Friday, February 27, 2009

Putting on THE Dress!!!

*OK, Mr. CC. If you’re reading my blog, this is the last post (for a while) that you CANNOT read. I’m serious here. The other posts all had choices, but now I’m going to talk about my bridal gown and you know how much this means to me to have this be a surprise for you….Seriously, stop reading NOW!

Ok girls, now that he’s gone, I can tell you all about my final appointment with Alfred Angelo. When we last left off, I had four gowns waiting on me in the dressing room and my FMIL in tow to give me some advice and offer her opinion on the dresses.

I was kind of bummed that Amy wasn’t there. I liked her. A lot. She was nice and friendly, gave me her opinion (I looked great in everything – I REALLY liked her!) and was great about averting her eyes when I was standing there in my skivvies…all the best qualities in a salesperson! When I got back to Alfred Angelo that evening, Megan started helping me. She informed me that all of my gowns were still in the dressing room along with the strapless bra I had used earlier and the petty coat. So I skipped on into the dressing room and managed to swap out my clothes for the first dress, I think that it was #5 on the other posts – the one with the zipper. I figured since I could do that one myself, it was easiest to start with.

I got it on and stood on the pedestal appropriately while FMIL and I critiqued the dress. Megan was great to work with. She was younger, probably younger than I am, and had differing opinions about the gowns than Amy had previously voiced. FMIL and I looked at the dress from every angle and talked about all of the good points and bad points to Gown #5. Next.

Since I had already eliminated Gown #2 from the selections, I put on Gown #1 next, as it also didn’t require the petty coat. In this one, like I mentioned earlier, I had my hair up and when I “took the stage” in this gown I felt a little pull at how great it made me look. The outline and shape of my body was absolutely fabulous and the material was lightweight enough to work for outdoors. When FMIL and I were trying to critique this dress, Megan brought up good points about the trials of dealing with cap sleeves. Apparently, the way that I would want them tailored tightly to me so that they didn’t stick out any would cause problems when giving hugs or trying to dance with anyone slightly taller than me. Hmmm….good point trusty side-kick Megan. Hadn’t thought about that. Next.

Gown #3 was up next. I had Megan run off and get the black and ivory beaded sash that Amy had put with the gown earlier, so that I could fully model the style of this gown. When I stepped onto the pedestal in this gown, FMIL was starting to grasp the seriousness of the situation. At one point she looked at me with this bewildered look on her face and said “But ALL of the dresses look so good on you!” Yes. Exactly my dilemma. That’s why you’re here…I thought I had already informed her of how good I looked earlier…maybe not. Or maybe she just didn’t believe me. Now she is starting to grasp the situation.

At this point, we were able to rule out Gown #5. Although we still liked it, we both decided that the shape that Gowns #1 and #3 gave me really brought out the WOW factor that every girl looks for in her wedding dress. We discussed the bustle on this dress at length. I had some concerns regarding the pick ups on the skirt and how the bustle would work with that. Megan was a good sport and got down on hands and knees to arrange a faux bustle so that I could envision it all. She also was handy at getting different veils and tiaras for me to “play” with to get the full effect of the dresses.

I felt better having removed one of the gowns from the selection, but there was still one more dress. FMIL Cotton Candy was almost groaning when I mentioned that there was still one more dress, as we were having a tough time narrowing it all down. Into the dressing room Miss Cotton Candy went one more time, and on came Gown #4.

Now, let’s talk about Gown #4. Remember in my earlier post I had said that the gown didn’t come in the size that Amy had determined that I needed to try on and order. She had brought me a size smaller than I actually needed and just didn’t lace up the corset all the way. So, when I went back into the dressing room to change into Gown #4, Megan was busy putting back all the “bling” headpieces that I had been trying on, and I managed to get out of Gown #3 and into Gown #4 all by myself (no small feat, as anyone who’s tried on wedding dresses before can attest to!). I emerged from the dressing room with the gown clutched to my bosom and the back completely hanging open, since no one can do a corset closure by themselves. FMIL came over to help and then said that she better just watch this one time. Megan came over and laced me up, and maybe no one told her that this gown was not in my size, because that girl LACED ME UP!

You see, I have this picture going through my head while she was lacing me up. Remember that scene in Gone With the Wind when Scarlett is getting laced into her corset for the big picnic or whatever and the maid literally has her foot braced against Scarlett’s back in order to lace her up as small as Scarlett was demanding? Got it in your head? Well, that’s kinda like what this felt like to me. I couldn’t see behind me to see what Megan (or “Hilga the torturer” as I later nicknamed her) was doing, but every once in a while she would give a tug on the back laces that would literally jerk me back a step or two. I was honestly leaning forward and bracing for the pulls. But I have to be honest. When she was done and I “took the stage” the effect was mesmerizing…my whole entire body just lit up from the inside out. I stared at my reflection in the mirror and my entire face just broke out into the biggest smile ever. FMIL Cotton Candy took one look at me, met my eyes in the mirror and said “This is THE one!” And with every little breath that I could take, I agreed.

I’m not kidding. I could barely breathe. But DANG, I looked HOT! My waist was small and my curves were kickin’…thanks to Megan/Hilga.

And all that I could envision was walking down the aisle towards Mr. CC and imagining the expression of his face when he sees me in THIS dress…

With that thought in mind, without even blinking or second-guessing my decision, I told Megan that I wanted to place the order for this dress tonight.

I had found my wedding dress!!!

Here are some pictures that I can share with you of me in the dress. Forgive the quality, as they were taken with my crackberry…and keep in mind that the back "cleavage" that is shown in the back view shouldn’t be there when the dress is in my size and Megan/Hilga wasn’t the one to lace me into it…then again, given the tiny appearance of my waist, maybe Megan/Hilga SHOULD be the one to put me in the dress! LOL!






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