30 Days of Wedding Memories: Searching for THE Dress

Around about the time Kevin and I got engaged, I was watching a Hallmark movie (again, seriously addicted to them!) and I saw a wedding gown that I fell in love with. The dress was simple. It was strapless, made of satin, had an a-line silhouette, and was trimmed in beads around the waist and top. Right away, I made up my mind. I wanted a dress EXACTLY.LIKE.THAT! So when I started making my way to Bridal shops, I just knew my search was going to be easy and I was going to find my dress right away. But girl was I WRONG!

One random weekday, my mom and Alyson (best friend, favorite neighbor, & maid of honor) made our way to Judith Warren to look at wedding dresses. After trying on a few gowns and leaving disappointed, we headed to Burlington to check out Bridal Mart. As soon as I walked in the door, I was overwhelmed! There were literally thousands of dresses! We walked around and browsed rack after rack of gowns. I grabbed a few to try on and I just knew one of those dresses would be THE ONE. However, seven dresses later, and still no perfect dress. After that seventh dress, I started to feel frustrated but then the lady who was helping us suggested that we look at other dresses that weren't exactly what I had thought I wanted. I thought, "Hey, why not? It couldn't hurt". So we began our search again. And then, I found them. Two beautiful Say Yes to the Dress worthy dresses; one with ruffles, the other with chic flowers. Anxious I tried them both on. Only to find that I loved them both equally as much and couldn't decide which one to get. My mom liked one, my best friend liked the other. So I did what any girl would do. I picked up my phone and called my Dad. I told him of my dilemma and told him that I'd be texting him photos of the two gowns and I wanted him to tell me which he liked best. Two minutes later, he called with the verdict. Instantly, I started to cry. I didn't realize it until the words were out, but I had hoped he liked the flower one the best but he liked the ruffles. He told me that he liked the flower dress but he didn't like the back of it. But then Dad said these words that I'll never forget and that caused me to cry even harder..."Though, whichever dress you choose, You'll be beautiful and I'll still be happy to walk you down the aisle in it". 

After hanging up the phone, my best friend, mom, and the attendant all told me that the flower dress was the one I had to get because I was so upset that it wasn't the one my dad chose. After one more look in it, I decided they were right. We filled out all of the paperwork and we got ready to pay for it. But then I chickened out. I asked the lady if I could go home, think about it, and come back later in the week. She told me that would be no problem.

After much thinking and debating, I decided to go back one more time and have a looksy because maybe, just maybe, I had missed a dress. So Alyson and I took off after school one day and made our way back to Bridal Mart. I decided that I could not get the flower dress because my dad didn't love it and as my first love, he had to approve. So I paid no attention to the gorgeous flower gown and tried on numerous other dresses. And then, I struck the jack pot. There, hanging between a hundred other dresses, was THE dress that I had saw in the Hallmark movie. It was exactly like I had imagined. I carefully took it off it's rack and tried it on. One look in the mirror and I knew that it was perfect and I had found MY dress!

I went home, showed a picture of it to my parents, and with my dad's approval, I knew I had to get it. The following Sunday, my sister and I headed to Burlington again to pay for the dress (:

The "Flower" dress

The "Ruffle" dress

My Dress

The back was my absolute favorite part!