I said yes to the dress 👗

With a few things locked in for our wedding in October, my mum encouraged me to have a look at some dresses at a store near home. She was very enthusiastic about the sale period that was happening for a couple of weeks, but I was determined to find something I liked whether it was on sale or not. We had a look yesterday.

Prior to yesterday’s visit, I only had time to check out one store in the city where I work (and looked briefly in the window of another). I walked in there, enthralled by the fanciness of the place, but after trawling through several racks of dresses I was really displeased. The more “current” range of dresses were also in styles I was not interested in.

I had done a lot of research and looked for inspiration on the internet and in magazines. Mostly the internet though, because there is inspiration everywhere. Instagram was my main go-to, but otherwise I did a pretty mundane internet search for dress styles before I looked at some actual bridal gown stores online. At first I really wanted a strapless, princess-style dress, something that went out from the waist like a typical Cinderella style.

After that, I really watched my body start to shape when I started upping my workouts at the gym, and I toyed with the idea of a mermaid style dress that hugs the hips and has a bit of a fishtail. I wore a two-piece dress of this style to my cousin’s wedding last year, because my aunt was creating the dresses for the family members and I was able to choose whatever style I liked. It was a good experiment and I thought I looked great even though it was awfully hard to walk.

Comfort was my number one priority when looking for a dress. I wanted to be able to breathe, walk and dance in it. I found some very lovely strapless mermaid style wedding dresses online and used them as inspiration.

Walking into the store yesterday, I was pretty set on what I wanted. Mermaid/fishtail dress, definitely strapless, no way I was doing sleeves, not too much lace, nothing plain.

I refused to try on anything with sleeves, and went straight for the mermaid style dresses. One thing that I did notice, from my visit to the store in the city as well, is that some dresses just look ugly hanging on the rack. I was excited to try some on, though, and I tried on three mermaid dresses, with the third one being one I was pretty happy with.

I was happy with it and it looked great. The sweetheart neckline was adorned with beading and looked ugly on the rack, but I tried it on and it started to grow on me. But I sat down and had a think about it and I wasn’t a hundred percent set on it.

I learned that clothes can look very, very different before you try them on, and wedding dresses are no exception. I decided to try on some other styles, so my mum picked out one she thought looked nice that covered a bit of the shoulders, and I picked out something from the collection of ball gown styles. I guess I couldn’t walk out of there without trying a different style – I had to give it a chance. I didn’t like a lot of the dresses that were ball gown style, so I picked one that was the nicest just to see how it would look on me.

I really did not like the one my mum picked out. It just didn’t look right. It had a tiered skirt and I just didn’t like the shape of the top half.

When I tried on the dress I picked out, I looked at myself in the mirror and I looked down at the dress and the beautiful train behind it and I loved it so much. I got so emotional just looking at it – it was beautiful and I could just imagine myself wearing it and I started to cry. 😭💗 The girl helping us out was so happy for me and she said, “Oh, I don’t think you can top that reaction. I think it’s The One”.

Just to check my sanity I tried on the mermaid style dress again. It really was very nice, but I didn’t like it as much anymore. I tried on the one I loved and I just… I just had to have it. I said that I felt guilty that I liked the mermaid dress so much and now I had changed my mind. The girl said not to feel guilty especially when I liked this dress so much. She said many brides-to-be change their minds and walk out with something completely different from what they wanted.

The dresses are made to order so my dress actually won’t be ready until July! But I’m very excited. I’m beyond excited. I’m also the smallest size there is, haha. I will definitely have to get the bottom hemmed a bit because it’s very long (I tried on a sample size). I know I didn’t really shop around but I liked the dress so much that I don’t think I’m missing out on a “better dress” out there. I won’t be sharing any photos of the dress until the big day, I guess it will be a surprise for everyone, even Nicholas. ❤️