You know how they say a little girls dream of their wedding day. Yeah, well, then there’s me. I literally had zero expectations or ideas when I started planning this whole thing, and when it comes to my dress - it was no different.
Don’t get it twisted. I’m excited, but also riddled with anxiety (thanks DNA!) with all the details. And, ironically, I love details. I’m a creative project manager for crying out loud. I swim in details all day long. However, that Type 1 Ennegram comes out to play when I feel the need that everything should feel perfect on my Big Day.
So, when it came to choosing the dress, sure I pinned a few on Pinterest. But, I went in with a REALLY open mind about what I wanted. All my friends gave amazing advice - try on all the silhouettes because there will be some surprises. That couldn’t have been more true. To get to THE DRESS, I first have to drag you through the mess. So, grab your popcorn!
So, my first dress shopping experience was in Austin at David’s. I knew I was going back to Florida the following week to look with my mom and future mother-in-law in tow. So, I wanted to have some of the initial ideas in mind. My friend, Betsy, was so sweet and met up with me to look for options. None of my bridesmaids live in Texas, and Betsy is one of my closest friends here. Honestly, the first dress I tried on felt right! I loved it. I still kinda do. I think she can attest - it was a great dress! It even had sleeves.
But, never-the-less, I still wanted to give my mom and mother-in-law the experience of shopping with me! So, in Jacksonville, we made an appointment at The White Magnolia. I kept getting drawn to ball gown styles - which honestly wasn’t really on my radar. But, wow they make your waist look so tiny even if it’s just an illusion! However, these moms were picking up on every little thing I did. And, they noticed that a dress on a mannequin had caught my eye early on.
They asked the stylist to pull it. And, wow it was gorgeous. (*this would sort of be the dress I ended up buying...more on that later*)
My mom was throwing all caution to the wind. She kept pulling stuff out of the budget. LOL, lady was LIV-ingggg! Anyway, I decided to at least sleep on it. One hesitation was that the color of the sample dress was almost gray, so it was hard to picture in the color I really wanted.
Not to mention, I was still dreaming of that first dress (can this get more cliche?). So, I marched right back to David’s as soon as I got back from Florida. It was the one. I texted all my friends... only to find out minutes later that the dress wouldn’t arrive until a week before my wedding - * CUE THE DRAMATICS *! I left the store crying. I was SO bummed out. The stylist told me initially that as long as I ordered by end of March that the dress would be here by Mid-July. Y’all SHOUT-OUT fiance of the year...he called them and demanded answers. But, basically they just said “Sorry…”. Womp womp.
I knew I needed to order a dress ASAP. These things can take months to come in. So, I quickly started calling shops around Austin for the earliest appointment possible. Listen! I am not kidding when I say I think God looked down on me parted the heavens and lead me straight to Naomi at Blue Bridal Boutique.
To start, I immediately explained the whole fiasco, and I just felt a sense of peace and knew that Naomi was my person! She was going to help me find this dress, and I knew I could trust her from the moment I met her. I run my life on good vibes. If I’m not feeling it, I can’t fake it or force it. I knew instantly that she had good energy, and was going to make this a positive experience.
We tried on all sorts of options. Honestly, it made me want 8 dresses. Wedding dresses are fun. Like, when do you really get to wear something so extravagant? Personally, I kind of loved not taking a huge group of people to try-on dresses. The process already felt like tons of pressure to me, so for me, it helped not to have a ton of other opinions to sift through.
Finally, Naomi said “Do you want to try on the dress again?” - hinting at the dress from Florida. And, of course I did! She actually had it in the color I was hoping for and it was just magic! We experimented with belts and veils. And, she so graciously took ALLLLL the photos for my mom and friends.
Blue Bridal Boutique has so many collections and options and the showroom is honestly stunning. You feel like a bride there. Now, I know they can’t pull too many strings, and I got really lucky. But, my dress came in a whole MONTH early - which was amazing because I was able to go into alterations basically immediately. While they do not offer in-house alterations, they do have an extensive list of the best in Austin.
If you’re searching for a seamstress in Austin, please reach out to me directly and I’m happy to provide contact information for the woman that helped me. (I’ll share her information publicly once we are married.) She was wonderful to work with and from the time of my first fitting, my dress was back in my hands two short weeks later. I can’t guarantee that for you (totally depends on what you need done), but it was a great experience.
So, that’s that! The next step is hauling this baby to Florida for the wedding. Our next trip to Florida is in September, and the plan is to take the dress then so I don’t have to stress about it in wedding month.
