I also have three personality quirks that make the proposition of wedding dress shopping a total nightmare for me:
1) I hate trying on.
2) I get overwhelmed by too many choices (I don't even like long menus in restaurants!).
3) I am more of a "good enough" girl than a "this has to be PERFECT!" girl.
I had already fished around on the J. Crew website and found a bunch of dresses that I liked. Once we actually were engaged, I got my mom on the phone and managed to navigate her onto the website so we could shop online together. We picked the Sabine gown in about 10 minutes, and were done.
I went to work the next day, beaming to the girls about how only weeks after getting engaged, I had the venue and the dress. Man, I thought I had all my ducks in a row. Who said planning a wedding is hard?
The dress came only four days after ordering it, which was very exciting. Even more exciting was the lovely, giant box with a lovely, giant bow in which the dress arrived. My recently-wed friend Rosemary came over and helped me try it on.
Once in the dress, I wasn't so sure. It looked a little too homecoming queen for me. There was something about the fabric that just overwhelmed me and made me feel like I was drowning in ivory taffeta. Rosemary fussed over me and gave advice on how a tailor could nip it in here or there, we'd get it steamed, and everything would be great. She took pictures for me to send to my mom and maid of honor. When I looked at the pictures, I felt like the dress was very unflattering and just not at all how I had hoped to look.
I was very committed to the J. Crew idea, though, and I became stubborn. I had it in my head that I would have a J. Crew wedding, and by God, I was going to do it!
Fortunately, I got a grip a few days later. I realized I have months 'til the wedding and I can do whatever I want, and I don't have to wear this dress, and there is no reason to have a dress that is just good-enough. With the encouragement of two girlfriends and my mom, I decided that I would take the dress back. Now it is hard to believe I was even considering settling. It's embarassing!
In May, my maid of honor, my mom and my fiance's sister went with me to Jenny Yoo, who also has classic, chic and affordable gowns. I tried on ten gowns, LOVED four of them, and ended up buying the first one I tried on (which is chiffon; I did learn that taffeta does not look good on me!).
It was totally easy -- we were done in like an hour. (The only difficult thing was getting my girls to pay attention to me! The studio was running a 75% off sale on cashmere sweaters, and everytime I came out of the dressing room, they were browsing sweaters. Jerks!)
I still think J. Crew is a fantastic option, and I am really glad they have gotten into the bridal business. I have seen gorgeous pictures of real weddings in which the bride wore this J. Crew, polka dot gown, and it was a knockout!
The dress just wasn't for me. Also, I need to slow down and be careful about my decision-making!
Has anyone out there bought a wedding dress off the internet?
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