Wedding dress shopping ~ done!

It's been almost three weeks since we got engaged and before this weekend I still hadn't gone dress shopping. Lorinda reminded me that I should go as soon as possible since it can take up to six months to get the dress ordered and picked up. Hmmmm... if that's the case then I'm screwed. So Nadine and I hit up a couple of stores yesterday. My mom was supposed to join us but she's jet-lagged. I felt bad and told her that she didn't have to go.

(Note: Most, if not all, bridal stores require that you make an appointment if you want to try on the dresses. No appointments are necessary if you just want to browse ~ but trust me, you'll want to try on dresses when you see them so go ahead and make the appointment.)

We grabbed coffee and a bite to eat at Dunkin' Donuts. Yes, you read that correctly ~ I had donuts before trying on wedding dresses ~ hahaha. I knew I wasn't going to have another donut for months so I enjoyed every single bite. Our first stop was Katherine's Bridal Boutique in Alexandria. It was a very small store and the dresses that hung on the racks were so tightly packed in it was hard to browse through them. I managed to find three that I liked. The saleslady who was helping us out (and who shall remain unnamed) was a pain in the butt. While I was trying on the dresses, Nadine was also trying on bridesmaid dresses to get an idea of what style she'd like. I was giving Nadine my opinion but Ms. Saleslady suggested that I pick out my dress first before worrying about the bridesmaid dresses. Ugh, excuse me?? I wanted to drop kick her but that wouldn't have been very lady-like (especially from a girl wearing a bridal gown), so we just kept rolling our eyes. The first dress was too big and poofy. I got lost in all the fabric. The second and third dresses were alright. Ms. Saleslady asked me about my budget and went off to look for another dress. She came back with one that she wanted me to try on. It was niiiiiice but I still wasn't sure about it. Ms. S casually asked me if I had other appointments set up. Frankly, I wanted to answer, "It's none of your business," but decided against that and told her we were going to Hannelore's. She replied with, "Ohhhh, you won't find anything because everything's too expensive there. You should buy this dress. I'll give you a deal if you buy it today." We said 'no thanks' and walked out. It's unfortunate because I think I would've returned if she hadn't been so pushy.

We got to Hannelore's of Olde Town which was a much bigger store. It has two levels (the first for shoes and bridal party attire; the second for bridal gowns and accessories). We were introduced to our saleslady, Nancy, who showed us to our dressing room. I described the kind of dress I was looking for and we went around the floor picking out the ones that closely resembled it. It was easier to see the dresses on the racks and we ended up picking out twice as many dresses as we did at Katherine's. After trying on the umpteenth dress I finally found IT. I liked the details of the dress but ironically, the style is different from what I had originally thought I'd end up wearing on our wedding day. I wanted to put a deposit down but at the same time I didn't want to make a hasty decision. As they say, your wedding dress will probably be the most expensive dress you'll buy... and after all, this was only the second store we had visited!! I told Nancy that I'd think about it overnight. We headed downstairs where Nae picked out some bridesmaid dresses to try on. I took some pics but I don't think she'll be too happy with me posting them on here.

Our last appointment was at a store in Arlington called Bridal Visions. When we pulled up we weren't sure if we had arrived at the correct place. One of the storefront windows had dresses and tuxedos on display but the other window had... an Easter bunny costume!! Nae and I looked at each other and I knew we were both thinking, "What da heck..." LOL!! It turns out they also rent tuxedos and rent costumes. I wasn't crazy about their selection but picked three dresses to try on anyway b/c I didn't want to be rude and just walk out. To make a long story short, I ended up only trying on two of the three. The second had a corset-type bodice which took forever to get on and lace up. I was too exhausted to try on the third one. We left and I cooked Nae dinner as a thank you for spending her entire Saturday watching me get half naked and playing dress up.

I went back to Hannelore's today to put down the deposit. The dress is scheduled to arrive mid-July!!! It's actually less expensive than that dress the lady at Katherine's was trying to push on me... and here she was telling me that Hannelore's was no good. I thought finding a dress would take several weeks but I found it in one day!!

Oh yeah, Hannelore's didn't let me take a picture of the wedding dress until I bought it so forget about bringing a camera along to take pictures. The dress also wasn't on the designer's website. I guess they don't want people to duplicate the design.