Did I say “yes” to the dress?

And three of the dresses I said “no” to!

You may think it might be a little early to buy a wedding dress for a July 2024 wedding, but did you know it can take up to 6-8 months for a dress to come in? Then you have to alter it, which can take another 2-3 months. So although the thought of committing to a dress this early scares the bajeebers out of me, I did the thing!

Earlier on the day of my appointment, my stylist called me to ask some questions to try to figure out what my style and preferences are. Like the fashion-obsessed, detail oriented, way too organized person I am, I sent her two dress-related Pinterest boards. She could see that my style preference is pretty retro/vintage, but I also said I love the color gold, empire waists, am picky about lace, and I asked “do you happen to have any of the celestial style dresses like I’ve been seeing everywhere online?”

Coming into the store, I was immediately drawn to the sparkling walls, covered with heavy gold glitter. It was like when I used to go with my mom to Target and she’d get annoyed with me because I’d get distracted from what we needed to do because of all the shiny, glittery, sparkly things I saw. Of course, my mom reminded me of that. Meanwhile, my friend and I were wondering if what the glitter on the wall felt like. Upon going up 3 flights of stairs, I decided to to touch the wall to find out. Yes, the glittery wall did indeed feel like the real thing. Grit and all.

Once we settled in on a couch, I went into the dressing room with my stylist. She asked if she could come in while I changed out of my normal clothing. In hindsight, I’m not really sure how someone could try on all those dresses without her in there, but that’s a mystery I will never know the answer to.

On their website, they had said to come prepared with a strapless bra. I went to the end of the earth to try and find one that fit me, and the one I was wearing was so uncomfortable, that when I was told I wouldn’t need it because all the dresses had built in bra cups, I died a little inside.

The first dress that caught my eye in the dressing room was the celestial dress that I had asked for! I tried that one on first. When I saw myself in the mirror, I giggled gleefully like a giddy little girl:

I felt like when the fairy godmother waved her wand around Cinderella’s rags and turned them into a beautiful dress. I loved it and was excited about it, but I was not about to choose the first dress I tried.

The next dress I tried I knew I wouldn’t be interested in, but I tried it because I couldn’t resist the sparkle of the golden glitter. It was a definite no for me, but it did help us determine we really liked where the waistline hit me and the faux corset style. Later, my friend said it had looked like I was “lit up like a giant disco ball!” The picture doesn’t do justice to the dress’ intense sparkle. It was actually just as flashy as the wallpaper.

There were two other dresses I tried on after this one that I did not come out with, they were that bad. One made me look like a grandma, and the other one was so unimpressive I forgot what it looked like. So, there’s no photo evidence of them, sorry.

It was time for a break and I came out in a robe that was definitely not as glamorous as the wedding gowns. For all the sparkle in the whole place, it was a shame that the robe didn’t glow or something.

The stylist came back with some more dresses. I tried one that I had asked her to pull from their website:

It was cute, but too “frou-frou” and puffy and I didn’t like how concentrated the embroidery was on top. It also just didn’t have that “wow!” factor I was looking for.

I tried on another simple, poofy dress, but didn’t even finish putting it on before we took it off.

“So,” the stylist said, “do you want to put the starry dress back on?” It seemed like that was the end, but I felt like I hadn’t been impressed enough by any other dress yet.

I loved the stars, but wasn’t sure if it was right, it seemed maybe too trendy or gimmicky. It was all about the dress, not me.

And it felt more like the fairy godmother herself, not Cinderella. I love the fairy godmother, but this was the look I had been envisioning for Halloween, not my wedding.

After trying on 7 dresses, I felt like there was still one other dress waiting for me. We were all a little tired, maybe a little frustrated, the stylist wasn’t sure what to do. But then she came back with a dress that was more magical than the fairy godmother’s wand.

Obviously, you won’t be seeing that one, because I said yes to it! (As cheesy as I think that sounds). But the dress I chose makes me feel so beautiful. It wasn’t about the dress, it was all about me. The dress doesn’t distract or detract. It feels like it shows my true self, without hiding behind anything. Something clicked when I looked at myself in the mirror. It helped me confirm and be confident in the fact that there’s so much to love about myself. And that’s what it should all be about. 💖