A Dress Shopping Extravaganza!

We went shopping for a wedding dress yesterday. The goal was to hit up several shops and mainly just get an idea for what I liked and would want, not to buy one. We only ended up going to Alysse's and David's before we were hungry and tired and I got a migraine, but we met our goals. And yes, I picked one, but I'm saving it for the end!

We started off at Alysse's, and the party included me, Kyle, Tianna, and Josh (Kyle's roommate who's going into fashion design and is basically our wedding consultant), as well as Kyle's sister Mollie for part of it. (Kyle's sisters were horrified that he was going along, but as most of you know, I detest shopping, and I needed him there to keep me sane. Plus, I wanted his input, which he mostly refused to give, saying he wanted me to get the dress I wanted, not the one he wanted. Still, I was glad he was there.) This was the first dress:We all really liked the general cut and shape of the thing, but it seemed a bit simplistic.

This next dress is one that Josh decided I needed to try on. Tianna told him I would hate it, but he said I needed to try it anyway. The consultant working with me made it very clear that this was Josh's pick:As you can see, the thing was ridiculous. But it was fun to try on, anyway. :D

This next dress was the second-favorite from Alysse's. It's just very pretty:I loved the wrapping and the beadwork—nothing ostentatious, but very elegant.

Somewhere in here, a veil got put on me, and it was very weird. (Sorry, no pics from Alysse's with a veil, but most of the ones from David's have them.) I guess that before that, it just felt like shopping for an unusually beautiful dress. As soon as I saw myself in a veil, though, it really hit me that this was for a wedding dress. I actually hadn't necessarily been planning on wearing a veil, but I think I'll have to now. The effect was amazing.

I know you can't really see the front of this dress in this pic, but what I really loved about it was the back anyway—check out all those buttons! Snazzy:
Okay, this dress was the favorite from Alysse's. (I don't think the picture does it justice.) Still quite simple, but really beautiful:
So so far, this was the dress to beat. With that in mind, we headed over to David's, stopping first to drop Josh off at home. Mollie had already left, so it was now just T, Kyle, and me. One of the first questions I got asked at David's was if I was gonna want sleeves (unlike Alysse's, David's is a national chain that doesn't cater to us weird modesty fanatics). Fortunately, they realize where they're located and make appropriate provisions. They had cute little bolero jackets to try on, and she explained that it's a very common alteration for them to take one of those, fit it, and make it match the dress (replicating beadwork, etc.) so it looks nice. I've never been a big fan of the bolero, but I can see how it could very easily work very well with some of these dresses.

This was the first dress I tried on there, and it was very pretty:Some of the beadwork seemed at bit much, though, and I just wasn't sold.

And now we go out of order, so I can save the best for last. On this next picture, you can't see the front, which was really quite pretty. But, again, the really awesome part was the back:
After we'd tried on a few dresses, I asked my consultant if she could bring me something "big and floofy." Not for serious, mind you, just because I wanted to try one on. And boy, did she come through for me:T couldn't even take a picture for at least 3 minutes because she was laughing so hard. Kyle about died. And you can't tell in this picture, but there are even rhinestones on the skirt! The silly thing even had a train. Seriously, she came into the dressing room with her arms just overflowing in tulle. It basically took up the entire dressing room. That ridiculous skirt just kept going and going... It was a great stress reliever, though. We all laughed ourselves silly.

And now, what we've all been waiting for, the dress I actually chose:I didn't think I would like it, because of the colors: it's ivory, with a champagne overlay. I never really pictured what my wedding dress would look like before, but I had always figured it would be white, y'know? But the longer I stood in this dress, the more I loved it. It's just so dang gorgeous! And there are so many things I loved about it: the way the ribbon came together in the front, the beadwork, even the color contrast. And I think the jacket works great with it, even before the alterations that will make it even better.

When we finished shopping, I was really torn between the favorite from Alysse's and the one from David's. I thought the one from David's was prettier and more elegant, but it was also not white. And it required that I wear a floofy slip, which I had really been hoping to avoid (though it is the smallest of the floofy slips). Once I adjusted to the idea of a non-white dress, however, I realized I was really leaning toward the one from David's. So I called them back today, paid for it, and set up an appointment for my fitting. That's tomorrow, and we'll sort out exactly how to do the jacket (or, possibly, sleeves) then. In the meantime, I'm very pleased. Even if it doesn't look exactly how I had expected my dress to look, it makes me feel elegant and beautiful, which is exactly what I was looking for. :D