** D! Dress spoilers! Don't read!**
Okay, so when we last left, I had me my heart's desire, and then had a disastrous shopping experience with our lovely neighbours to the South. The one decision I had made, the lovely Rachael, was still in my mind, but I let many, MANY months pass by and it was time to get back in the dress-shopping game.
In early October, a few of my bridesmaids were in town and we decided to make a day and go dress shopping with my mom and future mother-in-law. I picked three new shops to go visit, and after an early wake-up call and a quick Starbucks run, we were at the first store waiting for it to open (oh, yes, it was that early!). We went inside and after meeting our shopping consultant, she led us into the room where all the dresses were kept and we started pulling styles. Unfortunately, even though they sold Maggie dresses, they did not have the Rachael, and they had just sold the Essense dress sample that I loved, so we didn't really have anything to go on. So, after explaining what I was looking for, and pulling a bunch of dresses, we started trying them all on. There were some definite contenders, and then I tried on the dress that was the 'winner' of the day: Mori Lee's 4524.
This dress was totally gorgeous and very similar to the Rachael, but at a fraction of the price. It was the one that gave me the most of the 'feeling,' made my mom cry, and we kept comparing everything else to it all day, calling it 'Number One.' The only thing I wanted to change about it was the belt, adding a different sparkly belt instead. Love. So after the first appointment, this was for all intents and purposes, the ONE.
Our next stop was a fairly new bridal salon just outside of Ottawa, that had fairly limited styles, but was the only salon in Ottawa to carry Jim Hjelm Blush. They also had consignment dresses, so I thought it was definitely worth a look, because you never know what you will find. The store was closed just for us (that is, they only take one appointment at a time, which was nice), so we all walked around looking for dresses. As I said, their selection was fairly limited, so we ended up pulling only a few styles. This is where a huge wrench was thrown in my wedding dress plans... I found a dress that I loved, but that was SO absolutely and completely different from what I thought I wanted, and now I was confused. The dress... Jim Hjelm Blush 1050.
Gorgeous. This is more of the style I thought I wanted when I first started looking at wedding dresses, and after months of not really looking and this I was set on a ballgown, it's like I totally forgot this style even existed! I had never tried on a dress with this shape, and I. Loved. It. Loved it. I think there is just something so elegant and stylish about a fitted dress, so after trying this on and loving it, I was confused. Everyone who was shopping with me (BMs and Moms) said they still liked the first one (Mori Lee) on me, and that it was more 'my style,' but I just didn't know anymore. What to do, what to do?
So we left the second shop and ventured to the third and last stop of the day. This store carried dresses that were all of a certain style, and not really what I was looking for. Lots of all-over bling, ruching, pick-ups, etc. Now that I was more settled on either an empire-waisted ballgown or a mermaid style, I didn't want to try anything else different on. I didn't want to get more confused. So, needless to say, there wasn't anything noteworthy in this shop, and I went home still debating which dress I liked more (the Mori Lee or the Jim Hjelm Blush). Big choice!
I promise there is an end in sight! I have only made one more trip, and my decision is now made. Yay! The (exciting, I'm sure) finale is coming up. Yay, wedding dress!
And for anyone from Ottawa reading, these are the three shops we went to. I have nothing but good things to say about any of them. They were nothing but friendly and helpful during my time shopping there.
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