So, now that you have seen my bridesmaid dresses, how would you like to see my bridal gown?

Ha!

Just kidding!

But I did think it was time to share the process that went into making that huge decision!

Let me begin by telling you that buying THIS all important gown was SOOO much easier than finding my Las Vegas dress (that I didn’t even wear and ending up switching last minute to another dress).

I’m going to be really honest. I only went to one dress shop. That was all I needed.

But let me start at the beginning.

I really wanted to go dress shopping with my Mother. It was how I had envisioned buying my bridal gown all my life and I wasn’t ready to give that up just because we happened to live on opposite sides of the country.

That meant I only had one week to find a gown, and it just so happened to be the one week I had to pretty much plan my entire wedding.

No pressure.

I had a vision of what I wanted going into my appointment at the wonderful MB Bride and Special Occasion in Greensburg, PA (more on them later…they ROCKED).

• I wanted a sweetheart cut (with or without cap sleeves)
• I wanted something that felt “whimsical” or “magic”
• I didn’t want too much “stuff…” and by that I mean lots of fake diamonds or sequins
• Nothing too girly
• Simple top
• “Fun” Bottom

I created an entire wedding gown board on Pinterest for inspiration.

Here are a few of the photos below:

A lot of the dresses I liked, especially the final few I posted, really looked very similar to each other and I sort of figured that I would end up with something in that same style.

Boy was I wrong. I mean, the dress fit almost every idea I had in my mind about what I wanted in terms of my vision, but the dress itself is so unique and special.

I’m not going to lie. Buying my dress was awesome. Simple. Easy. Not at all stressful. The folks at MB Bridal were INCREDIBLE. I tried on a ton of dresses, I loved half of them. My appointment went over time by almost an hour and they didn’t gripe or kick us out. They just let me finish.

I narrowed it down to six dresses, and then to three. I was about to try them all on again to make my final choice. There was an element of each of the three that I loved so much, but there was always something that wasn’t quite perfect. Nothing that was a deal breaker though. Just as I began to undress and try on the top three again, the consultant came storming in with a dress that FIT all of my criteria, but in a way I had not expected. It was a sample sale dress, and not knew so if it didn’t fit it would need expensive alterations, as it could no longer be ordered.

I tried it on, crossed my fingers and squeezed into the gown. It fit like a glove. In all the right places.

I loved it, but I was trying to keep an even head about everything. I liked the other dresses too. I bumped one dress and added the new one to my top three. I was gonna try on all three again…

But I found that I didn’t want to take this one off. My Mom looked at me at that and said, “If you don’t want to take it off, maybe you have your answer.”

I did. And I kept the dress on and tried on veils. I had originally wanted to wear my Mom’s veil, but the dress I loved didn’t match it well and it was more important to her that everything be perfect. And so I found THE perfect veil that seemed to be made for my dress. I even teared up a bit.

It was the most wonder experience. I got to take the dress home with me that day (it is living safely in Florida for the time being).

When I get to PA for the wedding in May, I just need to get it pressed and add a bustle. Easy!

Can’t wait to put it back on.