Warning: Long Post Ahead.
I have been obsessed with the show, "Say Yes to the Dress" since it appeared a few years ago on TLC. I loved watching these women go with their family and friends to pick out the most important outfit of their lives thus far!
But because of this show, I was also a bit apprehensive about this big trip. I was worried about how I would react - would I be a cryer? Would I not find anything? How would I know if it was "the one"? What if I brought people who were too opinionated and couldn't help but share their unsolicited opinions before I had a chance to make mine?
I had been "researching" gowns since my head maid dropped off 4 bags of bridal magazines the day we got engaged. Almost every dress I pulled from the magazines had one of two things: lace on the bodice, or straps.
I really love the idea of lace in strategic places; on the back, the bodice, a bit on the bottom, etc. A full lace gown would be a bit too traditional for me. But I like classic looks, and lace is definitely classic. Mike HATES lace. Virtually every picture I showed him that had lace, he made "the face" - communicating that he clearly did not love that dress. But, I knew, that when I found the dress, he would love it. Lace or not.
Also, as a relatively busty gal, I definitely wanted straps. I wanted to be able to party and dance and not have to worry about pulling up my dress all night. I pulled plenty of options from magazines with straps, so I knew they were out there. But hearing information from my friends who were recently brides, I understood that they were relatively difficult to find.
Surprisingly, the dress wasn't really on the forefront of my mind. I wanted to make sure that all of the big things (food, venue, music, photography) established a vibe that Mike and I wanted. We worked a lot on putting together a feeling that would be mellow, relatively casual, and fun so that people will want to party and dance all night long.
I started researching bridal salons about a month ago. I had heard of a salon called "Trudy's" here in San Jose from a lot of colleagues at school. They said it was a good place to start, so I looked into that first. I looked on yelp.com to look at reviews of Trudy's to see how their customers did. Not good. Not good at ALL! Most of their reviews on Yelp were negative and talked about the sub par customer service, and how there were too many people in the store and they felt rushed and pressured. This was definitely not the shopping experience I was looking for.
I knew that I wanted the dress to be as easy as everything else for the wedding has been so far. When it's right, you just know. And you have to do some research to set yourself up for success. I don't want to "tread water" and just go to a place just to go and start shopping. I wanted it to be a good use of my time, and I wanted there to be like a 90% possibility that I would find THE dress there.
Unfortunately, many of the bridal salons in this area got the same type of reviews as Trudy's. No bueno. I talked to my mom about it, and she said that we could go somewhere else that was not in the Bay Area, like San Diego or LA. I definitely had that in the back of my mind, as that would be a really fun trip to take. But also, considering that I would have to go back a few times for fittings, etc., I kind of preferred the place to be close by so that I could check in and go easily to my fittings and alterations. I knew of one salon that used to be in Los Gatos that I remember driving by all of the time, but when we went there, it had closed up. So I decided to wait it out. I would figure it out. Or, it would figure itself out.
It surely did.
My dear friend Kelly sent me an email one day saying that she had been walking in downtown Campbell (where she lives) and that she had walked by this place called Gabrielle's Bridal Atelier. She said that it looked super cute and that I might want to check it out. So, I started my research. I went online to see their reviews, and they had gotten an average of 4.5 stars for all of the brides who shopped there. Pretty good. I checked out their website to see the kinds of styles and designers they carried, though I really didn't have specifics in either of those areas. But still, I looked so that I would have a better idea of the store's "vibe." I liked what I saw, so I went ahead and booked an appointment. They were having a trunk show of a specific designer for the day that I booked, so if I ended up liking something from that line, I would get 10% off. Good deal all around!
The next step was to figure out who I wanted to have come with me. Again, thinking back to "Say Yes to the Dress," some of those brides bring like 10 people, who all have their own opinions, and strong ones at that! I wanted to think really carefully about who I wanted to have come with me on that first shopping expedition. Since I didn't know how I was going to react to the whole thing, I didn't want a bunch of people there to cloud my judgement. If I liked something, I didn't want to look at the faces of my friends and have them clearly NOT like it! I also figured that I would go to a couple of places, and once I kind of got the hang of this, I could invite maybe 1-2 more people. So, I decided that for the first shopping trip, I would stick to the basics: Mom, sister and head maid. We scheduled the appointment for 2:00 and decided to go out to lunch beforehand.
The day arrived, and I was super apprehensive. I worked that morning, but had taken the afternoon off (no freshman? Twist my arm!) I left after my honors class on a high note. I went to the house and met Em and Zoe (who was going to hang out with Taiko for the day!) and then my mom and Emily came a few minutes later. We headed out to lunch, and then to cupcakes (I know...not wise on the day of the big shopping trip, but whatever. That's me!)
We started to head over to the salon, and after about 10 minutes of driving on Campbell avenue, I quickly realized that I was going the wrong way. We had about 3 minutes to spare, so we called and let them know that we were running late. Oops! I guess I was more nervous than I thought! But, my stomach was feeling fine, which (for those of you who know me well, know that) is a really a good sign. We pulled in across the street, and headed out!
It was super super cute, as you can see. Very quaint, and inviting. We walked in and nobody was there. All of a sudden, this lady pops out from behind a wall somewhere, and introduces herself as Laura - she was going to be our consultant for the day. She had me fill out a survey that asked questions about the wedding, the budget and me. I brought my bridal binder with me, filled with magazine articles and clippings of dresses that I liked. So when she asked me if I had any ideas of what I thought I wanted, I had plenty to share!
She started pulling dresses, and I felt comfortable with her - enough so to say "No way" or "Hell yes!" She then encouraged all of us to pick out some things and to touch and feel, etc. I was kind of surprised that she was letting us do that, because how would we know what was in our budget? But we were enjoying the experience. We all picked out at least one, even Emily! She picked out one that was the very first dress on the rack when we walked in. It was a little crazy looking, and reminded me of Patty Simcox. But I thought I would try it on anyways. Just for fun!
When we had about 8 dresses, Laura recommended that we get started, and assured me that we could always come back out to pull more dresses if I wasn't feeling any of them. So in we went! My accomplices sat down in their super cute waiting area, right outside of our room. This really captures the quaintness and cute factor of this place.
I will say that the situation of being in your chonies with a complete stranger is just straight up awkward. There is no two ways about it. But I sucked it up! We put on the first dress, and I didn't even want to go out. All I saw was cleavage. No way. Not what I want my guests to see or focus on when I walk down that isle!! I didn't go out. Nobody got to see that one!
Next one - a bit much, but I still came out. I felt like I was being swallowed by the dress - again, not really the effect I was going for. As I was starting to go back into the dressing room, Laura asked us (almost incredulous) if we wanted to take any pictures! Uh, YES! Nobody had even thought to ask because at the place that Emily bought her wedding dress, you were not allowed to take pictures until you had actually purchased the gown; so I just figured that it was a standing rule or something. So, this is where the pictures begin!
The third one I tried on was just nice. I mean, it was pretty, but still didn't have that vava voom factor. I also felt like the dresses were all too structured for a garden wedding. I didn't want to feel all formal and constricted. I wanted to feel like me - chill and ready to party - but in white! Now, where was THAT dress?
I also found a few strapless options (as you can see) that had a slight sweetheart neckline, and I actually liked it. It was more concealing than a straight cut would have been, and it started to look like I actually had small bubbies! Score!
I then decided to try on the random dress that my sister picked out. It was cute, and I just needed something to lift my spirits. Boy did it. I put it on, and lit up from the inside out. It was nothing that I expected I would want, but when she zipped it up, I was glowing. I walked out and stood on the pedestal and loved it from every angle. Loved the detail, love the color, love the pattern, love the silhouette, LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! There was a definite consensus about this dress. Mom loved it. Sister - patting herself on the back for the selection. Head maid - love. This was a score. I was really encouraged, and was starting to be able to envision myself walking down the isle. I really didn't want to take it off, but I had about 4 more dresses to try on. So, I reluctantly went back inside.
The next dress was actually by the same designer, and I really liked it as well. It was strapless and had flowers coming out of the fabric - hard to describe, so see the picture below. But I definitely felt like it was too structured - too heavy duty. Again, looking for fun!!!
And another by that designed (Melissa Sweet) - cute, but too much beading! No thanks!
I had one dress that I had pulled out of the magazine that was my absolute favorite. It had a lace bodice, deep v in the front and back, and then had a full bottom. When I showed Laura that picture, she said that she had a gown with that exact top and she pulled it for me. That one was next on the list. When I put it on, I really liked that idea of it. But I also felt like I was 60 years old. It made me feel really conservative (which I'm not) and I definitely didn't like it as much as I thought I would.
I tried on a final one, but for each new one I tried on, everyone said the same thing: You don't have that smile like you did with the last one. And I certainly didn't feel that same glow. I asked if I could put the dress on again, and again - that feeling came over me. Before we walked out again, Laura asked me: Is this the dress that you are getting married in? YES!!! I walked back out, and my family and friends confirmed it. This was it. I stood on the pedestal again, and she put a veil in my hair, and that was really it. I felt amazing.
Emily was also quite pleased with herself for finding the dress....see photo below (that's my arm, but I'm in the dress, so I cute myself out!)
Then, she told me that this dress had actually been featured on Say Yes to the Dress! She thought it had just been the previous week. I had remembered seeing the same silhouette on an intro to the show, and I loveloveLOVED it, and when she said that, it came back to me. I knew even before I knew, even before I was engaged!
We signed the paperwork, and sealed the deal!! Obviously I am not going to describe the dress for you, or show you pictures of that one....but this is how the dress makes me feel!!
