Now THIS was my favorite part of the wedding process: looking for a wedding gown. I trolled every wedding gown website (including EBay) soaking up the gorgeousness of all the wedding gowns…

As an admitted and well-known formalwear junkie, I knew that my wedding gown had to be spectacular–It IS the ULTIMATE formalwear, after all…But I also knew I refused to spend a TON of money on it–a friend of mine spent $2500.00 for her dress and veil–her parents paid for that dress longer than she was actually married…
I knew that my budget was about $1000.00 for everything–in the $500-$700 range for the dress, then another $150 or so for shoes and undergarments (bra, crinoline, etc) and then about $150 for a headpiece/veil. So I went a-hunting…
First place was a little boutique in Scranton, Tunis Bridal, which I have to say, had the best Customer Service out of the 3 places I went–took you into a small room with mirrors for privacy, pleasant, willing to help, helped get in and out of the dresses (’cause its harder than it looks…) Adjusted the dresses so I could see the backs, answered my questions, showed me some complementary veils and headpieces, and best of all: Low Pressure. Their pricing was competitive, and also included all alterations, which is very rare. I tried on about 6-5 dresses there, and narrowed it down to 2 I liked from that store…

Next Place: David’s Bridal. Now, I know alot of people who got beautiful dresses from David’s Bridal, and I will admit, they have some lovely dresses, but I was not impressed–at all…On their website, they give you the option to choose dresses you like, then print it all out and take it with you to the store when you got to look at the dresses. And I did just that, but when I show the listings to my “consultant” she says to me “here are all the size 12’s, pick 3 or 4 that you want and you can try them on.” So I picked a few and my “consultant” carried them to a dressing room the size of a small shoebox, and said to “call her if needed her” So I am in this tiny room, trying to juggle shoes, a crinoline, and these HUGE dresses (I was looking at A-line dresses, which are significantly larger than the form-fitting sheath dresses) So I manage to actually get into a couple of these dresses, and come out of the dressing room to a bunch of mirrors, which is right in the middle of the store, allowing no privacy. I felt the fabrics at Tunis were much more substantial, and none of the designs really “wowed” me. I guess I was looking for the whole “bridal experience” and I wasn’t feeling it here…They were not particularly high pressure–really didn’t seem to me like they cared one way or the other–although they did keep calling me, even after I told them I had gotten a dress…

Last place: Sullum’s of Olyphant. When my sister got married, our bridesmaid dresses came from here, and since they had been open since the dawn of time (actually, 1923) and I knew of many people who have gotten dresses there, I figured I would check them out. My best friend and I went on a Saturday, and when you walk in and give your name, they take you upstairs, where the bridal consultant is informed “Your Bride is here”. Even if you don’t buy anything from there, the who bridal experience there is something you really have to try. One of the big cons is the VERY high pressure their bridal consultant put on you, trying to pin you down to a dress. She also spoke of her own design line, But her dresses “start at $3500.00″ Whatever…Some pros: The consultant makes suggestions as to veils and jewelry and the like, which is helpful–But pressuring me to buy the $250.00 VEIL–not so much…

So my best friend and I are in the shop, and we have it narrowed down to 2 dresses–and I liked one, and she liked the other! And I wasn’t really super psyched about either. They were gorgeous, but I wasn’t sure if one of them was “THE ONE”. I was told “you would know it when you saw it” and “its like falling in love–you just know” Well, I was not getting this vibe from either…and I have Ms Hard-Sell asking me “what will it take to make one of them a 10″ and I said that since the one I was wearing was too small, it was hard to imagine how it would look when I was wearing one that fit properly.

Wedding Gown Weirdness: Unless you go to a David’s Bridal and the like, you will more than likely being trying on dresses in all different sizes. I am a 12, which is not a huge size, but often the sample dresses come in 8’s or 10’s–I once tried on a 22! How the HECK can you imagine how a dress will look on you when its falling off you, or you cannot zip up the back??

Back to the story: So the consultant goes in the back and pulls out another dress that is a 12 so I can see how the dress will fall when it fits properly–It’s not the same dress, as the beading is very different (and gold), and it’s ivory (not diamond white). And she keeps saying to me “We are just looking at the sizing, you don’t have to like this dress” And then I try it on–and I start to cry. I have found my dress. I look like Cinderella–I look AMAZING..and my best friend is all excited, and of course the consultant is all excited. We then look at the price tag: $730–which is more than I wanted to spend, but the dress comes with a crinoline and bra already inside, so that saves me about $100-$150 right there.

She then tries to tell me that she can give me this gold veil at 1/2 price–for $115.00 Uhh….no….So I go downstairs and put 1/2 down and am giving a arrival estimate of…how about this: December 15 (its currently JULY) Yep, it can take 4, 5, even 6 months for a dress to be made and arrive, so if you are getting married in 6 months, you are really pushing it.

Next time I will talk about some of the things wedding places do to make the wedding dress process easier for them–and more difficult for you.