Wedding Dress

I always thought the wedding dress shopping process would be the best part of wedding planning. Is it bad if I can't stand it? I'm sure it will be better once I find one I love, and I have found a few I have liked. Granted, I've only been to three places (mostly due to this year's crazy baseball schedule).

First Shop: My sister-in-law lives in Los Angeles, and she rented her wedding gown. It was a very high-end, designer gown - very elegant. I thought this would be great - because I didn't want to have to figure out what to do with the dress after the wedding. And while I want a dress that I love, I don't want to spend a fortune for a dress worn for such a brief period of time. So, I looked into wedding dress rental in the area, and there is a place near my work in Round Rock. It sounds great - once you pick your dress, it is yours until your wedding. No one else can rent it. It is altered to your measurements so that it fits perfectly. The only problem was that I did not like ANY of the dresses. At all.

Second Shop: I went to a bridal shop in Austin with a lovely name and posh location. Big mistake. I had to make an appointment and actually got there a little early. The girl before me was still gushing over her dress - she decided it was "the one." She was in her mid-20's and would not quit squealing. It was cute at first, but after 20 minutes of her voice, I was getting frustrated. She was annoying, yes, but also eating well into my appointment time. I perused the dresses while I waited, and the prices were not friendly. I picked three of four to try on. The lady that was helping me was nice enough, but when she said to me that I knew that I was a "full-figured gal," I was ready to go. I know what she meant, but it still wasn't a welcome comment. Didn't really like any of the dresses anyway...small selection.

Third Shop: This shop was in-between the vibe of the first two. Huge selection, and I liked how they had the dresses categorized by style, not designer or size. It made it a lot easier for me to just avoid the princess-y racks. Attentive, young girl helped me and the prices were reasonable. I found about 2 maybes and 2 others that are half-maybes. A lot less formal than the first shop, which was a relief.

What I find most frustrating is that it is hard to even picture yourself even when you find a dress in a style you like. In these stores, they usually have one size for the dresses, and it is either huge or small. It seemed the ones I liked were always the teeniest ones. So you try it on, but they are clipping it and zipping it, etc....I had no idea I was expected to agree to order a dress and spend a lot of money based on trying it on like that. I mean, come on! So, I am going to a few more places...I have three targeted that are all different types of stores than what I have been to. I feel like such an "anti-bride" for not enjoying this dress process...did everyone else?

Thankfully, my Mom is coming to help. Wedding planning in general can be overwhelming, even for an event planner! Throw in some hard-core pining for Mama-and-Daddy time, and it gets even more stressful. Poor Chris, he had no idea...
So, Mom is coming next Friday evening and staying until Tuesday morning. I don't have games that weekend, so we are going to do all sorts of wedding "stuff." Since I will have games straight through from now until she gets here, I won't be able to try any others on to narrow down the field. She calms me down so much in this process though, and I am so, so excited she is coming to save the day!