Hello all!!! I am happy to report things are finally starting to fall into place and I am overwhelmingly excited for our wedding to get here! Last blog, I left you with the most gorgeous picture of my sister, and my maid of honor, on her wedding day. I was blessed to assist my sister in picking out her special dress and it was everything I imagined. I happened to pull the dress from the rack and insisted she at least try it on. It was similar to one she had previously picked, and loved, but wasn’t quite right. As soon as the zipper was pulled, I immediately knew. We then locked eyes and she knew as well, leaving us both teary eyed, and to this day, I still get teary eyed thinking about the moment I shared with her.
Having that experience with Amanda, I had no idea how to approach my day and was almost overwhelmed by the need to have that “special moment” I helped her achieve and hear so much about. I wanted everything to be perfect and the pressure to find “the” dress was exhausting. Over Labor Day, my sweet mother drove from my home town to Kansas City (half way for both of us) to meet me for a few days of dress shopping. I had scheduled four appointments in one day hoping to cover all my bases and get it over with on Saturday. As I’m sure you can tell I’m not much of a shopper so I was hoping the process would be a fast one.
I’m currently obsessed with any dress made by Hayley Paige due to their gorgeous back features and uniqueness. (Pictures above via the Hayley Paige IG account)
Armed with pictures of dresses I found online (see above), my budget, and my lifelong dress picker (my mother has picked every important dress I have EVER worn in my life), we entered our first store. I immediately fell in love with the atmosphere of Something White Bridal Boutique and it was everything a girl could dream of. Beautiful gowns hanging in an airy space filled with natural lighting, exposed brick, and gorgeous furniture. We were pleasantly greeted by the owner, Brittany, who so kindly opened an hour early for us, and is possibly the sweetest person I have met. She quickly explained she had just opened the day before and we were her very first customers EVER!! She quickly left us to begin sorting through the gowns and “pinning” the ones we liked so they could be taken to the dressing room. After pulling several dresses, it was time to begin the part I normally hate the most, the trying on of the garments.
The first gown (not pictured) was gorgeous but we quickly found it wasn’t a great cut for my frame and quickly moved to the next dress. This dress was a great fit, an amazing cut, and something extremely similar to what I had envisioned. I couldn’t take it off!!! Well, I eventually took it off and put on one more that couldn’t compete with the other so we put the second dress back on, marched me out to the show room, added a bouquet, and stood there, just smiling to ourselves like idiots. They eventually forced me out of the dress and I figured I better at least try on more than three wedding dresses before making the decision. So off we went to our next appointment at Ida’s Bridal and Tuxedos.
Ida’s was completely different from Something White but in its own great way. Ida herself met us and introduced us to the sweet lady who would be helping us. It was extremely apparent she had been doing her job FOREVER and loved every minute of it. She immediately pulled dress after dress and overall, I had to have tried on around 20 dresses. At one point during the visit, we found a dress similar to our first choice but with several unique features we were attracted to, but not enough to seal the deal. To finish off our visit, the lady insisted she put me in the Audrey Hepburn dress just because and she wanted to at least play a little dress up with me. Oh man!!!! It was BEAUTIFUL but I fully looked like a cake topper (see below) and I would sweat to death if I even imagined wearing it near/on/or in the proximity of a beach. Overall, I had a great experience at Ida’s but knew my dress wasn’t there.
We paid Brittany a visit again, put me back in the dress, adjusted a few things and there it was. The moment we had been waiting for, minus me crying. It was surreal to look at myself and know that was the dress I was going to marry this amazing man in, and celebrate the beginning of the next chapter of our lives. So that was that! We finished with some champagne and one credit card swipe and “the” dress was chosen.
All in all, I had a great day and was so happy I could share it with my mom. I only get to see her a few times a year, so it was extremely important for me to have her with me on such a big day.
I want to give a HUGE thank you to Brittany for making my day everything a girl dreams about. You are so sweet and truly care about the bride’s needs and finding them their dream dress!! I was honored to be your first customer and first purchase and know you will have nothing but great success due to your passion and love for your business. Thank you again and I can’t wait to visit again in a few months to pick up my dress!!!
Make sure to watch for my next blog discussing our WEDDING DESTINATION!!!! That’s right, we finally picked a location and it’s to die for!!
xo Audrey
Real bride Audrey is blogging as part of out #APbride series. Read more from Audrey and the rest of our fabulous APbrides here.
