In the month or so after our first dress shopping experinece in Boston, I kept thinking about this one dress I had tried on at the loft, and I was convinced that it was going to be "The Dress." However, we had one more appointment back in Iowa over the week of J's graduation. To be honest, I agreed to go, but I was pretty convinced I had already found "The Dress" and really saw this trip as a way to appease my mother more than anything. I came into Schaffer's Bridal in West Des Moines trying to keep an open mind, but pretty doubtful that this was going to be anything more than a fashion show for my mom, J's mom, and his sister, Jillian. A fun, giggly fashion show, of course.
There were definitely some dresses that caught my eye, and I felt nice in all of them (again, except the ones that couldn't fit over my butt). There were even some that were contenders - almost at the same level of the dress in the other shop... And then I tried it on.
It was a dress my consultant had picked out. It was undoubtedly beautiful, different, simple, and complimented me perfectly. I felt like myself in it, except I felt like the most beautiful version of myself. It fit my pixie cut. It was a sample dress that was being sold as-is, so it was marked down about $1000 from it's original price and totally under our budget. It fit perfectly. There were a few tiny snags on the bodice, but otherwise it was in perfect condition. I didn't want to take it off. I kept twirling around in it and saying, "I am so pretty!" like a complete fool. It was perfect.
I'm the kind of person who needs to sit and think on a big decision, so I decided not to make a decision that day. Because it was a sale dress, they couldn't hold it for me, which meant it could be sold to another person and I would have to buy the dress brand-new, with no discount. Back in the car, I told my mom that I wished it had pockets, and she told me that adding pockets was a super easy fix if that's what I really wanted. I agreed, and we went out to lunch with Jeanna and Jillian. We drank champagne and I started letting go of the prior dress in my heart. I decided that night that this dress was "The Dress," called Schaffer's, and left a message with them that I would come and pick it up in the morning.
The next morning, my dad and I headed out to Schaffer's right when it opened. I told him in the car that mom and I had discussed giving the dress pockets, and he agreed that it would be an easy fix. When they brought the dress out for us to look over, it was even more beautiful than I had remembered. My dad asked, "Does it have pockets?" I kind of rolled my eyes and said, "No, Dad, the dress doesn't have pockets," but the lady who brought it out answered, "Actually, it does." My jaw about hit the floor. The dress already had pockets. Apparently we just hadn't noticed the day before, but it felt like fate.
I had been nervous about seeing the dress again. Would I love it as much? Would I be disappointed? Even before I knew it had pockets, I was giggling when I saw it again. It was just as beautiful as I remembered - maybe even more so! The hard part now is waiting almost a year and a half to actually wear it (and keep pictures of it hidden from J, haha).
How did you know it was "The Dress?" How many places did you go to before you stopped shopping? Were you surprised by your dress choice?
No comments:
Post a Comment