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