Jim & Rhea

This past weekend (Aug 2-3, 2008 ) I went to Charlotte with Elaine to visit Robin. This trip was planned way before I got engaged, so since in the mean-time I had gotten engaged, we decided to use the trip as an opportunity to look for wedding dresses..and bridesmaid dresses too..and moreso than anything, learn about what’s out there and how things work.
It was definitely very educational. The first shop we went to was David’s Bridal, it seemed appropriate, but we didn’t know anything. Turns out you have to have an appointment to try on wedding dresses (not bridesmaid’s dresses)..and they didn’t have anything available on Saturday so they said I could come back at noon on Sunday.. so we decided to do that. The girls tried on some cute bridesmaid dresses I liked .. I’m excited cuz they’re gonna look so nice too! I want them all to feel comfy in what they wear, so I’m making sure they try things on and see how THEY feel in the dresses. After a few of those we went to a store called Noble Brides in/near Pineville. It was a giant house that had been converted into a one-stop wedding shop type of place. Downstairs was all wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses and the upstairs was videography, photography, and men’s tuxes. The people there were SO NICE. The guy, Scott, said he usually does appointments but his next one hadn’t arrived yet, so he took the time to educate us on wedding stuff. Things like basic terms for wedding dresses, process of ordering, and some great tips about choosing a dress..which I’d like to share, for anyone reading for information, and also so I have a log of it

1. Trust yourself. If you think you like something and you know you like it better than anything else you’ve seen/will see, then it is “yours”. Don’t second guess yourself. (He said this applies to all wedding decisions-not just the dress)

2. If you find yourself comparing all dresses you ever see/try on to a certain one you tried on before, then that certain one is “your dress”.

3. You only need to go to about 3 shops for dresses. 5 is a bit much and anything over that is excessive. After a while all styles are the same besides the beadwork/decoration and certain details.

4. Find the style you like first, then pay attention to details. If you like a style, see if you can get that with the details you like.

5. Only 3 dresses in the dressing room at a time. After that everything will get cluttered in your head and in the room physically.
–
a few other things I learned from my own experience (and advice I found online):

1. Take pictures of everything you try on! Lots of reasons for this.. you get to see what you tried on, because you will never remember everything; you will get to remember what does NOT look good on you and what does; you also get to see what photographs well. I found that certain dresses made me feel and look beautiful, but they didn’t photograph well.. and in the end that’s what people (& you) will remember; and of course it’s a great documentation of the fun!

2. Take a waterbottle. Every time I tried on dresses I got thirsty and I always forgot this.. I definitely recommend it.

3. Take helpers/friends in shifts. Don’t take all your friends and sister and mom at the same time. Everyone will have different opinions, so take the people you trust the most first, narrow it down to what YOU like and then take the other people later for second opinions if you can’t decide on something.
–

anyway! back to the story..
I tried on some lovely dresses at Noble Brides, but they were quite expensive. There was one that looked amazing and extravagant but it’s pretty expensive and I’m not sure yet that I should spend that type of money on just a dress… but I’m also still trying to decide if that’s the one I am comparing everything to, ya know?
So that was fun and the lady who helped us, Marcy, was actually the videographer and she was being trained to help with the dresses. She was really fun to work with and very helpful. I left that store with a good feeling and a few model numbers of dresses I liked. Although I’m not sure they even come in my size.

The next day was David’s Bridal, and I tried on so many dresses! The lady there, Kristen was also very fun and super helpful. She even asked me to narrate the engagement story, so I told her that
I narrowed it down to 3 dresses after about 1.5-2 hrs, and I came away feeling successful. The thing I like about David’s, besides cost is that if you buy the gown there, the other people’s dresses/accessories can have a discount. Also the colors at David’s match up exactly with Tuxes from Men’s Wearhouse… so matching won’t be a problem…and I think there are even some discounts on those tuxes.

As far as colors go, I was looking at Red and shades of Purple originally. After the girls tried some stuff on, purple just didn’t look that great on them. I like the color they call Apple, it’s like a duller version of State Red, and there’s a color called Wine, which is a darker red/maroon/burgandy color. I like the wine a lot, it’s not too girly and it’s elegant, and I think appropriate for a Fall wedding. (we’re looking at Fall ’09).

On Tues I went with Elaine, Veera and mom up to David’s at Southpoint (Durham) to show mom the bridesmaid dresses I like and the 3 gowns that were my top choices. She ended up liking the one I liked in 2nd place…and actually that’s the one that photographs the best. I think I would be happy with it, but I’m not yet convinced that its MY dress. It’s super elegant (yet not too princessy) and I think Jim would like it too . Maybe after looking around more and not finding things, I would decide that it IS the ONE… but still not sure yet.

*phew*
that was a really summarized and condensed version of everything we did, but I wanted to document everything important

stay tuned…