We have officially been engaged for 2 months as of today. In about one and a half months we will celebrate our 2 year anniversary, and in 29 days it will be one year till our wedding. Not that anyone’s counting…well, other than me.
With that in mind, I decided to jump the gun and start the gown shopping. A lot of gals I know who are recently engaged have actually…been to a bridal salon, been gown shopping or in some cases, already have their dress. Normally you’d think, that for the bride, the gown shopping would be the most fun…for me? I dunno if i’m excited or dreading it, I worry it’s a mixture of both. Unfortunately for me, my weekends up until now have been pretty packed so I haven’t been able to peruse the racks as I would have hoped.
However, Friday afternoon when I went over to Clarendon, I stopped in a bridal salon that was right next to the metro. A woman immediately asked if she could help, I told her I was just looking. I wasn’t really in the right mindset to try on dresses especially given that I was by myself. I was just seeing if they had anything remotely close to what I’m looking for. Yeah, not so much and it was a bit out of my budget.
Now in case you’re wondering why I haven’t yet posted a picture of the type of dress i’m looking for – because fiancé reads this. And well, I’m trying to keep that all a secret. So if you’re curious – here are a few of the styles I like. (Fiancé if you click any of them I’ll cut your fingers off…love you! 
) They’re basically the same thing…i want simple. Simple elegance.
Surprisingly, I’m not into the glam, couture stuff, not that I ever was. But the ruffles, the beading, the cathedral trains? Not my style.
So perhaps on Sunday I’ll trek down to Old Town to visit a few of the bridal salons on my list, or go up to Rockville to go to I do, I do at the very least to make myself get out of the house, Saturday is an afternoon out with the girls to see the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, at some point I need to clean house before my sister gets in town Monday and well…damnit I want to go bridal gown shopping.
But it’s sad to me, that none of my bridesmaids are here to go with me, i can’t imagine the fun I’d have with T and S, my two bff’s from college that are also bridesmaids. Regardless, sister will be in town soon, and I’m sure I can rally a few gal pals to go with me soon
What’s you favorite style of bridal gown? Do you have your dream gown picked out or what was yours like??
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
I thought I wanted the exact same thing: simple, A-line, minimal details. I ended up with an 8 foot train, ruffles, silk, pearls, lace, and a crinoline. I absolutely love my wedding dress and wish I could have a second wedding to wear it again!!!
My only tidbit of advice is to try on a LOT of things, even if you think you will hate them. My mom forced me to try this on, and I gagged looking at it. But then I put it on. And felt like a princess
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Good luck finding your dream dress!!
I love halter-style gowns. That’s probably what I’ll end up with, or at least some sort of strap. Strapless gowns just do NOT work on me. I LOVE the simple elegance of those examples. The first one is probably my favorite. So beautiful. Good luck in your quest!
I love the dresses you linked! I definitely think strapless is the way to go. I also like a slightly full skirt, but nothing bordering on full-hoop-skirt style.
I think a dress with delicate tiny cap sleeves would be gorgeous.
*sigh* I want to plan a wedding!
LOVE the strapless a-line with the wider red ribbon. Wow!
I went into dress shopping with an idea of what I wanted stuck in my head. And even though I tried on dozens of dresses, The One was the first one I tried on – http://www.maggiesottero.com/dress.aspx?keywordText=dion&keywordType=any&page=0&pageSize=8&style=341
(ooof, that’s a long ass link). But, in ivory.
I thought I wanted simple with straps and in white. But, Maggie’s Dion was too beautiful. With every dress I tried on, that was the one I kept going back to.
Now, if only money would come together and we could plan our wedding. I’ve already bought the dress.
Oh, and I certainly don’t like it with such a full skirt as shown in that picture. Hehe.
I too was ambivilent about wedding dress shopping. Mostly because I hate to be the center of attention and the idea of trying on dress after dress of sample dresses that, more likely than not, would not fit me made me want to cromit (cry/vomit).
Suprisingly the day I went was wonderful. I went to a bridal shop – not David’s – and was given one on one attention. My MOH and my mom went so there weren’t tons of people with us and we picked out a wide range of dresses. Try on dresses that you think you won’t like on you just to try it.
My first gown was a strapless. It was one of my “I know I won’t like it but I’ll try it”. Strapless just isn’t flattering on me and I just don’t like being all that bare on top. I was right, didn’t like it.
My second one was THE ONE. Seriously. I kept on trying on more but the second one made me swoon. Put it on again, and everyone was in agreement. Then they put on a tiara and veil and did the “sparkle test” and I was a goner!
Links to my dress are here, here and this one which is of the wedding day and shows off the back of my dress and my tattoo! Many people learned I had a tattoo that day
My wedding was during the day and my dress was lacy/beaded and I said to hell with sticking to the rule. When you find THE DRESS, nothing else matters.
Good luck! I look forward to reading about your experience.
i definitely have a dream dress planned out in my head. now finding it will be the tricky part when the time comes, haha.
http://www.palomablanca.com – style 3856 (unfortunately you can’t link directly). We bought the silk two weeks ago, mom is sewing it.
hey ms. pink a licious: just dropped by to say…. I just joined the ranks of my fave dc bloggy chicks getting married soon. hee. I’m not quite as big time planning as you so I may have to stay away (or have panic attacks!) but you, Liz and I should go out shoppin!
or at least margarita shopping 
MY wedding dress was from a vintage pattern. It was amazing. I can’t believe that was a whole year ago…
You have picked out my wedding dress. Seriously, that is exactly what I want to do.
You already know about my dress so I won’t rehash it here, but I love reading about yours! It is sad not to get to go with bridesmaids. I had that problem too.
I love the dresses! My dress saga was one of woe and unhappiness until I found *the* dress. I must have tried on seriously like 500 dresses at several stores in DC, philly and even chicago! Nothing did it for me and I was totally disheartened. My local shop at home called me about a sample sale, opened early for just me because i was driving in from dc. I pulled like another 30 dresses into the room with me, tried on the first one, liked it as much as everything else I had tried on, but when I stepped out of the dressing room into the big mirror area they had set the lighting to be more like sunset on the beach and I was sold.
My advice, try a lot on, its the only time in your life when you can put on gowns like this!!
You know on Sex and the City, the dress Charlotte wears when she marries Harry? That dress is the most gorgeous wedding dress I’ve seen. Unfortunately I don’t have her hourglass figure to pull something like that off.
)
My dress was absolutely gorgeous (I’m a little biast ha). It’s really hard to describe, but it made me feel beautiful all four times I wore it.
I agree with d.a.r….. even if it feels painful, try on a bunch of different styles. I swore I was going to head down the isle in an empire waist gown and when I tried them on, they just looked terrible. I ended up with something completely different from what I had imagined and I loved it (VERY simple heavy woven silk with the most amazing Art Deco buttons)
If I can give one more piece of advice… although it may be tempting to go with a bunch of friends or family members, I would suggest picking one person you love and trust and thats it. It can be really overwhelming and the last thing you need is 6 different opinions as a gushing sales lady shoves yest another ridiculous head piece in your hair.