a white dress to rehearse in.

I have been searching for a dress for our rehearsal dinner for a few months now. I originally wanted to take advantage of the fact that, as the bride, it is perfectly acceptable for me to wear a white dress. Alas, I don't think that is in the cards for me. I have searched and searched and searched and cannot find a white dress that is semi-casual (since our rehearsal dinner is being held outside at Mr. M's parent's home) and that you cannot see through. I don't think those two criteria are very stringent, but apparently they are.

Exhibit #1.

Oh yeah, I can't even show it to you. I fell in love with this cute strapless white and metallic silver BCBG dress at Lord & Taylor months ago, but they didn't have my size. Anywhere in the US. I looked all over the internet for it as well and couldn't find so much as a picture of it. Sad.

Exhibit #2. This dress made me swoon from the second I laid eyes on it. I waited for it to go on sale online and ran (okay, drove) to the nearest Banana Republic to try it on. In the store it was only $39.99, and I grabbed the last one in my size. I tried in on and it fit perfectly. It was flowy and silky and wonderful. Imagine my disappointment when I looked in the fitting room mirror and could see everything I was wearing underneath it. I felt like I was wearing an invisible sheath. Again, sad.

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Exhibit #3-23. I'm too lazy to find the pictures. I have tried on at least 20 dresses at various department stores and all of them are either not flattering or completely see-through. Sad, sad, sad...

I did try on a very cute dress from Anthropologie today that I have been eyeing for awhile now. One thing it is not? The bridal white I was going for in a rehearsal dress. But it is pretty, light-colored, semi-casual, and you can't see through it! It's also a dress I can wear again! Needless to say, I gave up on my dream white dress and bought this one instead.

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So it's not white. But metallic linen is close to white, right? Okay, no it's not, but I like it anyway!

Did anyone else want a white rehearsal dinner dress? Where did you find one?

no more doubts.

So I haven't posted anything about my dress since it arrived in March. My reason being that I was just SO unsure about it. I felt like I had jumped in a little too fast and bought my dress without doing much research, and I wasn't sure if it was really "the one" for me anymore.

Despite my hesitation, I had my first fitting on the weekend of my bridal shower. I'm getting my alterations done by a friend of Mr. M's family, who actually altered both of his sisters' wedding dresses as well. I would have had no problem altering my dress at The Bride's Room, where I bought it, but I figured I'd save the money and get it done at home. By someone who knows me. Or at least knows my soon-to-be family.

For the fitting, I brought my dress, veil, shoes, and jewelry. My mom, future mother-in-law, and littlest sister (and BM) Gaby all came with me. It was my mom's first time seeing me in my dress, so I wanted to make sure she got the full effect. I also wanted to make sure that I got the full effect, and was hoping it would get rid of the doubts I had about the dress. I put it all on and we got right to work figuring out what needed to be done.

Since I'd lost some weight since I bought the dress (officially 10 pounds as of today, yippee!) it was too big on top and needed to be taken in about an inch on each side. I'm decently tall (5'8") and wearing flats, so the dress length was perfect. I talked to her about removing some or all of the beading on top (I am really not a fan of beading and sparkles) and we decided to take it slow and just remove the sequins in the centers of the flowers for now. No problem. The only other thing we had to worry about was the bustle.

I had no idea how I wanted the dress bustled, but I did know I wanted it to blend in with the tucks and draping on the dress. Immediately the lady tried the overbustle approach. I wasn't feeling it. Everything on my dress flows down and to the side, so pulling the train up and over all of the draping just didn't look right at all. At first I was hesistant to say anything, but since I was already feeling a little so-so about the dress, I didn't want to like it any less!

I suggested we try an underbustle. She said she wasn't sure how it would look, but tried it anyway. Then she proceeded to "ooh" and "ahh" about how beautiful it looked and blended in with the details on the dress! She put a few pins in and told me to come back the next time I came home.

I went back a couple weeks ago while I was visiting my parents. She had already taken the sides in, and had worked on pinning the bustle exactly how she would sew it. She had also removed the weird sequin centers of the flowers on the top of the dress, just like we talked about.

Although she had taken it in a tad too far on the sides (nothing a little more diet and exercise can't fix in the next 3 months, or worst case -- letting it out a bit), the rest of the dress was perfect! I love.love.love the bustle. So much, in fact, that I will be wearing it bustled...all day. As in, including the ceremony. No train for this bride!

I love that I'll be able to move around without an entourage fixing my dress during the ceremony. And that no one will be worried about learning how to bustle it correctly before the reception. The best part is... I like my dress again! The train was just all wrong for me.

Did you have doubts about your dress? What did you do to get rid of them?

a grey's wedding.

Grey's Anatomy has been one of the only shows I've ever watched religiously ever since the first episode. I love the medical/soap opera combination... I also enjoy seeing the products that my company makes in each episode (I'm a nerd like that). Tonight's episode added another element to the formula that made me enjoy it even more! That's right... weddings!

Here's the synopsis (at least for the wedding part of the plot):

Meredith and Derek are getting married and Izzie throws herself into planning the wedding in hopes that it will help her avoid the side effects of chemotherapy. Meredith wants a simple wedding, and her and Derek joke that they want to get married in their scrubs and hold surgical instruments as her bouquet. Izzie tells them a large, traditional wedding is a requirement, and sets up a makeshift bridal boutique in her hospital room, forcing Meredith to try on poofy white dresses against her will. Meredith obliges because she feels bad that Izzie is sick. All in all, it made for a pretty entertaining episode!

I'll admit though, I was a little surprised when Meredith came out in "the" dress. I was envisioning her in a modern gown with no beading or tulle and made of luxurious fabric, like this one from Melissa Sweet.

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Instead, she walked out in this dress.

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I'm not sure what to think of it. It's a pretty dress, I just don't think it really fits her personality on the show. What do you think?

Whether you think the dress fits her style or not, I don't think anyone can argue that her hair and makeup in this picture are gorgeous! File it away in your inspiration folder!

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Thank you Grey's Anatomy for being my unexpected source of wedding inspiration today. I don't know about you, but I hope they are going to show the actual wedding on the show!

increased heart rate.

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That's what I'm experiencing at this moment. Why? Because I just got the call... my dress is in! I'm a little bit excited. And a little bit nervous. I hope I still like it as much as I did when I bought it. Six months is so long to wait between the time you buy something and the time you receive it! Now I just need to find the time to pick it up. The store closes at 5 today, is it bad if I leave work early to go get it? I'm not sure if I can hold out for another day knowing it is there waiting for me.

dress envy.

As I wait (rather impatiently) during these last few weeks before my dress arrives, I can't help but have a slight case of dress envy. I am completely in love with this gorgeous gown photographed by Mimmo + Naz and featured on Style Me Pretty.Her veil isn't too bad, either.
Okay, I guess I'm a little jealous of the scenery too!

frilly dresses.

I've been seeing some gorgeous dresses around the wedding blog world lately. I'm not typically a fan of super frilly dresses, but there are always a few exceptions. These three definitely fall into the exception category.

They are right when they say you should stop looking at dresses once you buy one. I'm anxiously waiting for mine to arrive sometime in March. I only hope I will love it as much as I love these.

Dress 1 from Vera Wang.
Dress 2 via With This Ring... Photo by Susan Stripling.
Dress 3 via Elizabeth Anne Designs. Photo by Amy Squires.

details.

Dana asked for pictures of the details on the dress, so here they are.

The bodice of the dress, front and back will actually have less beading on them than shown in the pictures. You'll be able to see more of the lace that way, and you know how I feel about a lot of beading. It will end up looking more like the lace/beading on the bottom of the dress.

The back will also have the covered buttons going down the zipper. And of course it will actually zip up all the way. I got the dress from The Bride's Room in Wheeling, IL. I highly recommend this salon to anyone! The girls there are so nice, and they shut down the whole bridal area for you while you're there. They also pick out the dresses for you, which some people may not like, but they really get to know your style and find the dresses that fit your taste.

Since this was the first place I went yesterday, I wanted to be absolutely certain before I bought the dress so I went back after my other appointments to try it on for a second time. I didn't have an appointment of course but they still were very accomodating and the same girl that had helped me earlier in the day stopped what she was going to help me try it on again. I was very impressed with their service! Now I have to wait 6 months before my dress comes in :(

Next thing on the list...bridesmaid's dresses!

Photos by my maid of honor and lovely sister Dani.

the dress!!

I found the dress! I am really excited. Here are some pictures, mainly so my fabulous father can see :) Adam, I'm pretty sure you don't read this but if you do, stop now!
Dress is Jasmine. Photos by my future mother-in-law Connie.

dress shopping.

So my mom and future mother in law, as well as my sisters are in town this weekend to help me look for a wedding dress. We have 3 appointments scheduled for tomorrow, so hopefully I can find a dress! One of my appointments is at a place called The Bride's Room in Wheeling, IL. This is a really nice boutique where they only allow one bride in at a time and you have their full attention. I took my matron of honor, Dona there to try on dresses, and she said it was by far the best experience she had while dress shopping. Hopefully it will be the same for me! It can't be any worse than my experience last week, where I was told that my $1,000 budget was causing the lady to struggle to find dresses for me to try on. She also said that since it was a "boutique", girls with budgets typically don't come into the store. When Dona asked if they had any dresses without beading, the lady told her that she did, but that those dresses were made of fine fabrics and were not within my budget. So basically, it was a disaster. I did find one dress I sort of liked, but I really don't think I'm going to go back there. If they treated me that badly before they had my money, imagine how they will treat me after they have my money! Here's the dress I found at that store.
Dress is Blue by Enzoani.

i LOVE this dress.

Too bad it's only sold in Spain and Mexico. Good excuse for a vacation?

Dress by TWO by Rosa Clara. Photo from www.rosaclara.es.