Bridal Dress...CHECK!

Yep. I felt SO good about my choice of gowns. I really hated to even take it off. But when Megan/Hilga undid the corset closure on the back of it, I have to admit that it was NICE to take a deep breath. LOL. So although a little bit sad to remove the dress that made me feel like a million dollars, it’s nice to breathe too.

I slipped back into “regular clothes” (sigh) and headed on over to the counter to finalize the deal. This is where I ran into a slight snag that I hadn’t expected. Megan is taking my information and inputting it onto the order form and we get to the size portion of the form. She tells me that since the dress that I tried on was a little snug, she would order a size larger for me, and that should be fine. OK, Megan, whatever you think is best, right? Well, then she told me that she would order my normal street size, which is an 8. I have to admit to a moment of shock. When Amy had measured me earlier that day, she had recommended that I order a size 14 in my wedding dress. So I promptly told Megan that, to which she gave me a look and then said “But the dress you tried on was a 6, so one size bigger should be perfect.”

I have to admit to some shock at this point. All the other dresses that Amy had me trying on were all in size 14. I remember that this was the one dress that she told me was too small for me, and she didn’t even attempt to lace it all the way when she put me into it. I asked Megan if she could double check the size of the dress that I tried on. She looked into the dress and on the tag and said that yes, it was a size 6. I was floored. And then the next thought that hit me was COOL!

Until we get to the part where I have to initial the order form next to the size that I’m ordering. Megan patiently explains to me that should the dress come in and not fit correctly, that it was my responsibility to re-order the dress and pay full price, that there were no refunds or exchanges. This gave me a moment of pause. FMIL Cotton Candy and I questioned Megan about this, as we were only ordering what THEY were recommending to us, so if it came in wrong, why was that MY responsibility? At this point in the evening, Megan got a little pissy with me and told me that that wouldn’t happen. “If it did happen, which it won’t, we would have to work something out.” But wait a minute, you just told me that once I initial the order form, there’s not refunds or exchanges for ordering the wrong size, right? I’m SO confused.

So I again hesitate over the form. I understand Megan’s frustrations with me, but at the same time, this is a big deal to me! Amy clearly measured me and told me to order a 14, and now Megan is telling me to order an 8. I asked her if she wanted to re-check my measurements to see if maybe Amy made a mistake. She pulled out her handy sizing chart and after a few minutes, said that 14 was right. But she would still order the 8. WHAT?!?!? Now I’m beyond confused and just want to get it right. Megan is clearly agitated at this point, and she kind of rolled her eyes at me and said “Look, you tried on the actual size 6 dress. And it was a bit tight. So a size 8 is right, no matter what the sizing chart says.” I could see her point, so I initialed the paper and paid the 50% down to order the dress.

After finishing all of this FMIL Cotton Candy and I stepped outside to talk about other wedding stuff, and the sizing thing just kept bugging me. FMIL talked it over and we decided that in order for me to have peace of mind and be able to sleep that night (I tend to run towards the obsess-much side of things) that we should go back inside and look at the size on the tag ourselves. You see, somewhere along the way, I had started to worry that she looked at the wrong tag. Or the wrong number on the tag. I know, I know. Obsessive. I get it. Thanks.

So we trot back into the store and find the dress and opened it on up and checked for ourselves. Sure enough, Megan was NOT dyslexic and the size is a 6. Great. Problem solved. FMIL and I stand outside talking for a few more minutes and then go our separate ways for the evening.

But on the way home….yes, you got it. I started to worry again. I called Mr. CC, but he was next to NO help. Then I activated my trusty girl-advice-phone tree. But the branches were apparently not working appropriately as I could get a hold of no one…so I called the store again. Next best option, right? Very careful not to talk to Megan, I explain what happened to the girl unfortunate enough to happen to answer the phone and get her opinion on the whole drama. She asked if I was the one with the great hair trying on style #1136. Thank you for the compliment and yes, that was the dress. She proceeds to tell me that if she were the salesman in that case, she would have ordered one size up from the size that I had on…just like Megan advised me. And then I explain that I would probably be ok if the difference in sizes to order was just one size. Like if Amy told me to order a 10, and Megan said an 8 – I probably wouldn’t think a thing of it. But we’re talking about 3 dress sizes here…a much bigger difference of opinion than I was really comfortable with. To which unknown-name-girl confides to me that Amy tends to order dresses a little big.

Whew. Welcome the HUGE wave of relief. Ok. In that case, order the size 8. I guess I’ll worry about it if it doesn’t fit right when it gets here in 10 weeks…then Megan and I might have to go a round or two. In the meantime, I’ll do my part and start that workout program and get back to my healthy-eating regimen…I have to do my part too, you know? I can hardly WAIT the required 10 weeks…which means that the dress should be here no later than the end of April…

Bridal dress…CHECK!

Was finding your wedding dress as simple as my experience was? Did you fall in love with a gown at the first place that you looked? Did you luck out (like me) and find that the dress of your dreams in the magazine actually worked for your body and your budget?

The Qualms of Bridal Dress Shopping...

I have to admit…I was a little bit nervous about my pending appointment at Alfred Angelo. I HATE trying on clothes. More often than not, I’ll buy something just so that I can take it home to try it on; even if that means that I have to bring it back later. Part of me thinks that’s a really lazy way to approach things, but part of me really doesn’t mind doing it that way.

It’s just that there is not a dressing room mirror out there that is flattering to a woman’s figure. One time, I went into JC Penney’s to look at something, and ended up trying it on in a children’s dressing room as the women’s were all full. They are really evil over there at JCP, because they have those funny mirrors installed in the children’s dressing rooms. Here, you do the mental image - you know the mirror in the funny house at the carnival that makes you look three feet tall and four feet wide? Yeah, that one. Needless to say, I didn’t buy the dress that I tried on that day! I know, I know. It really looked nothing like that in reality, but I couldn’t get over the image in the mirror…too funny.

Anyway, back to the present. What was a talking about? Oh yeah, bad dressing room experiences and bridal stores. So anyway, I was a little nervous. I really didn’t expect to be shopping for my dress yet. Yes, it’s always the first question that people ask you when they find out that you’re getting married, “Do you have your dress yet?” But I hadn’t thought to start actually shopping yet; in fact, I was hoping that I would have a little more time. I mean, come on, who doesn’t want to look their best when they’re trying on wedding dress, right?

Especially because shopping for a wedding dress isn’t like shopping for regular clothes. Someone is IN the dressing room with you and your undies in all of your glory, so there’s a lot to consider. They’re helping you get in and out of petticoats, dresses and undergarments to help “shape” your figure, and it can just be highly embarrassing at times. You have to make sure that you’re groomed – legs, bikini area and underarms – because THAT’S just awkward if you’re not fully prepared for a stranger to see you if you’re not. And for me, and I’ll admit that I’m a little paranoid about these things, I didn’t want to go in on a day when I wasn’t in my good panties. Come on, you can all admit to it. You have underwear that you wear that you wouldn’t want someone else seeing you in. It’s ok. We all have them – granny panties. It’s part of the natural order of the world. But they’re really not supposed to be worn in the presence of others, such as when you’re trying on wedding dresses, according to Miss Cotton Candy.

So like I said, there’s some forethought required to this whole bridal dress shopping for me. And that doesn’t even count any issues or hang ups that you might have about your own body…and I have hang ups. Being a mom of a six year old, I have a different body than a bride that’s right out of college (or still in college) with all the time in the world to work out and stay in shape. There are things that I’m looking for in my wedding dress to hide or camouflage a little bit so that I look my best on my wedding day. And in theory, if weight loss in on the planner at all when you’re a bride, you almost hate to even start wedding dress shopping until some of that weight is gone. They run a tape measure across various parts of your body to take measurements and determine what size of dress that you need to order, and if you’re planning on but haven’t actually started a diet or exercise regiment that size could change. And since bridal gown sizes are so skewed and weird anyway, I just wanted to look differently before I went in for the first time.

And I thought about my weight. I have a good friend who constantly refers to me dressing in “Barbie doll” clothes. Even though I know that I’m larger than I would like to be for me to feel the best about myself, it makes me feel good to have her refer to my clothes like that. A VERY big thanks, DL! So even if my good friends think that I look fine, I know that I would feel better about myself if I lost about 15 pounds. It’s not much, but it’s toning that I’m more interested in. In fact, the actual weight doesn’t bother me as much as how my clothes fit me. I would like for them to be a little bit loser on me than they are, and I would like to be able to wear all of the clothes in my closet, not just the ones in the larger size. Being one size smaller would just open up SO many options with my wardrobe, you know? And if you’ve already lost some weight by the time that someone runs a tape measure across and around you, it’s just better for your own self image since they’re going to tell you to order your dress at least one size larger than you are used to buying them in.

All of this is going through my head that morning after I scheduled the appointment with Alfred Angelo’s for that afternoon. What underwear did I have on? Had I remembered to grab my OWN strapless bra that morning, I know that I thought about getting it, but did I actually get it? When was the last time that I “groomed?” At least one good thing was working for me that day, I had fixed my hair and was having a good hair day.

Anyway. So I have these big plans to start exercising and watching what I eat, but I just haven’t gotten the chance to start any of it yet. So I wasn’t really “ready” to start shopping, if that makes sense. But at this point, it’s a little too late to worry about any of that. The store is having a sale that ends today. I have an appointment scheduled already. So it’s pretty much now or never. Even though I have a little voice in the back of my head telling me that I don’t have to find a dress today…it IS the first place that I’ve stopped to look and what are the odds that I’ll fall for one that I try on the first day? Slim to none, right?

Did you have these same thoughts when you're in a dressing room? Or for you brides out there that are reading this post, did you have these same fears before bridal gown shopping?