We arrived to the dress shop around 6 pm and waited patiently for Natalie, my dress consultant to squeeze me into a corset and a "bridal slip". (Note: I think "bridal slip" is dress store slang for "thorn bush"). I spent most of my time in the dressing room while Natalie picked out dresses she thought I would like...let's just say she's wasn't as intuitive as Lori's staff ("Say Yes to the Dress" reference). She would then come into the dressing room with me and instruct me to "dive into the dress" after which she would zip, button, tie, squeeze, pinch and clip the back to fit. Phew! Who knew it would be this involved?? I would then walk out (on a 'stage' in the middle of the store...in front of other customers: whose idea was this??) only to see myself lost in the middle of a big puffy cloud of tulle! It was kind of hard to imagine wearing any such thing for upwards of 8 hours. Some were just so intricate and heavy with trains longer than my body! Thankfully Jul and Judy had my best interest at heart and filled my dressing room rack with dresses I might actually like (strategically placing them ahead of Natalie's picks). Never the less I tried on an assortment...Some dresses were white, some were beige...some were frilly some were poofy...some were elegant...(some felt more like Halloween costumes)...and in the end, while entertaining (and simultaneously exhausting) we left the store 2 hours later empty handed...eh, but we still had fun!
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The second excursion was out to Paoli. My sister Jackie picked me up early that morning and we stopped for breakfast before meeting up with my mom, Julie Ann and my friend Staci at the salon. My new consultant, Joy, told us to go around the store and turn the hangers on the dresses we liked so she could gather them up for me to try on...we all went to work and pretty soon Joy had collected a massive pile of dresses. The girls took their seats around a mini stage to wait for the show to begin! Fortunately this time there were no thorn bushes or corsets to be squeezed into...Joy helped me step into the dresses and then clipped them to fit. I had a chance to see if I liked it myself before walking out to the cat walk to model...where everyone snapped photos and ooohed and aahed at me...I could really get into this! :) The fabrics here were really nice...shiny silk organza, silk charmeuse, fine lace and carefully beaded bodices...I tried on everyone's picks and surprisingly liked the ones that were chosen for me better than the ones I chose myself!
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There was one dress I kept coming back to over and over again...I think Joy let me try it on 3 times! I wasn't sure if I was ready to commit so we headed out for a drink to mull it over. We ended up at a bar called "Alba" and I enjoyed the Alba special which was conveniently my favorite wine (Moscato) blended with a divine liquor (whose name has escaped me) and topped off with a glistening orange slice. We clinked out glasses to almost saying yes to the dress! and Staci and Jackie promptly got to work negotiating prices on either side of me...my mom, Jul and I just laughed at them while we debated whether to go back or not. Jackie and Staci seemed to have called all the dress shops in the tri-state area until they found the best price (fortunately we were Alba's only customers)! Jackie then called Joy back until she agreed to honor the price and encouraged us all to come back over. We climbed back in Jackie's car and Joy let me try it on again (yes a 4th time!). She poured us each a glass of sweet white wine to celebrate saying Yes to the Dress!
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(Disclaimer: Though embarrassed to admit this, I think I may have spent more time watching "Say Yes to the Dress!" than I personally spent shopping for one! Not sure if that's a good thing?)
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