The all-important wedding day attire!

I may not be the girliest of girls, but as I've said here before, I LOOOOOOOVE getting all dolled up and putting on beautiful dresses and fun shoes from time to time. I will also admit to having been a fan of Say Yes to the Dress for years. Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta is my clear favorite over the original, but I enjoy a good episode at Kleinfeld as well.  I was so excited when I started looking through bridal magazines and seeing all the photos of gorgeous dresses. I knew I didn't want anything that would break the bank (I went for under $1000, so they would have laughed at me at Kleinfeld). I went on a lot of websites and got ideas of pricing so I would make sure not to fall in love with some ridiculously expensive gown I couldn't even try on. From the get-go, there were 3 designers I became enamored of: Allure Bridals, Wtoo, and Casablanca Bridals. Being the type-A girl that I am, I ripped pictures out of magazines, looked online, and made lists. Lots and lots of lists.

I talked with Austin some about his vision of The Dress--after all, I want him to like it, too! We both agreed that it needed straps. So many dresses these days are strapless, and I'm kind of glad there are fewer options with straps--it means I didn't have to wade through quite so many options! I happen to be rather pale, so I knew stark white wouldn't look good with my skin, so one that had an ivory option was definitely necessary. I liked a few with pockets, but they all had huge skirts and Austin wasn't a fan. I have to admit the giant skirt wasn't very me...but I love pockets! Any dress with pockets is pretty exciting in my opinion.

Lace isn't something I would have thought I'd end up being drawn to, but it was. I loved the look of lace overlays and just gorgeous lace on the dresses I found I liked. When I mentioned this to people, I got kind of a "huh? Really?" response, but I'm nothing if not opinionated, and I knew what I liked. I made an appointment at the dress store in town, Formal Elegance, when I got home from Alaska. Mom and I went and showed them my inspiration book and looked through dresses. They didn't have a very big selection, and they oohed and aaahed over my favorite (from the pictures, anyway), a Casablanca gown they didn't have. They told me they could order it, but I'd have to pay $50 and if I decided I didn't want it, I could put that $50 as a credit toward a dress they DID have in stock. Uh, no thanks? I did try on several gowns at Formal Elegance, and discovered that I liked ruching across the midriff, but hated how the bottom of the dresses just kind of seemed disjointed from the ruched tops. I also discovered that, even in ivory, I am somewhat glowy-pale. I have a genetic predisposition to my skin developing precancerous lesions, so I embrace the pale. No tanning here just to look better in ivory. The lady did pull an Allure gown that was my number two choice from photos, and it was in a color called "light gold." This dress...it was beautiful. And the color was GREAT with my skintone. It had lace and straps and was a great color. I liked it. But I didn't love it. Here's a picture:

 

Allure Bridals

We left Formal Elegance and I was sad that I didn't have that feeling I kept seeing on Say Yes to the Dress. I was kind of ambivalent. It was the best they had, but I didn't think it was the best for me. I did some research into Atlanta bridal salons and kept reading horrible reviews online of shops people had recommended. I randomly discovered J. Andrews in Peachtree City and called them up. I made an appointment for early December, after finals. I was excited. I'd called and they had the Casablanca gown I loved in stock, plus many others I wanted to try on.

My mom came with me, and Hannah and Charlotte came to the appointment as well. I tried on many gowns, and I found another that I just plain ol' liked. It was a Wtoo dress, halter style, lace, nice and flowy and comfortable. However, it didn't come in the light gold/champagne color, and it wasn't nearly as amazing as the Casablanca. But here's a picture of it anyway (because I like pictures):

WToo Bridals

Then the Casablanca. It was actually the 2nd dress I tried on at J. Andrews and I pretty much knew it would end up being the dress, but I wanted to keep trying on the ones I'd picked out. I like to examine all my options before jumping into a big decision. I've known several people who got married in Casablanca gowns and talked about how wonderful their dresses are. This one is just so gorgeous. It's got straps, beautiful lace, and man. It's amazing. Plus, it comes in antique gold with an ivory lace overlay. The front of the dress is boatneck, with a sort of sweetheart underlay, and sweetheart does NOT look good on me. Luckily, Casablanca tweaks their designs, so the underlay on mine will just be straight across and not sweetheart-y. The back, though. The back is the clincher. It's so gorgeous. It's not just an empty back, like so many; instead it's got the gorgeous lace all the way up. Oh, it is beautiful. This is definitely the kind of dress you feel great in, even when people are staring at your back for half an hour.

I actually did what you're not supposed to do--I fell in love with this dress when I saw it in a magazine, without ever having tried it on. I think I was scared to try it on because I was afraid it would look horrible. However, that wasn't the case. The store manager came back and saw me in it and told me she'd been waiting for someone to come in and try on that dress and have it look like it did on me. It might have been a line to get me to buy, but it worked, and I want to believe it, so I do.

I love that the antique gold makes the lace detail really pop. I've shown a few people the pictures, but Internet, I'm not ready for you to see it. I'll post photos post-wedding, I promise. Even though the photo on the Casablanca website is different from what my dress will look like, it's just not happening. Sorry. After finding the dress, it was time for the veil. My consultant asked if I'd ever considered a birdcage veil and I told her I had, actually, but wasn't sure I could pull it off. Well. They pulled this new Sara Gabriel veil and put it on me, and it was perfect. The lace detailing pulls in the lace from the dress, and the dress has sort of a vintage feel, so this just looks perfect. Check it out:

It's not as long as it looks in this photo, and will be close to the antique gold color of the dress

Everything was ordered and we headed on our way! What's really neat about Casablanca, other than their making fabulous dresses, altering designs to make brides happy, and never discontinuing a style (it might be hard to find it to try it on, but they'll make it for you no matter when it debuted) is that they can do split-sizing when making dresses. This is fabulous for people like me who are slightly pear-shaped and not so big up top. They wanted to order a size smaller in the waist and hips than I was comfortable with, so it may end up still being a little big, but it can be altered, and I wanted to make sure it fit! Easier to take something in than to let it out. My veil came in during the middle of February, and they've held onto it for me.

As for shoes, well. I'm getting married outside, aka, in the grass. Plus, I'll be standing up most of the afternoon and evening, doing photos, the ceremony, and wandering around/dancing at the reception. I didn't want to risk getting sore feet from heels, or getting a heel stuck in the grass and falling on my face when walking down the aisle, so I'm going with flats. I have two choices in shoes, and it'll depend on the length of the dress. If it's just about perfect when I'm not wearing shoes, I'll wear these light gold Cole Haan mary jane flats with Nike Air technology. I have a pair in silver that I wear for teaching, and they are AMAZING. They are totally worth the up-front cost. I've never found ballet flats that I could stand up in for eight hours and not have foot or back pain later, but these somehow do it!

Cole Haan Air Tali ballet flats in soft gold

 My other option is one that's caused much controversy among my more proper friends. Some think it's a fabulous break from tradition, and some think it's horrifying and I shouldn't even JOKE about it...but whatever! These are taller than the flats, so if the dress is an inch or so long on me, I'll wear option number two...which is white-strapped Chacos. Now, I LOVE Chaco sandals. I've had a pair of Z2s since college, though I recently swapped them out for Z1s without the toe-strap, and I love the Z1s more than the Z2s if that's possible. I wear these things EVERYWHERE. I work in them, I walk in them, I camp in them...they're fabulous. I even have Chaco flip flops. They have great arch support and are just fabulous. I'd heard of the mysterious white wedding Chacos but couldn't find any online, so I called up their customer service and talked to someone. She said she was so excited and loved getting that question. I had to get my own white webbing (she provided some website options), but they'd certainly do it. They don't keep the white webbing around because they don't use it much and it yellows over time just sitting in the warehouse. So I got my white webbing and sent it in, then got these delightful Chacos back:

Yes, I am getting a pedicure before my wedding.

Whether you love it or hate it, it's very me, and I'm excited. Plus, the dress is floor-length...it's not like you'll see the shoes. I will actually know soon which shoes I'll be wearing. I've been sort of bridezilla-ish and have been plaguing J. Andrews with calls. I was first told that my dress would be in on April 15, then found it was supposed to ship from Casablanca on the 15th. So I called early this week and found out that it had, indeed, shipped, and was to arrive Thursday. I made an appointment for my first fitting for Friday. Then of course I had to call today and see if it really had arrived (since it's a 1.5 hour drive up to the store...I'd hate to make the trip and have it not be there!) I hung up the phone and felt simultaneously extremely excited and nauseated. I reported this to my supervising teacher and she told me that was totally normal. Haha.

Today is the one month mark until the wedding, which is INSANE. Where the heck have the last six months gone?? I've got so much coming up so soon...I have four days left in the classroom for student teaching, then a weekend in the North Georgia mountains, followed by a week of moving, getting out of my apartment by May 7, Austin flies in on the 14th, we leave for Sewanee on the 16th, and then it's wedding time!! GAH! Then I move to Alaska June 10. It's almost too insane to comprehend and I know the time is just going to fly by.

So...that's right, Internet. Tomorrow I get to find out if my dress fits. I'm sure it will (nearly 100%), but there's still that kernel of doubt, and I'm just so nervous about it! I'm excited to see how it will look with the changes that were made and with the antique gold underlay with the ivory lace overlay. I'm excited to see if my jewelry is going to work with it, which shoes I'll be wearing...ahhh. I'm also excited about playing hooky tomorrow from school to go try on my dress. :)

And now I'm off to bed, but whether I'll be able to sleep remains to be seen. Goodnight, moon!