{best dressed: bridal edition}

So last Wednesday, my soon-to-be mother-in-law (someone should ban me from using dashes, by the way) and I went dress shopping. We went to David's Bridal and didn't book an appointment so we squeezed in 30 minutes to squeeze me into like 8 different dresses. Let me just take a moment to say how proud I am of how systematic we were. Half of the time I would start to unzip the dress before I even got in the room and thanks to the bridal saran-wrap slips/bustier contraction they wrapped me in, I wasn't flashing everyone everything.

The purpose really was to go try on different sihoulettes so I could streamline my search. No point in spending time looking at fit and flare gowns if they make me look like I'm smuggling two watermelons under a belt on my hips. (Which they do, by the way.)

I went in with an idea of what I wanted: fitted, lace, and vintage-looking. I'm happy to find style numbers if anyone is interested.

Oh, and just a heads up: I literally rolled out of bed and threw on some yoga pants to go dress shopping. No make-up, glasses, and not even brushed hair. Beware. :)

This one did nothing for me. It was heavy and beaded all over the place. And you see how that train is all wrapped up under me. Yeah.

 

 

I wanted to like this one. It is a soft a-line with lace straps and a key hole back. The material was really soft and sweet but it just didn't work out for me. It ended up being a little see-through (you can see the darker white color of the bustier they wrangled me into) and just didn't fit right. The lace cap sleeves/key hole back made me feel like I had man-shoulders. Not really the way a bride wants to feel. Momma-in-law and I both liked the sash better when it was flipped to the plain satin side than the ornate beaded side that was intended to show.

 This was Momma-in-laws favorite. I'm pretty sure I saw her start to tear up when she saw me in it which melted my heart. It was gorgeous with the shimmery simple beading and the pleats on the full a-line ball gown skirt. In the end though, it didn't feel right. I want something that we can play on the tractor in and really run around. I know that you only get to wear a poofy dress once but I think I might have to pass this once up.

This was my favorite. It is a dress that I have stalked for much longer than I want to admit and to be honest, I was afraid that it would look terrible on me. I was happily surprised when I put it on and felt great. Oh, except that I couldn't really breathe comfortably. They only had one size that was a little too small. The shape is a soft trumpet, which is actually similar to the shape of my prom dress from high school. 

Out of all of the ones that I tried on, the last one is my favorite. I've already showed it to a bunch of people and have started referring to it as "my dress." Really, it isn't. The shape is right but there are several factors that need to be altered. Aside from the obvious length alteration (I'm a staggering 5'1'' thank-you-very-much), there are some other things that I want to change. Strapless is not an option for me. Even aided with duct tape and superglue, I don't trust a strapless dress to stay up. Also, I want to add a sweetheart neckline. Oh, and no train. Just say no to trains just like you should say no to drugs. No trains or cocaine. That can be a new slogan.

So now that I've showed you the bridal goods, let's talk money. (You know that I'm always going to bring it back to money.) Why am I not planning to buy this dress if I love the basics of it and the alterations are pretty simple? Well.. it costs $500. In wedding dress world, that is nothing. In Erin world, that is a lot of friggin' money for one dress. One dress that I am going to wear once and maybe a couple of times grocery shopping. Not happening. Instead I'm going to keep an eye out online at used versions of it or consider sewing it myself (the pattern is really simple if you look at the construction).

The good news? I have a lot of time to figure it out.

Thanks for going dress shopping with me, Momma.

So what do you guys think? Suggestions on where to find a similar dress cheap? Think I'm crazy for considering sewing my own dress?