Wedding Wednesday: Saying "Yes" to the Dress

I wasn't planning to write a post today.  However, this morning I was reminded that it's been exactly 10 years since I said "yes" to my wedding dress.  I've thought about posting some Throwback Thursday style blog posts about planning our wedding for a while now.  (I've already done ones for our Save the Date and our engagement.)  It seems like the universe is trying to tell me something, so I've decided to roll with it.

In honor of Eliot's and my 10 year anniversary coming up later this year, I've decided to officially start a new segment here on my blog called Wedding Wednesday.

Ten years ago today, I took a day off (from the furniture store) to take time to focus on myself, pick out my wedding gown and spend some time with loved ones.  My Mom, Nana, Papa and my best friend Katie were all coming down from Maine to go wedding dress shopping with me.  My other friend Katie was also joining us, while her husband BJ and Eliot were going to meet back up with all of us for dinner.  I was so excited.  

Once Katie arrived, we went to the local mall where I had my first ever manicure and pedicure.  I had my nails done in a deep magenta pink that was one of our wedding colors.  Then, I had my toes painted lime green- which was our other wedding color.

Katie and I then drove over to the Alfred Angelo bridal boutique in Danvers, MA where we met up with my Mom, Nana and Papa for my appointment.  When I first entered the store, I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the options, but I settled in after meeting my consultant.  She asked me a lot about Eliot and our wedding plans.  I was so excited to tell her about our Disney Wedding and all of our venues!

I showed her a few of the gowns I'd looked at online and we got to work.  The one that I originally wanted with color going down the back did absolutely nothing for me.  And it was at this point that I realized I was pigeonholing myself.  I told my consultant that I was open to pretty much anything and the gowns just kept coming.

After finding out that Eliot and I were big Disney fans, my consultant had me try on a few of the gowns from the Disney collection.  The Belle dress was pretty, but it just didn't do it for me.  It was fun, but way too dramatic and over the top.  

The Snow White dress was beautiful, but I just didn't fall in love with it.

When she put me in the Ariel dress and it was as if the planets had all aligned.

I could tell this one was different by the reactions of everyone.  Both Katie D and Katie N thought it was stunning on me.  My Mom really loved it too.  Nana and Papa thought it looked great.  And I was over the moon in it.

The dress was a taffeta gown with a criss-cross front that tucked into the right side and draped around the back.  The front had cascading organza ruffles falling from the right hip.  The back was a lace up corset.  It featured fabric flowers with feather accents right where the ruffles started and also had a semi cathedral train.  It was gorgeous.

Before I knew it, we were adding accessories and a veil.  This was getting real!

I tried a few other wedding dresses on afterward, but none of them compared.  She put me back in the Ariel gown and that was it... except I wasn't a huge fan of the strap or the flower on the top.  We tucked the strap in and my consultant covered up the giant flower on my chest saying that they could take it off.  Once I saw it like that, I knew... this was the one and I officially said "yes" to my Alfred Angelo Ariel wedding dress!

After that, my consultant helped the girls with bridesmaid dresses.  We already had a few that we'd marked off, so we started there.  The girls looked great in all of them, but in the end we settled for a halter design for the bridesmaids and a single strap look for Katie D my maid of honor.  The dresses would be a deep magenta color called Lipstick and we would make them satin ribbon sashes to tie in the lime green.

We stayed to get my wedding gown ordered in the correct color, ivory and the correct size.  I also ordered the veil that I fell in love with.  I couldn't believe how much Mom was willing to spend on my dress, but she said it was perfect and that was the one.

Afterwards, we all drove back over to Woburn to meet back up with Eliot and BJ to have dinner and celebrate.  I kept things about my dress vague so Eliot wouldn't figure out which one it was.  And I never really told anyone which one it was so it would be a surprise for everyone on our wedding day!  (Even though a lot of people asked!)

For me, wedding dress shopping was a wonderful experience.  While I didn't leave the shop with what I had originally envisioned, the gown I picked was absolutely perfect and everything I could have ever wanted.  (Plus, it was an actual Disney Fairy Tale Wedding gown!)  To this day, I still love everything about my wedding dress.

I'm so happy that I was able to say "yes" to my dress with my Mom, my best friends and my Nana and Papa there.  It was truly a magical day and experience.  °o°