. my strapless bra in a grocery bag – classy) and then walked us back out to start picking dresses.

Being that I had no idea what I was looking for, other than no mermaid or empire waist dresses, it was quite the cluster…  But, we did manage to quickly pick out about seven very different dresses to start.  The best part of doing it this way was I quickly narrowed down what I liked and what did NOT work for me.  For example, dresses made 100% of satin overwhelmed me and I just couldn’t see them fitting into the “feel” of my wedding day.

So, after getting through the first set and putting two aside as “maybes”, I put on the provided terrycloth robe and wandered around to pull a few more options.  Another five or six more dresses chosen, we headed back to the fitting room.

The second set went quite a bit faster as I could tell pretty quickly when I disliked something.  There were three dresses left at the very end, two of which had made my mom cry, one that had made me tear up a bit and led to the addition of a veil and beaded headband.

So, I quickly tried those three on again.  The first one, which had been the absolute first dress I tried on, was quickly discarded because I decided it looked more like a prom dress than a wedding dress…  (Excuse the phone pics; we forgot to take a real camera with us)

The second one was also discarded pretty quickly because it just didn’t make me feel anything super special.  It was pretty but kind of plain and not super flattering to my figure.

So, that left the final dress.  It had the single thing I really wanted (but wasn’t a deal breaker): a lace-up back.  Additionally, it had a bit of bling in the form of vines and flowers, which I felt would "go with" my venue, was light/airy feeling and did amazing things for my figure.

I’m not going to post a picture of it yet, because it’s still in the running and I can’t imagine ruining the surprise for everyone (or my FI in particular).

I scheduled another appointment for Thursday at Bridal Beginning, a store in Mt. Lebanon that I’ve always wanted to go into (even when I wasn’t engaged… or even dating anyone) because of their unique window displays.

I feel like I may be able to call it quits after that appointment because I did really love the last dress at MB Bride.  I just couldn’t quite make a decision that quickly.  But, if after Thursday, I haven’t found anything that blows that dress away, I’ll be making my measurement appointment and ordering my dress!