The Dress Hunt: I Finally Say "Yes" to My Dress!

(This post is a little long, but the payoff is huge.  Swear. Ok maybe not "huge" but it didn't make much sense to drag this out any longer.)


After visiting four bridal shops, it was finally time for my appointment at Kleinfeld, or as many or my friends called it "the 'Say Yes to the Dress' place."

(source)

Kleinfeld was my ace in the hole.  I knew a visit there was my best shot at finding my wedding dress.  Both Cuz and my older sister bought their dresses from Kleinfeld, and they both insisted I stop wasting my time and just go.  Truth be told, I had a feeling they were right.  But I secretly wanted to come in under budget for my wedding dress, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to do that there (not that they didn't have dresses that were under budget, because they did.  I just knew that I would be drawn to the dresses that were more expensive.  That's just my luck).  So, I made it the last stop on my dress hunt.  


I figured, if by some miracle I didn't find my dress there I could regroup.  The next trip would have included RK Bridal, the Bridal Garden, and Pronovias.  But lucky for me, this visit was a success!


Kleinfeld recommends that you visit their site before your appointment to select and print out your top five dresses.  So armed with pictures of my favorite lovelies, I headed to the salon with my mom and Yiayia (grandma).  Bridesmaid KuBee met us at there and almost had a heart attack when she saw Randy, the fashion director--she's a big fan of the show.  My consultant Diane was amazing, she really understood the look I was going for (I think my exact words were 'sophisticated and effortlessly elegant') and patiently let me try on dresses that did not come close to that look, just because I needed to rule them out. 


Here was my top 5 (all images from the Kleinfeld site, unless noted):

  (1. Alvina Valenta)

(2. Jim Hjelm)

(3. Romona Keveza)

(4. Monique Lhuillier)

(5. Reem Acra)

Dreamy, no?  I'm not sure why the Jim Hjelm is cut off like that. Maybe it's just so pretty that a full picture isn't necessary?  

Anyway...

I saw that there was a Romona Keveza/Legends by Romona Keveza trunk show taking place that day, so I went to the site and printed out a couple from the Legends line as well:

(6. Legends by Romona Keveza)

(7.Legends by Romona Keveza,source)

I printed out a tiny picture of a Legends dress I spotted in a dress preview on The Knot, but of course I forgot it at home.  The strapless Legends dress (#6) was as close as I could get to it. 

I tried on almost all of these dresses, except for the Monique Lhuillier dress--I thought it was part of the Bliss line, but it wasn't and I refused to try on anything that was over budget.  So Diane found me something similar from the Bliss line.  

(8. Bliss, Monique Lhuillier, source)

And then she shocked me with the dress that was almost the one (at least for my mom), Maldives.  That Diane, I tell ya, she's a pro--she pulled it all on her own!  

(9. Reverie by Melissa Sweet, source)

And my mom hated it!  She actually said "I'm so glad you didn't listen to us, this is not so nice now."  Phew ma, I'm so glad I didn't listen to you too!

After I tried everything on, it was clear that there were three favorites.  The strapless mermaid style dress from the Bliss line, the strapless Legends by Romona Keveza gown, and (sigh) the one I chose.  I'm sorry, I'm a horrible,  horrible blogger, but I can't show you my dress!  It's too risky, and I'm too paranoid.  But I will tell you that the tiny picture I left at home?  That was it. And Diane pulled that for me without asking too!

And I CAN say that AAAGH I love it!  It is from the new Legends by Romona Keveza line and it is absolutely not what I thought I wanted in a dress.  But man, that Romonza Keveza knows how to nail a silhouette! When I walked out into the main salon, I got butterflies.  Mainly because I could feel all eyes on me, and because I felt great in it too!  Suddenly, I was in front of the mirror with a veil on my head and I could picture the Bear standing up at the altar.  That's when my face turned beet red.  Then I realized that people were watching me have this moment, and I teared up out of embarrassment.

As all of this was happening, another bride saw me and asked to try on the sample I was wearing.  As luck would have it, they had two samples (is that normal?)!  I saw her reflection in the mirror, and I said to Diane "you know, the dress that girl is wearing is gorgeous!"  She laughed and told me it was the same dress--I must have sounded crazy.  In that moment, I knew that I was being way too critical of myself and I needed to let my insecurities go.  We were in the exact same dress--I couldn't have looked too different!  I looked back and saw my Yiayia's face, she was beaming. So were my mom and KuBee. And just then, Diane came up to me and our exchange went something like this:

Diane: "You're not gonna make me say it, are you?  I can get the camera crew here..."

Me: "Please no." (My face was starting to turn red again)

D: "Is this your dress?"

Me: (Nodding) "Mmhmm."

D: "You gotta say it!  Is this your dress?"

Me: (Mumbling) "Um. Yeah."

D: "You have to say yes!"

Me: "Um. Ok yes. Let's go back to the room!"

And that's how I said yes to MY dress!  The best part is that I was able to get a discount on it because of the trunk show!  Score!  So I didn't end up going way over budget.  And because my dress is so new, there aren't any pictures of it online (I stand corrected, the new runway pics are now up on their site, and phew, I still love it), my dress won't come in until May, and I didn't take any pictures of myself in it.  So that's one less thing to be indecisive about.  Woohoo!

Did anyone else have a hard time finding a dress?  Anyone else have to just "bite the bullet?"