Holding out for The One
by A bride like you
I never would have thought finding my wedding dress would cause so much stress and anxiety. I love clothes. I love finding a beautiful piece of clothing – especially something that reflects who I am and what I like. I truly believe fashion can tell a story about you and expresses who you are and how you are feeling. I love things that give me energy and balance – flowing items, fun prints, hues of blue and silver, things that are shiny and fitted. I also like clothing that is comfortable and easy. I am not into lace, bows, beads (unless done very subtly), or big ball gown dresses.
So I knew when I started searching for a wedding dress that it was going to reflect me, and it would be simple and beautiful. I am short – 5' 3" on a good day – and I have curves. I knew from perusing lots of wedding magazines and years of buying clothes that big voluminous dresses would not look good on me. I also knew I did not really want much embellishment on my dress – I would add simple splashes of sparkle via my accessories.
In the first set of magazines I bought on my way back from Europe, I found a dress that jumped out at me immediately. It also resonated with Tim, my fiancé. (On a side note, I value Tim's opinion and often ask what he thinks of clothes before I buy them. So it seemed appropriate to have him help me out with finding a dress style that we both would like and leave it at that). We found a dress that we both liked and it became the model dress that I worked from when shopping for a dress. It was simple, strapless with beautiful draping that gave it a bit of flare. It would fit my body but had a train. Now I had to just find it.
I shopped in Chicago first – and went to 5 different stores in 5 days. It was fun and crazy. I tried on probably 30 dresses and found a few that I loved (but my mother and aunts did not) and many that I did not love. I had started out not worrying about a budget – this was my wedding dress after all, and I wanted to look amazing. But none of the famous designers – Vera, Carolina, Monique – worked for me. I wanted them to, but they didn't. I was confused and frustrated – I had found several dresses that I liked, but not "the one". And with a big audience of family members giving me advice, I felt my gut instinct was a bit off.
I kept going back to the one dress I found in the magazine. It remained at the forefront of my brain. The problem? No one in Chicago had it. So on the final day of shopping in the Windy City, I tried on a beautiful Jenny Lee dress at Macy's. It fit my body and had a lovely train that really gave it a more traditional look. People stopped and watched while my mother, cousin and I thought we had found the dress. The only problem for me was that it had lace and beads on the bodice and the train. It nagged at my brain as I flew back to L.A. It was beautiful and amazing and my family loved it… but I was not a lace kind of girl. I found that little voice in my head saying "Is it really you?"
When I finally got home to LA, I found my dress – the one I had loved from the beginning – at a store in Orange County. Erin Cole Couture had the dress. I went down and tried it on and knew immediately it was the right dress. We found some amazing accessories to really change it up from ceremony to reception and give it the splash of sparkle I wanted. I went ahead and got it. I just knew in my gut it was the right one.
That was back in September. I tried my dress on again this weekend – and bought a few more accessories to make it mine. I still love it – and know it is the right dress. I wish I could say I don't sometimes wonder if I should have gone with the Jenny Lee dress, but the reality is when you know your body, you know what you like and what works for you. You might find more than one dress that you really like. But what you have to go with is what feels comfortable, what calms your nerves and satisfies that voice in your head that says “This is the one!” And worst-case scenario, if you change your mind six months later, you can always buy another one and sell the first one on eBay!
by Monica Rohleder
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