Dress shopping was certainly one of the most fun parts of wedding-planning. :-) It did have it's frustrations, though, and Mom and I learned a lot! I was probably a more difficult bride than most because I already knew that my dream dress would be in the Regency style, with an empire waist like the dresses in Pride and Prejudice. We were also determined to find a dress that was modest.
One thing we learned was that Saturdays are the busiest days for bridal boutiques. Mom and I ended up doing the bulk of our shopping on Veteran's Day, which was a great choice! Another thing we learned was that you have to make an appointment at nearly every bridal shop. Thankfully, some places we stopped in told us to come back in an hour or two, so we were still able to make the most of our day, even though we were a little ignorant of how the appointment thing worked.
The first place we visited was David's Bridal. Our Pastor's wife had lent us a book called Bridal Bargains which was a great source of information for all areas of wedding planning. It contains reviews and ratings of various dress designers. David's didn't get a very high score, which surprised me initially because they seem so popular! But we soon learned why.
Walking into David's, our first sight was a giant room filled with dresses of all kinds! Girls in makeshift updos nervously bustled about various racks or stood on blocks in front of rows of mirrors. The lady who helped us seemed a little ornery at my specific request for "modest," but she handed my sister and me each a scratchy-looking corset (with an $80 price tag) and wandered off in pursuit of dresses with "a little more coverage" within the price range I had told her.
We definitely did not find "the dress" there. As I understand, when you buy a dress from David's, you always buy one off the floor (i.e. tried on by other people). Other boutiques will sell dresses off the floor but also offer you the option of ordering one from the designer. One of the dresses I tried on was already losing its beading - a bit concerning. I despised the corset, too, and half the dresses the lady brought me were strapless, despite my request. They said that they could add little snap-on caps. But I remember looking at myself in the mirror and feeling naked.
The next place we visited was Danielle's Bridal in Wilton. Danielle's is a smaller shop which I had often eyed with keen interest as we drove by. The lady inside was polite and waved her hand toward the racks of plastic-wrapped dresses, after inquiring about our wedding date. (They actually all did that, to make sure that we weren't just shopping for fun, I suppose.) Danielle's carried a number of popular designers, like Alfred Angelo. Most of them had gotten mediocre ratings in Bridal Bargains for quality, and most of them were still very pricey. "The dress" was not there.
Stop #3 was Lily of Saratoga, where we received a gracious welcome. The shop itself was beautiful, with dresses hanging freely about sweeping drapes and oak floors. At Lily, we learned not to avoid the finer boutiques because of our budget concerns. Yes, we saw some of the priciest dresses so far there, but the lady who helped us was very gracious and willing to work within our budget. She showed us an elegant silk sheath well within our range and pulled out two gorgeous ballgowns which were extremely reduced because they were the previous year's designs. For fun, she let me try on some of the very expensive dresses, too! Interestingly, all of these dresses (except the silk sheath, which was really 100% silk), had enough structure to them to lend a corset completely unnecessary. The modesty issue would have been anwered with a little jacket, and she had a couple for me to try. But none of them were "the dress," perhaps to my mother's chagrin. :-)
Our last stop was at Something Bleu, previously called Immortal Beloved, and also right in town in Saratoga. Oh, that shop was gorgeous, as well, and the lady who helped us led us about racks of gowns from France, from Spain, from England, and made in America. Exquisite lace detailing was accentuated by the soft light and the white carpets. They had a 50% off rack, as well, but some of those dresses were so expensive to start with that 50% off was still way out of our price range! The most exciting thing about Something Bleu, however, was that some of the dresses had sleeves. Mom's eyes alighted upon an ivory Regency gown with a champagne-colored velvet ribbon at the empire waist. It looked lacy, but the outer layer was actually tulle which was embroidered and delicately beaded. Exciting . . .
To be continued . . .
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