Friday, October 24, 2008
THE DRESS!
I'll admit: while I always recognized how much emphasis others put on choosing the right wedding gown (there's a reason for those capital letters in the title) I was never obessed with the dress. I wanted to look beautiful, certainly, but I was much more focused on the location, photographer, and other aspects of the wedding. In fact I initially planned to buy a $200 dress that I saw online to save money and hassle, but my mother and bridesmaids revolted and insisted that I at least try some dresses on in stores for their benefit. If my mother hadn't repeatedly warned me that dresses should be ordered about 9 months ahead of time (which I still think is ridiculous) I wouldn't even have begun the search at this point. But with the support of my mother and some of my wonderful girls I really got into the whole princess for a day thing. (Actually I rejected any princessy dresses because excessive sequins are itchy and poufy dresses make me look like I'm perched atop a wedding cake, but you know what I mean.) I'm so happy that I took the time to find the right dress.
Bridesmaid Liz joined my mother and I at the first dress location: Weddings by Paulette. The girl who helped me pull and try on dresses was an english major with an english professor father, both of whom love science fiction and dystopian novels. This similarity gave us a lot to talk about, which helped the inevitable awkwardness of having someone else dress you. It was actually a fun experience all around and I fell for a very simple Maggie Sottero but not enough to commit to it. (Note: you may think by my "Maggie Sottero" namedropping that I know anything about dress designers. This is sadly untrue. Shop owners kept asking me if I had any favorite designers and I had nothing to offer. My deep and enduring love of shows like Project Runway and What Not to Wear is apparently matched by a complete ignorance of designers in real life.)
The next day my matron of honor Steph joined us at Alfred Angelos. We were blessed with another friendly assistant who did her best to find simple but beautiful dresses for me. I believe I saw my mother tear up when I walked out in our favorite dress of the day. It looked suspiciously like my favorite one from the day before: gathered fabric down a fitted bodice with a lace-up back. Apparently I know what I like. A crucial difference was that this dress had off-the-shoulder sleeves. They were attractive and classy but also constricting. At one point I flapped my arms dejectedly below my waist and whispered: "I feel like John McCain." Torn between both dresses but sure of neither one (even after trying on the first dress again - bless you mom and Steph for following me around all day) I decided to postpone the search until the next weekend when my parents would be visiting me in Charlottesville. And by visiting me I mean coming to UVA for the big football game and happening to see me after. There was one affordable wedding dress shop in Charlottesville and even though their window displays sometimes scare me I held out hope that my dress would be somewhere on the racks.
And so last Friday I found myself at West Main Street Bridal with my parents, my maid of honor Sabrina, and my other awesome housemate Anna, who may in fact be my flower girl since Kyle and I apparently know no one under the age of 12. The phrase "found myself" was more accurate than usual; I was running on less than 2 hours of sleep thanks to a procrastinated paper so everything seemed a little hazy. I worked with the owner of the shop, which meant there were more rules. I couldn't run wild along the racks pulling a pile of dresses. I had to start with only five and I couldn't even choose those on my own; the owner had to show me each dress in turn, sometimes offering commentary on them, and I had to respond with "no, there's just too much" (embellishment/sequining/rouching/color/volume/ugliness) over and over again. She was also more, well, self-assured and forthright than the assistants from other stores. She shared numerous complaints about her teenage help, for one, and also pulled no punches when it came to my measurements: "Well, your hips say you're a size 4, your waist says you're between a 4 and a 6, and your bust says that you don't exist." She knew what she was doing though and was helpfully just as forthright about the designers and seamstresses that I would have to deal with depending on the dress I chose. I kind of like her style, and she'll get the job done. Most importantly, I found two fantastic dresses out of my five (which became seven by the end of things) and one of them turned out to be, well, THE ONE. I had to try it on twice with a veil just to make sure, but everyone with me agreed that it was definitely the one. The gown is strapless and claims to be an A-line silhouette, though we (meaning the owner and my mother) thought it verged on a trumpet shape. The back laces up on the inside but has buttons on the outside - the best of both worlds for me. Even better are the bands of brighter white fabric around the waist and on the train. It looks elegant but incredibly unique. Plus as many people know I LOVE stripes, so it's perfect for me in an entirely unexpected way (because who puts stripes on a wedding dress?), which just might make Kyle laugh out loud. I can't wait to walk down the aisle in it.
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