What I DIDN'T Say Yes To

So now that the wedding is just shy of 3 months behind us (already?), I thought it'd be fun to take a look at the dresses that turned out not to be the one. While it was a fun afternoon of playing dress up, I was glad to have settled on the one that was surely calling my name. I had such a great experience with David's Bridal in Deptford, I even sent a thank you to my consultant because she was so caring and considerate, not only of me, but of Mom and Tara as well. She was sure to make it a special experience for them, too.

First, we'll start with the dress I fell in love with in a magazine, and was the whole point of my starting the search at David's. It had a halter neckline, gathering and detail at the waist, and a nice A-line skirt. How could I go wrong? When we got there, I shoved the picture in the consultant's face, and off she went. The store had only one left, and it was only a size larger than I needed. I quickly put it on, and stormed out to gaze upon myself in the wall of mirrors. It was the first wedding dress to touch my skin, and it was the one I had been fantasizing about for months prior. I was in love! On a scale of 1 to 10, I declared it an 11! Then, however, as I began looking closer, I saw that maybe it wasn't the best choice. Among other things, I had it on for about 5 minutes and the halter strap was already beginning to chafe my neck. In any event, this wasn't the one. Slightly heartbreaking, but I had other dresses to try.

Next came another dress that I had seen in a magazine and torn out. I guess you could call it my second choice contender. It was simple but very pretty, and perhaps its best feature was that it was all lace, which I had recently (and rather unexpectedly) fallen in love with. This one crept up on me, and pretty much as soon as I walked out, we all knew it was the one. Yes, this was the dress that marked November 5 as the beginning of my married life. I even later bought the very veil that I tried on with it.

High on lace and straplessness, there were three more options. This one was a marriage of the first two dresses: lace, but with a halter neckline. It seemed that each dress I put on got heavier and the train got longer! This one had a lot of beadwork and a rather long train. It was probably my second favorite of the bunch after all was said and done, but I was just a little concerned about the super long train, the halter getting scratchy, and the weight of it getting uncomfortable sooner rather than later. But very elegant, nonetheless, eh?

This was a dress I requested, as something different, but again, totally not the look for me. No cupcake dresses here. I spent the least amount of time in this one.

Last up was a pick purely for fun, chosen by the consultant. It was a kind of palate cleanser, as it was so different than the rest. Yes, the princess dress! It surely was fun, and I entertained the other patrons by parading around and curtseying and waving like I was the bloody queen of England. Definitely not the look I was going for.

After the princess dress, I shimmied back into the #1 choice just to be sure, and not too long after I was walking out of the store with the dress triumphantly hoisted over my head in its garment bag, bound for Mom and Dad's house for safe- (and secret-) keeping.

And here you are, a few snaps of the dress from The Big Day, courtesy of our photographer, Pamela Paraison. I think you'll agree it was the right decision. : )