General consensus is that you should buy your wedding dress several months before your wedding date. A cousin of mine who just recently got married bought her dress a year in advance, even setting a date. Meanwhile, a close friend got engaged on a Sunday, bought her dress Tuesday and was married on Thursday. I have been engaged for a little over a year. I started shopping two months before.
Going to a bridal store with that kind of information is torture. Why did I wait so long? Because I had all the good intentions to lose some weight and I didn’t. Thank you for bringing up. It’s hard enough stripping to your panties in front of a complete stranger in that harsh dressing room light that is about as flattering as years of methamphetamine use, don’t mention trying on one of the most important dresses of your life in sizes that just run way too small and won’t go past your hips, so that you have to “imagine when the dress fits and flows all the way down.” Please don’t also remind me that I’m the biggest fucking procrastinator there ever was.
I did try. When I came back from Jeremy’s sisters wedding in August, the next weekend I went to check out some dresses. I didn’t want to go to David’s Bridal, but I had no idea where else to go. We figured we’d at least get an idea of the process. We went on a Sunday and the place was pretty packed. We walked right in though and looked through all their racks. My friends insisted I try one on. I was a little lackluster about it, but they just wanted to see me try a fucking dress on. I searched the store for someone and when I found that person I wasn’t allowed to put it on.
Nobody had greeted me at the door; I hadn’t filled out the required paperwork. So I sat in a chair and I waited. And waited. Oh, and waited! A consultant came over and I thought, “FINALLY!” and then she said, “Oh, someone will be right with you in a few minutes,” and walked away. So we waited some more. I do realize now that you’re supposed to make appointments for these things, but they could have at least told me that. Instead they had me sit there like an idiot. This is a big purchase, you drop a lot of cash for a wedding dress and we were treated poorly. We left and I vowed never to step foot in a David’s Bridal again.
So after that whole ordeal, I waited an entire month to go dress shopping again. My wedding will be a casual affair. I wanted a simple dress. I thought maybe all I needed was a white gown. I researched several department stores online and saw several good options. However, in the actual stores I found nothing. I scoured the malls looking for anything ANYTHING in white. We looked in Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, anywhere where we saw long dresses and found nothing. Nothing nothing nothing nothing.
Apparently, white is not in season right now. Who knew? I did not. Very frustrating. Very tiring. I went home a little desolate, disappointed, almost crying. Meanwhile my sister took it upon herself to ask around work for bridal shop recommendations. The most promising was in Ft. Lauderdale, a place called Victoria’s Bridal Couture. The dresses online, and one in particular, caught my eye. I was hopeful. I would find something. Of course when I got there they didn’t have the dress I wanted. I tried on (and I use that term lightly since none of the dresses fit past my apparently ginormous hips) five that were pretty, but none what I wanted, that I loved and could picture myself in perfectly. It was hell and it was defeating. On the ride home I actually did cry.
Out of desperation we drove another hour to a place in Hialeah, the tacky heart of Miami, that was recommended by a friend and we found even less options. We walked in and walked out. My sister comforted me, my mother asked me to be patient and meanwhile my wedding date seemed to be this large looming date that was barreling toward me. I was so close to saying “Fuck it,” putting on some Jeans for the wedding and calling it a motherfucking day. I just wanted it to be over. I just wanted to find a dress I liked. I was desperate. So desperate that I went on David’s Bridal’s website. Even though I swore they wouldn’t get my money because of their crappy service. I saw some options, made an appointment and hoped for the best
I did not go back to the store in Pembroke Pines where I was treated like I was something stuck on someone’s shoe. Instead we went to one in Hialeah, which as I said before, is about as tacky as it gets in Miami and it gets pretty freaking tacky. I called them two minutes before they closed, made an appointment for the next day and hoped for the best. I got there and I was instantly greeted. My consultant was with another customer but would be with me in a few minutes. She was. She brought me a strapless bra, a skirt for underneath the dress and let me undress and put these on in private. It may seem silly, but strangers and naked girls with body issues don’t mix. I tried on two dresses. The second dress was it. I instantly loved it, I felt beautiful and comfortable. Everyone around me instantly loved it. I paid for it. I need to alter the length, but mostly, I’m done. I can relax a little. It’s nice.
