Say YES to the dress...
I found my wedding dress the weekend after I got engaged... in an hour (is that normal?) I guess I have been watching too many episodes of "Say Yes to the Dress" on TLC. The reality show is based out of the famous Klienfeld bridal store in NYC. Bridal consultants expect their appointments to be no more than an hour and a half long and they like for you to choose 5 to 7 gowns to try on and pick from that selection. For most brides this method works, for others not so much.
Up until this point in my life I have never, I repeat NEVER tried on a wedding gown, nor would I allow myself to try one on until I got engaged; then and only then would the time be right for me to try one on. So the Saturday of my birthday weekend Roomie, Mom, #1 sister, and myself had an appointment with Circle Park Bridal in Addison, TX. I was excited but scared at the same moment. The reality of "being engaged" had not hit me yet and for some reason I knew it would when I saw myself in my first wedding gown.
We arrived at 11:00am on Saturday morning, the store was brand new and this was only their 2nd weekend open... these gowns were fresh. The store was adorned with silver and hot pink accents, it was every girl's playground. I'm not a girly-girl, but you put any girl in that store and they would instantly start to skip, giggle, and coo a every little gown, hairpiece, and vail hung on the wall. Andrea the store owner assisted me in picking out a few gowns, I didn't feel like I got to see any gowns that were my style... I honestly didn't even know what "my style" was. Based on the few gowns I had picked, I honestly wasn't excited about the one's that were picked out for me. I was hoping to find THE dress within the first few moments... not sure that was going to happen. Before I knew it I was being pulled into the dressing room and then.... it began.
I had a lady in the dressing room with me to assist me in trying to get the dresses on... some of those things are pretty complicated. First dress: I looked into the mirror and there I was for the first time... in a white dress. Something in my eyes began to glow and then the tears came... I couldn't help it, I had never seen myself this way. I was a bride. I was bawling my eyes out before I had even come out of the dressing room to show my audience...and THEY were crying before they even saw me too! (What a girl-moment) The curtains to the dressing room opened and I stepped up onto the pedestal. Granted this gown was definitely NOT me; too much bling, a lot of satin, and a little too fancy...but it was a wedding gown, and I was in it. We all 4 savored the moment and then it was gone...next dress.
Fast forward 10 minutes and 2 dresses later and I was back on the pedestal. This dress was classy, vintage, lace...this dress was me. The moment I stepped out of the dressing room the cry-fest began all over again. It was as if the entire bridal store stopped just to look at me. The other 2 girls there with appointments stared, you could tell they had tried on hundreds of gowns and the gowns were all starting to look the same. (and btw I have no sympathy for girls like that--sorry) I decided to try on a few more...
Fast forward 10 minutes and 2 gowns later and I never even stepped out of the dressing room for these dresses, they just didn't compare. I said to the woman, "let me try on that 3rd dress again." There I was again back in the dress that made me melt.
"Yeah, this is the one, this is my dress. Let's get it."
"Umm you mean that's it, your done? You don't want to go anywhere else or try anymore on?" says my mother, the bargain shopper and sale scavenger.
"Nope, I'm done. Y'all ready for lunch?"
"...but it's not even noon yet, we've only been here 45 minutes!" says mom.
"Yep, it was that easy mom." :) (isn't she precious)
Preface for the following: I am usually not inclined to share the dollar amount of what I pay for anything, however I'm choosing to share with you how much my dress cost and the following story because it's pretty awesome how Jesus lines things up for the one's He loves. (and most girls want to know this sort of stuff anyway)
My dress ending up costing $777...hmm isn't there something significant about that number? :)
A couple of days after we left the bridal store I received
I went in for alterations the next day with Roomie and to my disdain the alterations lady quoted me $521!!!! That was more than my dress cost!! Was this right? I mean grant it, she was taking the dress from a size 10 down to a 6 but what in the world costs THAT much to alter the thing?! I asked Roomie what she thought and she said that the lady was quoting me a pretty reasonable price for all that was involved in taking the dress down to my size. I decided to get over it, but I did want to call Andrea to let her know that her alteration quotes may need to go up. Nonetheless I was appreciative of what had already been compensated to me and I was still very blessed to be getting the deal that I was for the dress.
I called Andrea later that day to tell her thank you for all that she had done to compensate me for the gown and tell her how gracious she was to be so kind towards me. She immediately asked about my alterations appointment..."Well, I was a little shocked with the price she quoted me," I said. "What did she quote you?" she asked. I told her.... long pause...."YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!?" she exclaimed, "Are you serious?" We talked a little more about the appointment and how she had constantly changed from alterations companies because their prices were starting to soar. "Let me call you back," she says.
Later that evening I received a call from Andrea... I had no idea what she was going to tell me, I mean what else was there to do? The alterations lady wasn't going down on her price and Andrea had already been so generous as to compensate me for the order mix up, what was she going to say? Here is what she said, "Laura, I talked it over with my husband and we are going to take another $200 off of your dress." I GASPED--WHAT?!!? "No, no we really want you have this dress and you have been so great to work with. You haven't yelled at us or been a "bridezilla," you have been precious and so appreciative of everything we have done and that just makes us want to give you the dress for what you deserve." I couldn't believe my ears... that put my dress down to $292....I was in shock. This was AMAZING! Thank you Lord! You take care of your bride :)
________________________________
Fast forward to last Friday... I get a call out of the blue.
"Laura this is Leanne ----, ummm where are you honey?"
"Umm where am I supposed to be?"
"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE PICKING UP YOUR WEDDING GOWN WITH ME!"
Yeah, I totally forgot to pick my dress up from the alterations lady, I felt horrible and then she says (just to drive it on home) "Well, honey I'm just glad nothing's wrong. I mean... most brides don't FORGET to pick up their wedding dresses!"
BRIDE FAIL! Haha! Ohh but worth a good laugh. I will pick up my gown next week.... gosh Laura, smooth move--what kind of bride are you?!!
And here's my dress!
Web-site of the day: I may have posted something similar to this before but it's still funny to look at. Enjoy
http://tackyweddings.com/
Fast forward 10 minutes and 2 dresses later and I was back on the pedestal. This dress was classy, vintage, lace...this dress was me. The moment I stepped out of the dressing room the cry-fest began all over again. It was as if the entire bridal store stopped just to look at me. The other 2 girls there with appointments stared, you could tell they had tried on hundreds of gowns and the gowns were all starting to look the same. (and btw I have no sympathy for girls like that--sorry) I decided to try on a few more...
Fast forward 10 minutes and 2 gowns later and I never even stepped out of the dressing room for these dresses, they just didn't compare. I said to the woman, "let me try on that 3rd dress again." There I was again back in the dress that made me melt.
"Yeah, this is the one, this is my dress. Let's get it."
"Umm you mean that's it, your done? You don't want to go anywhere else or try anymore on?" says my mother, the bargain shopper and sale scavenger.
"Nope, I'm done. Y'all ready for lunch?"
"...but it's not even noon yet, we've only been here 45 minutes!" says mom.
"Yep, it was that easy mom." :) (isn't she precious)
Preface for the following: I am usually not inclined to share the dollar amount of what I pay for anything, however I'm choosing to share with you how much my dress cost and the following story because it's pretty awesome how Jesus lines things up for the one's He loves. (and most girls want to know this sort of stuff anyway)
My dress ending up costing $777...hmm isn't there something significant about that number? :)
A couple of days after we left the bridal store I received
I went in for alterations the next day with Roomie and to my disdain the alterations lady quoted me $521!!!! That was more than my dress cost!! Was this right? I mean grant it, she was taking the dress from a size 10 down to a 6 but what in the world costs THAT much to alter the thing?! I asked Roomie what she thought and she said that the lady was quoting me a pretty reasonable price for all that was involved in taking the dress down to my size. I decided to get over it, but I did want to call Andrea to let her know that her alteration quotes may need to go up. Nonetheless I was appreciative of what had already been compensated to me and I was still very blessed to be getting the deal that I was for the dress.
I called Andrea later that day to tell her thank you for all that she had done to compensate me for the gown and tell her how gracious she was to be so kind towards me. She immediately asked about my alterations appointment..."Well, I was a little shocked with the price she quoted me," I said. "What did she quote you?" she asked. I told her.... long pause...."YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!?" she exclaimed, "Are you serious?" We talked a little more about the appointment and how she had constantly changed from alterations companies because their prices were starting to soar. "Let me call you back," she says.
Later that evening I received a call from Andrea... I had no idea what she was going to tell me, I mean what else was there to do? The alterations lady wasn't going down on her price and Andrea had already been so generous as to compensate me for the order mix up, what was she going to say? Here is what she said, "Laura, I talked it over with my husband and we are going to take another $200 off of your dress." I GASPED--WHAT?!!? "No, no we really want you have this dress and you have been so great to work with. You haven't yelled at us or been a "bridezilla," you have been precious and so appreciative of everything we have done and that just makes us want to give you the dress for what you deserve." I couldn't believe my ears... that put my dress down to $292....I was in shock. This was AMAZING! Thank you Lord! You take care of your bride :)
________________________________
Fast forward to last Friday... I get a call out of the blue.
"Laura this is Leanne ----, ummm where are you honey?"
"Umm where am I supposed to be?"
"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE PICKING UP YOUR WEDDING GOWN WITH ME!"
Yeah, I totally forgot to pick my dress up from the alterations lady, I felt horrible and then she says (just to drive it on home) "Well, honey I'm just glad nothing's wrong. I mean... most brides don't FORGET to pick up their wedding dresses!"
BRIDE FAIL! Haha! Ohh but worth a good laugh. I will pick up my gown next week.... gosh Laura, smooth move--what kind of bride are you?!!
And here's my dress!
Web-site of the day: I may have posted something similar to this before but it's still funny to look at. Enjoy
http://tackyweddings.com/
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