I think a lot of girls know exactly the style of wedding dress they want before they even went go out to look. I think a lot of girls look at pictures in bridal magazines and ooh and ahh and dream and scheme.
I think that I am not like a lot of girls.
While (I suppose) most girls look forward to going out and trying on wedding dresses, I was kind of dreading it. I didn’t want to deal with the pressure of finding that dress that just made everyone say “wow.” What if people were disappointed? More importantly, what if I was disappointed? Anyway, I didn’t put as much stock in my wedding dress choice as most brides probably do. Every bride has the things she focuses on, and for me, that thing just wasn’t the dress (let’s face it–it was the food).
Which is why I chose to rent my dress instead of buy it. I figured that a wedding dress would be tight, uncomfortable, and sweaty (true, true, and true), so why on earth would I want to keep it? (Especially since I’d only be wearing it once!) The only problem with renting though, is that there aren’t many places that rent out wedding dresses. I only knew of two, in fact, that were even remotely within a reasonable driving distance. So off we went, my mother, my best friend Kayla, and me.
I’ll admit that on this day of all days (the day to try on dresses), I was probably more bride-zilla than I ever was at any other time. I didn’t go out to the stores in a bad mood–but I sure left the first store in one. You see, after trying on dress after dress that just made me feel like my shoulders were too broad or that I was too busty or that my arms were too round, I kinda wanted to give up. By the time we all piled into the car to check out the second store (my last resort), I was more than a little stressed out (and pretty sure I was stressing out the other two as well).
However, the difference between the two stores was the difference between ice and ice cream—one leaves you feeling cold and the other leaves you with a delicious feeling in your insides. At the second store (Gowns by Pamela), I was the only one in the store (as you have to make an appointment to go). I had a personal attendant to wait on me and cater to my every whim and tell me I looked lovely, and I got to choose virtually from any dress I wanted in the store (because their dresses are actually two-piece, so you can mix and match styles). I immediately went from being a bridezilla to a bride vanilla (I totally just made that up). But I did become much sweeter (or so I’d like to think). At Gowns by Pamela, they provided all the undergarments (corset, slip, petticoat), so every dress fit smoothly. It was like I’d lost 20 pounds in the 15-minute drive.
I think I found the right combination on the third try—I didn’t want a square neck or a scoop neck, as one accentuated my broad shoulders and the other my broad bosoms. So I settled on a shirred V-neck with flower-petal sleeves that made my top half look much smaller than it was (the corset helped). Since I have narrow hips, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the mermaid style looked pretty good on me. And that’s what I went with. There was no ah-ha, that’s-the-dress, oh-my-gosh-let’s-cry moment. I actually tried on a couple other combinations before coming back to the one I eventually chose. I liked it just enough. And that was what was important.
So here it is folks—the dress.
