Bride-to-be Blogger Kathleen: Dress Shopping Fail(s)

iStockphoto courtesy of ThinkStock.com.

Back on track ladies and gents! Things have started to become fun again with wedding planning. All it took was mailing out a bunch of our save-the-dates, a few emails with a potential officiant, a meeting with the sweetest florist lady ever, and a bridal gown session that didn’t make me want to trample through Philadelphia like Godzilla. Granted, I still have a fair share of things to take care of and figure out, but I’m finally getting that warm and fuzzy wedding-planning feeling back.

So, let’s take some time to talk about what I’ve learned from my unsuccessful (so far) bridal appointments. Lesson learned number one: Don’t assume that the bridal salon will give you a slip and a strapless bra. If you are like me, you wear thongs just about every day of your life. If you decide that wearing a thong on bridal appointment day is a good idea since they “should” give you a slip … you are going to be awkwardly surprised. I went with this assumption to my very first appointment, and spent the majority of the appointment hovering in the deepest corner of the dressing room in my thong, strapless bra and heels (at least I was somewhat prepared). The door to the dressing room opened completely towards the guest and cheering section, so every time the bridal consultant opened the door to either take a dress back or bring a new one in, there I was, like a poor confused deer stuck in headlights attempting to cover my lady bits with my very small hands. I’m quick to learn my lessons  though, so for the appointment on the next day, I packed my Under Armour compression shorts, strapless bar and heels. It may look funny, but let me tell you—best idea ever. You slide in and out of the dresses, and you don’t have to worry about someone accidentally getting a peak at your rump.

Lesson learned number two: Bring pictures. I didn’t think the picture thing would really be necessary, since I knew in my head what I wanted. Knowing what you want and translating that verbally to a consultant, though, are two very different animals. I spent four bridal appointments trying on dresses that, yeah, were sweetheart necklines, but didn’t match the lacey fit-and-flare belted dream dress I had always known I wanted to wear. All of the dresses were super nice, but none of them were “the” dress. Each appointment brought on more depression and frustration, and the process became more of a chore. For the last appointment I had two weekends ago, I had my spandex shorts and 15 pictures in tow. I tried on about six dresses, and really liked three of them. All of them had similarities to the pictures and I started to feel better about dress shopping.

Unfortunately, though, I’m not ready to commit to any of those three dresses. I feel like since I just started getting the process down, I may end up settling if I go back to them. I want to go out and visit a few more salons this weekend, but this time it will be different: I am now a seasoned bridal gown shopper. I will find my dress this weekend! Famous last words.

Did it take you a few trips to really get the hang of dress shopping? Got any advice for me as I head out to what I hope will be the trip where I find “the” dress?

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