I Have a Dress!

Ok, I don't really "have" a dress.  I have a dress ordered.  Close enough!

After last weekend, I thought I may have found The Dress but couldn't quite convince myself.  The dress was beautiful, fit my body like it was made for me and had some great details...  But, I just wasn't sure that it was "me".

So, I made an appointment at Bridal Beginning, in Mt. Lebanon, for Thursday night.  I picked up my mom after work and we headed to the store.  After filling out my info card, I was introduced to my consultant, Leslie.  She led us to a fitting room and sat us down to talk for a few minutes.  We discussed the venue and I showed her my favorite dress from Sunday (the one I was going to buy if I didn't find something else I wanted more):

Leslie left the fitting room while I changed into my strapless bra and the slip and shoes she brought in.  She came back with a few dresses.  The first one I tried on was gorgeous.  I already knew that I wouldn't be buying the one from MB Bride.

I continued to try on dresses and found myself comparing them all to this first one.  It had some fun details like the 3D flowers and mocha color accents.  Plus, it had a lace-up back and a great shape.  It was going to be hard to beat...

But, it did eventually happen.  I ended up trying on the first dress again, and then the contender.  Both dresses made trips out the front of the store for a look in the three way mirror (not too many were worth making my mom walk on her broken foot).

After a private chat with my mom, I realized that the last dress was the one for me.  It was perfect for my venue, my vision of the wedding and made me feel like the version of myself I want to be on that day (elegant, timeless, simple, and awesome!).

I'm not going to give too many details on the dress I ordered, but it is completely different from the two above.  I'll just say that I can't wait to wear it!

Finally, since I have two experiences to compare, I'll give my opinions of shopping at the two bridal shops.

MB Bride

- Huge selection of dresses

- Nice fitting rooms with curtained area for changing

- Self service + some guidance for picking out dresses to try

- Reasonable prices

- Consultant seemed to know what she was talking about but got distracted/rushed at the end of the appointment (when she learned that her next appointment was early and waiting)

Bridal Beginning

- Gorgeous, unique dresses on display

- Smaller fitting room with no private area for changing (I had to change in front of my mom)

- Consultant finds dresses for you based on input

- Reasonable prices (I was totally expecting the dresses here to be more expensive but they were still in a good range)

- Consultant was awesome and seemed to really enjoy her job.  She took the time to completely lace-up all the dresses and was extremely thorough with her explanations to our questions

I wouldn't say that one was better than the other; they were completely different experiences and I enjoyed both.  I did learn that its a lot easier to get focused attention and less rushed feelings on a weeknight.

Next up, gotta get going on the wedding website and STD's (save the dates, that is).