Sample Shopping City! Population: Me.

Once the dust settled on my dress drama, I realized that I needed to look for a dress right away.  So as I let the information soak in, I asked the salon if I could try some gowns on before I left sans dress. 


And just like that, I entered the world of sample dress shopping.
  
I dug through the racks on a mission, there had to be something that could come close to what I want.  Wait--what do I want?  What am I doing?  Am I seriously looking for a dress right now?!


I composed myself and started trying on dresses, again.  And found two contenders:


Dress A:

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Dress B:

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I only mildly liked Dress A.  I was shocked that I liked the shape of it but it was so comfortable!  The one thing I hated was that there were feathers sticking out of it in random places--not for me. It was in pristine condition, and it was almost the right size!  But the feathers really bugged me, could I have someone pluck them off? 

My mom loved Dress B, but again I was "meh" about it.  I loved the beautiful lace, but the bottom was too much for me. It wasn't the kind of beautiful I'd want to wear on my wedding day.  The fabric was layered and the colors were beautiful, it resembled a sunset.  And the sample had been worn a lot. The lace and the tulle were darkened by wear (it looked much darker than the picture above).  I couldn't do it.  And then, I finally had a moment of panic.  I held my head in my hands, as the tears flowed and I let my frustration get the best of me.  With a month left to go, don't have a dress!  Either one of these dresses could work with some tweaks but there is no time for changes now!

Lesson learned: some samples are on sale for a reason. Sample shopping isn't for everyone. And somewhere out there is a beautiful bride who would look stunning in either without the "tweaks" I would want.  

So I went home to relax and think.  It's just a dress, it's just a dress, it's just a dress...breathe.  I turned to my good friend, Google and searched "wedding dress straps sleeves" and came up with a bunch of beautiful dresses but I wasn't wowed.  Then I paid a visit to Once Wed to see what was new in the world of pre-loved wedding dresses and I found it.  Wanna see?

{TIME OUT:  Bear, I know we agreed that you weren't going to catch up on the blog until after the wedding.  But just in case, do not read further.]

Dress(less) Distress

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I'm not sure how to tell you this, so I'll just go ahead and say it:  I don't have a wedding dress. 


With a month to go, I fear that I may end up walking down the aisle in the nude, like girlfriend up there.  


You may be asking, how did this happen?


Well, it's a long story and I can't get into the nitty gritty of it.  So I will tell you that there was an issue with the order, a miscommunication, that resulted in a less than perfect dress.  Yes, I could have worn it but I would have hated it.  I would have resented the store and myself for playing nice and being too polite about something as important as my wedding dress.  So I complained about my dress and pointed out the mistake.  There was an emergency fitting, and a conversation between a manager and myself and *POOF*..."look mom, no dress!"  And for the record, there are no hard feelings with the salon, I know a ton of people that have had amazing experiences with them.    




That being said, I should feel like this right now:

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But I'm too busy looking for replacements.  It looks like I'm going to have to purchase a sample and make it work!

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I'm strangely confident that I will be able to find a dress that makes me smile (that's within my budget) and ready in time for the wedding.  In fact, I'm going to take this on like a challenge!  With one month to go, I'm back at square one, determined to find my dream dress.  Will it be possible for me to keep my cool and find a gown without too many tears shed?  

We'll see! 

Have you run into any major wedding drama before your big day?  How were you able to overcome it?