One of the things I was most excited about for the wedding was picking out a dress. I looked for about 4 months in magazines and online, and after my finals were over in April, we actually started looking. I first went to Priscilla of Boston (in Boston) by myself to get an idea of what I liked and what I didn’t like. I found a few that were beautiful, but unfortunately they were out of my price range, and I also wasn’t ready to commit on my first trip.
After that, I checked out a few shops in Atlanta when I was home visiting. We went to two shops, Priscilla of Boston (again) and New Natalie’s Bridal. We found a contender at each shop, a Priscilla and a Maggie Sottero, one that was significantly over-budget and one that was well under.
Here is the Maggie Sottero Oakley:
I decided to get more opinions from a few of my bridesmaids back in Boston. I was unable to find a shop in Boston that carried the style of Maggie Sottero that I liked, so we headed back to a Priscilla’s as well as to another local shop, Country Weddings in Hingham. We eliminated the Priscilla’s gown, but we loved Country Weddings, and I found a serious contender, an Alvina Valenta that came in rum pink, an ivory color with just a hint of pink. I wanted to wait for my mom to come up and help me decide, so I waited until May when she had a trip planned. We visited Country Weddings on the Friday and then drove to NYC to Kleinfeld. Our consultant was friendly but I couldn’t help but feel pressured. Long story short, I ended up ordering a dress, a Henry Roth Gown.
Here is the Henry Roth:
After I got home I started having nightmares about my dress, and after a week or two I decided to call and see if I could put my dress on hold until I could come back and try it on again. I scheduled my appointment for mid-July. I had a new consultant, and she seemed to get what I was going for and was totally fine with staying in my budget. She proceeded to bring me a plethora of dresses, most of which I didn’t care for. I even joined her in the dress stockroom and picked out a few.
Just as I thought that we were running out of options and that I was either going to have to settle for one that I had already tried on, but she came through at the end and pulled out a dress that was completely gorgeous and exactly what I had pictured. A Pnina Tornai, with all of the features that I wanted. It was a gown that had been canceled too late after it was ordered, so it was technically a sample gown although it was brand new and never tried on.
I was afraid it wouldn’t fit, as a lot of the samples are very small, but it was just about one size too big, and the perfect height with the shoes that I had already purchased for the wedding! I couldn’t believe it. The dress was still a bit out of my price point, but Joan the manager and my awesome consultant Moriah were able to get the price down to almost exactly what I had set for myself as a maximum budget. I won’t be showing a picture of mine, but here are some of the other beautiful dresses that Pnina makes (as seen at Kleinfeld):
I love my dress and I am so excited to wear it!
Elizabeth
