Honestly, finding a wedding dress was one of the least of my priorities on my wedding checklist. Yeah, I know you're supposed to give the bridal store a good 4 to 6 months to allow your dress to arrive, so going sooner rather than later is probably a good idea. Yet every time I opened up a wedding magazine or browsed the internet for dress inspiration, I was instantly overwhelmed. Sometimes there just too much inspiration out there, ya know? Let's just say that I wasn't exactly running out of my front door to go to the nearest bridal boutique the moment I got engaged. Plus, I'm not a particularly picky person when it comes to dresses. If I find something that fits and compliments my petite frame then that's good enough for me.
I decided that my strategy for finding that perfect dress would consist of spending an afternoon at a bridal boutique that had a good variety, trying on all types of styles to see what looked best on me, and make a decision then and there. If the dress was reasonably priced then great, where do I sign? If not, I was prepared to take note of the designer and dress style and compare prices from different sources. I really just wanted to get it over with and move on with the wedding planning.
A few months ago, I made an appointment at a boutique located in Orange County. My mom, sister, and I walked in to this fairly large store with a good selection of gowns. When our attendant asked me if I had a dress in mind, I told her no; I wanted to try on different styles. So, she started bringing in the gowns. It was time to play dress up! After trying on several dresses, I found a couple of them that fit my criteria. They fit me well, made me feel "bridey," and I could totally see myself marrying my man in either one.
Similar to many bridal boutiques, I was not allowed to take any pictures. Alright, alright, I get it. You don't want me to use my amateur photo as a design sketch. I can easily recreate this masterpiece of a gown using my home sewing kit. You know this. Convinced that I had found the candidates for my wedding dress and given that I was not allowed to take any pictures, I tried to extract as much information as I could from the attendant: Can I at least get the name of the designers and the dress styles? Huh? No? It's against store policy? Oh what, you'll give me the designer names after all but not the style numbers? Okay.... I'm going to go home now...and never come back...
Yeah. I was pretty disappointed. I was not about to give my business to a company that did not have my best interest in mind, so I up and left. When I got home I did some digging and found the two dresses that I really liked. Since I didn't end up choosing either of them I'll go ahead and post pictures.
Lovely, no? I really loved the romantic simplicity of these dresses. I was determined to try them on again at a different boutique. About a month later, I visited a boutique located in my hood- downtown LA. Although they didn't have the dresses that I was looking for, I was pleasantly surprised with their selection. I'll share the result of the search for mi vestido blanco soon enough...
(hint: I found my dream dress.)
Now what I really wanna know is this: is this type of experience common for other brides-to-be searching for that perfect wedding dress? Do bridal boutiques really think it's okay to play us that way?
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