How To Survive Wedding Dress Shopping

I picked out my wedding dress, y'all. I went shopping with my entourage. My sister was there through blackberry pictures that my mother was sending her. And, she hates the dress I picked out. That's how I know it's the right one. HA!

Things I wish I had figured out before I left:

1. Eat something. I ended up having a meeting at work before meeting everyone, and then I was running around trying to get changed, so I forgot to eat. Whoops. Luckily, my MOH had a granola bar in her purse, so I had that.

2. If someone is going to be taking pictures of you, put on some makeup for christsake. I look washed out in all the pictures my mom took. I had mascara on, but that was it.

3. Have a specific idea, but be open. I actually did have this figured out. I knew what I wanted: non-strapless, mermaid dress. Not a ton of crazy beading. What did I get? Strapless, mermaid dress...crapton of beading. And the dress I picked was by "Private Collection" so they don't have pictures of their dresses on websites or in magazines.

4. Know your sign when it's "the one." For some, it's when they cry. For me, it was when my MOH cried. And when I said "Ooh, get a picture of this one for becklette."

5. It's okay to say no. I tried on a couple of dresses that the person at the store pulled for me. Some of them I liked, some I tried on because she wanted me to, and I felt bad saying I didn't like it. Also the one woman (not my person) kept trying to pressure me to put something in my hair. I don't like veils. I don't want a headpiece that is $141 when I can make that from Claire's for $20.

And while I'm confident that I found "the dress" and it's amazing and gorgeous and I love it... it was more than I planned on spending. Not by a lot! And it's still under $1000, so I think that's totally a win! But there was a dress that I tried on that was the silouette I wanted (mermaid) but was the sample gown, so it was $99. It's a discontinued style. Alfred Angelo. Gorgeous. And it fit pretty well! And that was the #1 dress, until I tried the one on that was ten times that price and fell in love with it. Stupid, me. I should have stopped after the $99 one! I am incredibly happy with the dress I have. And no, I'm not posting a picture... you'll have to wait until next year. Okay...one picture. This is some of the detail on the front of the dress.