wedding wednesday: dress

Three words: wedding dress shopping.

I said yes to the dress people! I had been anticipating and dreading this day for months. I thought it was going to suck and I definitely thought I would never  find the right dress for me. Seriously.

A little back story: I haven’t been comfortable in my own skin for as long as I can remember. There have always been things that I’ve wanted to change. My stomach has always been my problem area. I’ve always tried to get rid of it, tone it, etc. and nothing has ever worked. So basically I guess I have a pregnant looking stomach for life (shrug). Flash forward to when Dylan proposed. It all hit me. I want to feel amazing on my wedding day. I want to be comfortable in my own skin. I don’t want to be self conscious or pick myself apart on my wedding day. So, I've been working out basically since the day Dylan proposed, which marks 10 months now, I changed some of my eating habits, I even gave the 21 day fix a try. The whole 21 days with no cheating. I still don't have the body I want (honestly what could I expect from three weeks?). I'm still not comfortable in my body and this is definitely not the body I want on my wedding day. But it's the one I have now, when I have to buy my wedding dress. So here goes nothing. Let's find a dress.

You. Guys. Wedding dress shopping was amazing. I went to Special Event Boutique in Alexandria and they made me feel so amazing throughout the whole process. I’ve never felt that good while trying on clothes, let alone formal dresses, but I hands down had the best time wedding dress shoppping and I know it had a lot to do with the boutique. And I found the dress! 

Now, I’m still busting my ass working out and watching my eating habits because let’s face it, I’m glad the dress makes me feel good but I still want to look good on my wedding day. Maybe I’ll keep you posted on that journey, but that’s for another post. 

All of that aside I do have a few dress shopping tips that will help you say yes to the dress too: 

Do your hair and makeup when you go dress shopping. It helps you imagine how it will look when you’re all fancy for your wedding day. If you go with your hair in a messy bun and no makeup you probably won’t feel as beautiful (at least I know I wouldn’t have).  

Bring your best people when you go shopping. I had my mom, both of my grandmas, my maid of honor, and my sister in law with me for dress shopping and that made it so much better. I really valued their opinions on the dresses I tried on and especially on the one I bought. Plus my mom brought mimosas so that made it even more of an experience ;) 

Schedule your appointment. I think this ones a given but I don’t know if everyone knows that you actually have to make an appointment to try wedding dresses on.  

If you plan on wearing jewelry on your big day, wear it when you try on dresses. I don’t think a lot of people think about this. If you’re an accessory gal, wear them when you go dress shopping! Otherwise you’ll feel like something is missing or off the whole time and it could really make or break your favorite dresses. Wear something simple and probably something with not a lot of color (chances are you’ll be wearing pearl or diamond/diamond-like jewelry on your big day over most other things). I’m not huge into accessories so I didn’t wear them, but if you are then definitely wear some when you go shopping. 

Wear a strapless bra and neutral colored underwear. Another one you don’t really think of, but if you wear hot pink underwear and a bra with straps it can be hard to imagine what it would look like if you were wearing the right undergarments.

Know your dress budget, but have a little wiggle room. Don’t let $100 keep you from the dress of your dreams, but also don’t let your stylist make you try on (and fall in love with) dresses that are thousands outside your budget.  

Don’t rush. Don’t feel like the first dress needs to be the dress and definitely don’t feel like the first dress shop you go to has to be the only dress shop you go to.  

Let me know if you have any tips to add or how your dress shopping experience was :)