Our Wedding: The Dress

I had always grown up knowing I wanted to look like a princess on my wedding day. As I got older, though, and times changed, the "princess" look had a million different meanings to a million different people. For some, it was a sexy fitted dress, for others it was a ball gown. I got engaged on December 23, 2012 and first went shopping for dresses January 4, 2013. I went and tried on all kinds of dresses.... Mermaid, A-Line, Ball Gown, Tea Length. I didn't fall in love with any of them.   I made a list of requirements for the next time we would go dress shopping... Ball-Gown Blingy Belt Fluffy white (I was not a fan of ivory at all) Sweetheart neckline Zipper less than $500 (I had planned to pay for it all myself)   The next time I went to David's Bridal was with my mother.  We looked through, picked dresses we knew we wanted to try. I had been looking online and found this dress that I was convinced was it. My consultant pulled dresses too like this trumpet style dress, this sheath style dress, and another awful material dress that made me look pregnant.    I broke down in tears because I was scared I wasn't going to find the dress.  She asked me for my list of requirements, and I gave it to her. She looked at my mom and told her she had the perfect dress and asked my mom to follow her. I told my mom not to bring it back if it was over budget because I was not going to fall in love with a dress I couldn't afford (I watched enough SYTTD to know how that feels!)   She brought back this dress. I put it on and sobbed. It was the perfect dress.... my beautiful princess gown that I had always dreamed of. And it was my size - meant to be!!  

I looked at the price tag - $950?!???!?! I sat in the floor and cried. I couldn't believe this was my dress and it was too expensive. The girl came over and told us it was on sale for $800 that week. Wow... only $150 off?! Still too expensive. So My mother and I made the deal that I would pay half and she would pay half. so I left with my dress.   Fast forward to six weeks before the wedding. It had been hanging in the closet waiting to be pranced around in. Between the purchase of the dress and this pre-wedding mark, I had my gallbladder removed. I was unaware of the side effect of gaining weight in strange places (i.e. chest and ribs). I put my dress on and it was nowhere near zipping. I lost my mind. just lost it. How could this have happened??!   Luckily, my best friend had started working at a bridal store and knew a miracle-working seamstress. She let out every part of my dress, moved the beaded waist band, constructed a bow for the back, and viola! It fit! She worked a miracle two weeks before my wedding!! Plus it added a special one-of-a-kind flare to the dress!   You can see the back detail in these first-look pictures: