There are a lot of different decisions you have to make while planning a wedding. One of those decisions that us ladies tend to build up a lot of emotion into is our wedding dress. You want to look your absolute best, and it’s a day that you don’t plan on redoing, so the pressure that is placed on this decision is immense. I was already stressing about wedding dress shopping, mainly because I knew my mom and my sister weren’t going to be there. They live pretty far away and my mom was paying for a lot of the wedding (and my dress), so it would have been hard for her to make it to dress appointments. I relied on really great friends and beautiful ladies along the way to be there at these appointments.
I tried on a lot of dresses.
Well… more than I thought I was going to. I also went to 4 different stores. I wasn’t going to let a single dress go unturned. I honestly just wanted something REALLY comfortable and REALLY… me.
In this long process, I came up with a set of rules/things you NEED to know before you go dress shopping.
You’re going to like more than 1 dress.
Wedding dresses are made to make you feel like pure gold… and they do. Of course there will be a few that simply don’t cut it, but you will absolutely like more than one. If the thought of this gives you anxiety, please start preparing now. I honestly loved like 10 dresses and could see myself getting married in them. They’re gorgeous! When I had to narrow it down to 2 dresses, I simply left the store and slept on it. I knew I would love either one, but felt like the responsible thing to do was to think about it more. When I finally chose the dress, I think I cried because I was just happy that I made a decision. I’m not sure a piece of clothing could ever make me cry… unless it was like a sweater given to me by Taylor Swift (one can dream).
Stick to your budget. Obviously.
But seriously, don’t even try on a dress that is over budget. Guess what, that price is just the baseline. That dress you like that is already over your budget will also have a ton of tax added on top of it- and I bet you will need to get it altered and bustled etc. Just don’t do it. I tried on 2 dresses that were over my budget- A Claire Pettibone and a Hayley Paige. Luckily, the Claire Pettibone just wasn’t me. The Hayley Paige dress was actually gorgeous, and I ended up just putting it back on the rack. You are going to wear this dress for one day… it can sting, but don’t burn down the bank.
Your future husband would marry you if you wore a garbage bag.
This is probably the hardest pill to swallow. Again, us girls like to put a lot of value into this dress that we wear for 10 hours. I can’t even tell you how many times Zack said, “you’re going to be my wife no matter what you wear.” What that means, is that this dress can’t be everything. You are marrying the man of your dreams. Your wedding day is about your decision to commit to someone for the rest of your life. Maybe that’s why I loved every dress and had a hard time picking something out. I knew Zack would be smiling at me at the end of the aisle anyways. Society and the wedding industry puts so much pressure on brides to stress over these details, when they all wash up to material things. I remember when my ex-boyfriend’s mom saw my sleeve tattoo for the first time and asked “well, what are you going to do on your wedding day?” It made me laugh to myself. If my biggest concern on my wedding day is what I look like or if my tattoos show, then I don’t think I’m there for the right reasons.
Here’s the thing- you are beautiful. You were created in the image of God himself. You are and will be an absolutely stunning bride- NO MATTER WHAT YOU WEAR.
Your person will be waiting for you at the alter and they are going to marry your because your heart is GOLDEN. The mystery is in the marriage- not the dress.
Just remember that.
As stated, I tried on a lot of dresses. A lot of them I LOVED. A few of them were ok. And there were only 2 maybe that I simply didn’t like. I thought just for fun, I would share pictures from my wedding dress shopping experience. Some of my facial expressions are priceless.
In the end, I truly loved the dress I picked out. It was whimsy, unique and simply- me.
I think I’ll wear a garbage bag to our vow renewal in 50 years just to be sure Zack still loves me for my golden heart.
xoxo