On the first day of dress shopping

Today I went into David's Bridal with my MOH for my first round of dress shopping (round 2 is tomorrow with my mom). My goal was to limit my options, because I cannot commit to a style: one day I like satin, the next I like lace, and next thing you know I'll be walking down the aisle in a chic potato sack (yes, I actually googled "chic potato sack" to find this link... who knew that would work?).

I was completely unable to do this while engagement ring shopping, which is one of the reasons why I had to pick out the ring for D (that, and he just wasn't getting on the ball fast enough for impatient me). Sure, I liked round cut stones, but mostly only in six-prong solitaires. And I didn't like princess cut, but I might if it were in a clean, modern band. And I didn't want side stones, but I might if they were in halos. And I didn't like too much sparkle or bling, except when the band was a sparkly vintage style. Yeah, in other words, I couldn't narrow down anything until I saw it on my finger (but ended up getting the very first ring I tried on after we started seriously shopping).

It shouldn't be a surprise that I was unable to do this with a dress, also, but I did narrow it down to three at that store that I would consider (and they are all totally, totally different from one another).

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Beaded lace gown with cap sleeves, $799

This was the first dress I tried, and may very well be the dress I buy for my wedding. I tried it in Champagne with an Ivory overlay, and it was gorgeous, and vintage looking, without too much ornamentation and without being too plain (and it looked FABULOUS on me except for the crazy racer back tan lines I sport year-round thanks to my Ultimate Frisbee addiction).

It's funny, because I wasn't too crazy about it in pictures, but I still felt compelled to try it. With a little bit of contrast between the lace and the lining, it's GORGEOUS. The pictures do not do it justice... although it may turn out to be a little more casual garden wedding than I ultimately want. But it looked like me, like something I would wear, and it did look truly special with a plain, ivory chapel length veil. I felt like a bride. A really sexy one; you should have seen how that dress fit. ;) I wish I'd brought my camera!

The only problem was that it was too short with the four-inch heels I'd tried the dress on with. :( And if four inches is too much, than my 4½" heel Pradas (which wouldn't match with the dress anyway) is even more too much, and I can't go buy fancy designer shoes with a two-inch heel, because that's just boring!

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Oleg Cassini brocade strapless dress, $1050

After trying a few dresses that made me less than happy to be there, I tried this dress, which I like more for being more formal and less for being strapless and a little heavy. The dress reminds me of Christmas, which would be great if I were getting married in December, but is less special for the first day of spring. Still, with the exception of a couple of key alterations that would be needed, it fit really nicely. It was a pretty dress. It looked interesting like lace because of the pattern in the brocade, but without being so fussy and delicate (I'm always afraid a sharp heel will go through an allover lace dress). But it probably isn't "the one."

I also tried this dress with the same plain ivory chapel length veil, but it was too long for the dress (I felt). I'd be happier with a fingertip veil for this one, I think.

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Charmeuse V-neck halter, $750

I knew my mom would love this dress, so I tried it on also. I thought it made my waist look a little thicker than it is, which should have annoyed me because I have worked REALLY FREAKING HARD to lose the weight I did (oh, did I mention I got to my goal weight? BECAUSE I TOTALLY DID and [today, at least] I'm like "belly? who has a belly? certainly not me because my abs are flat as a board, bee-yotch" and I'm kind of unreasonably proud of myself). But it didn't annoy me so much because the dress looked HOT. I didn't think so at first (it's a weird dress, and not entirely my style), but the more I saw it, the more I connected with it. I'm not sure it works in the setting, but it felt light as a feather on (by far the most comfortable, softest, easiest to move in dress I tried all day) and I might have actually loved it by the time I took it off.

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Anyway, I'll be sure to have my mom take pictures when I go in tomorrow. Hopefully they will let us take photos!