I started shopping for dresses maybe a month or so after we became engaged (sept. 13 2007)--so around october/november. My first stop was at David's Bridal despite all the negative posts I had been reading on bridal sites. Needless to say, my experience at David's was awful. We had an appointment but my sales lady was still helping at least 3 other "brides" at the same time and they weren't even her appointments. She'd come occassionally to drag dresses but very rarely helped me into them and had no feedback on what looked good and what didn't. I was not going to get my dress at David's Bridal. I didn't really like any of their styles anyway, just liked the prices :).
My sister became engaged last fall as well, a month after me! So, we decided we would go dress shopping together during our X-mas visit to MN. That way we'd have our mother there with us. We went to a great bridal store downtown...I forget the name :(. We tried on so many dresses. I found a mermaid style that I absolutely fell in love with...my mom nearly fainted at the price--so back to the drawing board--but I knew I wanted that style of dress. Not to mention, I couldn't believe I liked all the fluff and frills, beading, lace, etc. The more intricate details a dress had the more I liked it. My sister did not have any luck. In fact, she looked downright discouraged.
I found a cheap ticket to visit her post- new years the weekend before I returned back to work. We went to 2 bridal salons in Cincinnati area and tried on loads of dresses. I immediately found one I LOVED--it was a Maggie Sottero mermaid style dress--the problem is, the dress was smaller than me so I could not get a good idea whether it would really look good on me...plus, again the price tag was double what I wanted to spend :(. I sat awake all night trying to decide if I should just splurge or keep looking--I was THAT in love with the dress. I paid a deposit to put the dress on hold and my sister and I would return the next day to make a decision. The next day Maggie Sottero was having a trunk show at the salon. I absolutely love this designer. The dresses have so much detail and a wide range of prices. I was SURE I was going to get a Maggie dress. I went back to try the mermaid dress and was still in love with it...my sister was not sold on it though...so we grabbed some more dresses off the rack. I can't remember if it was my sister or the trunk show rep who brought in a new dress...I had passed this dress several times because it was a typical ballgown/full A-line style while I was looking for fit-flare or mermaid. I decided to try it on anyway. When I stood on the pedistal in the dress all eyes in the room turned to me...my sister was like OMG! We were in a mass changing room with other brides putting gowns on. One mother ran over and asked to check and see the price...she wanted her daughter to try on the dress. My sister knew that this was the dress...I wasn't completely sure as I still had my hopes of getting the mermaid one..but when the sales lady told me the price of this new dress and also told me that they would give me an additional 20% off because of the trunk show, I knew I had to get it.
My dress arrived just before I left for Boston this summer! I have to say, it really is a gorgeous dress! Here is a picture.
