Wednesday, December 1, 2010
A RooFresh Wedding - The Dress
So I debated which topic I wanted to bring up next in the RooFresh Wedding posts, and I think after the engagement biz, the next big ticket items are the venue and the dress (depending on when your date is, those may be flip flopped). For me the dress was of high importance on my list because we had bumped our date up by six months, and for those of you who have never ordered a wedding dress-it takes a long time to come in!
This leads me to my first dress buying tip:
From what I was told when buying a wedding dress, if you're not buying off the rack, ordering your perfect dress usually takes up to six months. It may take you just as long to find one off the rack if you go that route too (depending on how picky you are). In my case I didn't have six months, I had just under four. You also have to calculate extra time for fittings and steaming. For my dress I had to put a rush on it that cost and extra $150!
If you are limited on time you may want to consider making finding your dream dress one of your top priorities in planning. I had an ideal dress in my mind and ended up going with a completely different style after I tried on dresses. You never know once you get out there what the dress situation is going to be so make sure that you plan for any bumps in the road.
Which leads me to my next tip:
I know it's hard not to look at all of the different catalogs and magazines and not get your hopes up, but it's really good to have a direction that you want to go in and then be open-minded and laid back from there on out. My dream dress was "Dora" by Melissa Sweet. This was definitely out of my price range, but I wanted it SO BAD!
Now till this day I find this dress gorgeous, but even as a used gown it was still out of my means. You'll see though as I show more pictures that I kept similar qualities in the dress that I actually chose. I didn't get the Swiss dots or the sweetheart neckline, but I did keep it with a narrow waist, a strapless neckline, and an organza material. I also thought that I wanted a mermaid fit, and then when I tried it on I realized that I would look ridiculous in it. I wasn't about to try and fit my picture perfect dress onto a body that wasn't going to be flattered by it.
Here are some pictures of other dresses that I didn't choose:
Nice dresses, just not for me
Choosing a size for your dress can be very difficult. All I can say is that from my experience I was very close to fitting in one size, but it was going to be a close fit. What I ended up doing was going one size up (a lot of European designers tend to run small anyway) and that made it easier to size down the areas that needed to be altered later. The phrase I kept hearing it that "it's easier to take it in than to let it out." One thing to keep in mind, however, is that if your dress has a very distinct neckline, sizing too far down may alter the appearance of the dress.
Oh my! There are quite a few options for color out there with wedding dresses. "You mean there's more than just white?!?" Yes! There's bridal white, ivory, diamond, natural; you name it! I went with natural which made it really easy to match other things in the wedding with it. Things I never thought about like hair accessories, the men's dress shirts, runners, aisle decor, and ribbons for the bouquets-none of that should clash! It may be harder to math bolder looks like ivory or bridal white (which is a very blinding white in some cases and could be accentuated at an outdoor wedding), so look out when making the call.
Things I would not compromise:
*Strapless*
*Organza*
*Buttons up the back*
*Low or dropped waist*
Two by Rosa Clara "Salome"
This is me trying on the sample size...needless to say it wasn't my size and they had to use the jumper cables to keep it on me!
I went to a GREAT place to buy my dress. Diane and Alli from Uptown Bridal in Chandler had the best customer service. I had never tried on a dress before and they made my experience so good. I never thought that getting in and out of a dress would be so hard; Alli really helped by giving me instruction and making me feel comfortable. I actually found my dress on the first try, but only tried on others to make sure that it was "the one." If you are living in Arizona, you should definitely make it down there if wedding planning is in your future.
Well I hope if you are engaged or planning on being engaged that this helped you a little. If you're not getting married or are already married, I hope you had fun checking out my pictures anyway! If you have any questions, or would like me to elaborate on anything let me know!
Keep it real,
Roo
Labels: dress, Melissa Sweet, Two by rosa clara, uptown bridal, Wedding
