When we got engaged and started planning our wedding, it became VERY obvious that I was not the girl who had her wedding planned since she was a little kid...but the one thing I knew right away--I did not want one of those huge, poofy dresses. Just the thought of myself in one made me sick to my stomach...
I decided that a short, spunky dress fit the bill. I called around to a bunch of stores to see if they carried any short bridal dresses and the answer was always, "No--but try the bridesmaid section. We can usually order those in white or ivory."
The problem--all the dresses were obviously meant for a bridesmaid, not a bride.
I finally gave in and got on eBay. And I found the perfect dress!
It was a Green Label Ralph Lauren dress made of raw silk and beading along the top...it had never been worn, it still had the tags on it and the seller only wanted $60 for the dress. I snatched it up and was over the moon with my find!
The problem? It was a too big--especially in the bust. Long story short, the seamstress had the dress from April-September and failed to tell me that she couldn't take in the bust because the beading was handsewn onto the dress--and they were all on ONE strand of thread. After picking it up I was just plain disgusted with her so I took the dress to my local tailor. We spent the better part of the week trying everything under the sun...but the dress just wasn't going to fit.
The Saturday before our wedding, I called my mom in tears. I had spent that morning trying to convince myself that the dress WOULD, indeed, fit. But who was I kidding?!
Mom dropped what she was doing, came to Manhattan and we spent the afternoon at the two bridal shops in town looking for a dress--ONE WEEK before the wedding. Ordering a dress was clearly not an option and we didn't have time for alterations, either. The term "buying off the rack" couldn't have been any truer in this situation!
In addition to those limitations, I wanted something that would go with my veil, headpiece and shoes...it was already a budget-buster to start all over with the dress and I certainly couldn't afford to go buy a whole new ensemble!
 |
| My shoes! They were exactly what I was looking for...and I found them in the basement of the Community Building in Cuba, KS for only $3! |
 |
| Whoopsy-daisy...the comb of my veil was sticking out! I loved my headpiece--feathers, pearls, rhinestones and a silver broach! |
We narrowed it down to two dresses that I equally loved. One dress cost the equivalent of a house payment + a car payment...the other one only cost about as much as a car payment. You know what they say--money talks, bull-loney walks!
And with that, I picked the less expensive of the two gowns! And it was basically a long version of the original Ralph Lauren dress :-)
A year later, the Ralph Lauren dress is in a trashbag...in the basement...waiting to be taken to the thrift shop. In a way, I really don't want to part with it as it would be fun to look back at--and laugh about--some day. Maybe that's why it still hasn't found its way to the Salvation Army???
The clerks at both stores kept commenting on how calm I was, given the circumstances. At the time, my theory was that I just needed something to get married in...my focus was on making a lifetime commitment to my husband and not winning some "dress of the year" competition. And guess what? The dress turned out just fine and I am still happily married 1 year later!
No comments:
Post a Comment