51 Dresses Later...

Over the last two months I have had some great experiences shopping local and really have tried to incorporate locally-owned businesses into my everyday life.  Although I have had these great experiences, I have to be honest about one aspect of my wedding planning that has been lacking.  

The Dress.

Today I "tried on" my 51st dress.  I have been to 5 bridal shops between Clemmons, Winston Salem, Greensboro and Burlington.  

I was unaware that in the Triad the prerequesite to get married is to be a size 2.  In 3 of the 5 shops I visited I was lucky enough just to be able to look at the dresses on a hanger.  When it came to trying them on, I was out of luck.  

Now, I know some of you do not know me personally, so to give you an idea, I am not a plus size girl.  I am actually a size 12, one size less than the average American lady.  So, I have a question for the bridal shops in the Triad: Why do you stock 80% of your dress styles in sizes 0-8?

Some background: Most bridal shops only stock one size of each design in their store.  A bridal dress runs 1-3 sizes smaller than retail sizing.  Therefore if you wear a size 10, you can only try on a bridal size 12-16.  Most bridal stores only stock 10% of their dresses in a size larger than 12.

I can't tell you how "amazing" it feels as a woman to go into a bridal shop and watch 19 year old brides try on every style you would like to try on, only they don't carry those "newer style" dresses in a size larger than a 6, leaving my only option as "holding the dress up in front of me" to see how it looks.   Thanks! 

After "imagining" how I might look in a ton of dresses, I was very excited last week after visiting a shop in Greensboro where I thought I had finally found "the dress."  Although I did actually get to try the dress on, this excitement was short lived.

Because my Grandmother couldn't travel to Greensboro to see the dress, I called a store in Charlotte (closer to her) to see if they had the same style so she could see it.  When I spoke to the owner of the store, turns out the EXACT same dress cost $600 less in Charlotte than in Greensboro.  So, out of curiosity I called the other 4 stores in North Carolina that sell that dress (none of which are "bargain shops").... all of them were the same lower price.

So here we are.  I can either just "hold dresses up to me on the hanger" and hope they look when they are ordered, or when I actually find one that I love, I get to pay $600 more than my neighbors to the South.  

Today, for the first time I am extremely disappointed in our locally-owned businesses.  

~Christina

A nice day to wear white!

So close your eyes and picture the perfect wedding gown.  What does it look like?  Is it form fitting or does it billow out like a Cinderella ballgown?  Now imagine you are feeling the fabric.  Is it soft?  Satin?  Lace?    

What is your perfect dress?

I have thought myself about this lately.  With a wedding coming up next year, you would think I have plenty of time to shop around and find that one in a million look... but honestly, in the timeline of wedding fashion... I need to get started looking myself!

I stopping into Diva's in Greensboro a few weeks ago, the lovely ladies there helped me determine a timeline for dress shopping.  For a wedding next May this is the schedule:

June - August  (9-11 Months Out)

Look through bridal magazines and determine what styles you are drawn to.  Think about your venue and time of year and make sure that your fabric choices match.  Then do the fun part and try on dresses!  Grab your mom or girlfriends and take an afternoon to play dress-up.  Once you find the dress you love, even though you are 9 months out.... Order it.  Here is why...

For a typical bridal designer, once you place the order, the dress can actually take 4-6 MONTHS to arrive.  MONTHS!!  So that means, when you place your order the end of August... I could possibly not come in until February.

So you are still thinking... okay, so February, I am getting married in May.  I have plenty of time!  

Not really.

Once the dress comes in, you have your first fitting.  Lets say the dress need to be taken in because you have been religiously working out for a fabulous honeymoon body and it also needs to be hemmed.

These alterations could take 3 weeks.  So you have a second fitting.  Although the hem is perfect you have lost a little more weight, but only in the tummy area  (Go You!), so we need to have a second alteration to make the dress fit like a dream.  Guess what?  Now it is the first week of April. 

In the next few weeks you have scheduled your bridal portraits and for your gown to be pressed one last time before the big day.

9 Months just flew by.

As for me?  I tried on my very first dresses this afternoon and found out that the styles I thought I would love weren't as flattering as I had imagined.  On the other hand, those I was not interested in and tried on just for kicks... were awesome!  So my best bit of advice... Just try it on.  It never hurts to try something new.

I love this designer's site because of how they explain sillouettes and fabric options -Amy Kuschel

Another option to silk?  Soft, breatheable cotton!  Look at this gorgeous cotton lace dress from Jim Hjelm.