My Dress Distress

So, we all know I already have my wedding dress. If you would like a long-winded account of how that came to be, you can visit here. It was $100 brand new. When I bought it, it didn't fit, but my "retail diet" suited me nicely and now (well, okay, in July) it fit! Here is what it looks like, since I never posted pics. Sorry about the quality; these are the only images I will allow in the house because I know Andrew wants a look at the dress!

It is diamond white, A-line, with lots of beading. Definitely worth more than $100, right? There's kind of a problem though. I didn't try on piles of pretty dresses. I didn't stand on a pedastal while a consultant froofed me and my mom cried and my tummy got fluttery because I found the one. I went with my mom and stood in a conference room with bad flourescent lighting and bought the dress I liked the most out of the ones that I had hopes of fitting into.

Let's call it what it is. I kind of settled. And now, I am less than pleased. What's a bride to do?

I called my BFF/fellow bride, who bought her dress to the same sale. We went to Ventura's Bridal under the ruse of both needing dresses (I have since watched 923497234987 episodes of Say Yes to the Dress and I know this was dishonest to my very nice consultant. I'm sorry!) and "played."

I tried to be good. I tried to try on fairly inexpensive dresses so if I fell in love, I might have a chance of getting one. But the whole time I kept thinking I have a perfectly good dress waiting for me. A pretty dress. But it didn't feel like me. I don't really like beads. I have sensitive skin and I am terrified that all the beading that touches the area underneath my arms will itch and burn (anyone have experience with this?) and make me miserable! Since I told the consultant I was a simple girl, she brought me this one to try on.

I loved the top. The ruching, sweetheart neckline, and otherwise simplicity were exactly what I was looking for. I tolerated the pick-ups (although the consultant told me they were "last season," so now I sort-of hate them. They are kind of annoying). I liked the low-ish price tag (in the $500s). I left the place thinking that I hated my dress. 

I don't think I love this dress as a whole enough to ditch the first dress for it. But it shows me that there ARE other dresses out there. Dresses that make me fluttery and feel like me. But they will cost more money. Is it worth it to expand my budget, or should I remember that it's only one day and wear the gorgeous dress I already have? Did you ever feel like your dress wasn't the one?

Dress Obsessed

If you know me in the slightest, you know my complete and utter obsession with the show "The Office." My dad got me hooked, I got Andrew's sister hooked a few years ago, and after hearing all of our inside jokes, Andrew finally came around and now loves the show. Our cat was *almost* named Toby, my old phone's ringtone was the theme song, and last year, we had the most awesome Office premiere party ever. So, you can understand my joy a few weeks ago when this lovely arrived in my mailbox:

I pretty much love Jim Halpert. I know he's not real, but that has not stopped me from swooning over his every move, from tracking down Karen't favorite chips to making Pam grilled cheese sandwiches to eat on the roof. Anyway, I got this in the mail and thought Pam (Jenna Fischer)'s dress was completely gorgeous! Andrew read the article before I did, deemed it entirely too spoiler-ish for my consumption, and made me wait until after the episode aired to read the article. It actually took me about a week to even open the magazine for the pictures.

Once I saw the pictures with the article, I liked the dress even more! It is a short dress, perfect for a reception. I read the teeny tiny print in the spine of the magazine and saw it was Vera Wang.

Uh-Oh.

Vera Wang would never fit into my budget. Never. Not to mention I already have a dress (which I may not be completely in love with... another post for another time...) But I kept thinking about the lovely sweetheart neckline, perfectly draped dress that looked up at me everyday from my coffee table.

I had to get it out of my mind. Prove to myself that I couldn't afford this dress. I went to Vera's website and couldn't find it! Since all of her bridal dresses were short, I clicked on bridesmaids dresses. Just to see...

What did I find?

 

                                      (Source)

Meet Anna. Since she is a bridesmaid's dress, she doesn't come in white. Pam/Jenna also wasn't wearing the sash in the EW photos, so I'm hoping it's detachable. It is quite a bargain as far as dresses go (ahem, especially those by Vera Wang!). Even Andrew, the man who has no opinion on fashion, said it was a nice dress. He is telling me just to order it in champagne!

But, now I am torn. I can't try it on until it arrives. It's not white. And won't I want to wear my wedding dress for as long as possible? Help me out. What should I do?

bad, bad blogger

I haven't blogged in a while, mostly because we haven't done much wedding-related stuff. With me not working, there were 0 dollars coming in our house for us to pay bills with, let alone to save for wedding expenses. We have talked about a few things, and I don't remember what Andrew said, but he very nearly sold me on Paraiso Maravilla. That is the direction I have been leaning towards lately. And... I got a dress! I said I wasn't even going to start looking for one until June at the earliest, but I had a chance I couldn't refuse! My mom heard about how Weddings by Debbie (a bridal shop by her house) had roof damage after Hurricane Ike and sold a bunch of their dresses to a buyer who normally sells things wholesale because "they weren't up to their standards." The company couldn't find a buyer for the lot of dresses, so they sold them one by one to the public for $100 each! I emailed this to Vivian on a Thursday night. The sale was Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. She called me Friday morning (I was at work) saying to get down there because the good dresses were going fast. My awesome manager let me take a long break, so I picked up my mom and we went! Wedding dresses are sized tiny, and all that were left were good sizes mostly. I found one I really liked in a size smaller than what I need, but for $100 bucks, I thought I should get it! My mom agreed, so now, as long as I lose a dress size, I have a dress. Yay! Pics are on facebook. Other than that... nothing good and wedding-related is going on!