Diary of a Wedding Planning Machine: The Dress!

Here's some very very old news that I should have told you months ago but didn't. Sorry but, hey, that seems to be the story of my life at the moment.

As you may have guessed from the title of this post....I have a wedding dress. And I bought it back in late August. That's how slack I've been in relaying news on this blog. Too much to say, too little time to say it.

Before I went wedding dress shopping, I had a fair idea of what I wanted but was open to other possibilities. Making my own would have been far too stressful so I wanted the easy option of just buying something off the rack. I was actually planning to go second-hand if I could.

Some of the dresses in wedding magazines are just hideous. The girls practically look like poodles. Obviously I can't describe the look I'm going for because Duncan reads this blog and I want it to be a surprise. I love surprising people!

Emma came with me to the first shop but I didn't find anything. Most of the dresses were out of my price range. I purposefully avoided the big well-known wedding boutiques because I didn't have enough to pay for even half of a dress from there.

One dress looked good on the hanger but when I tried it on, it showed my whole back and stopped just above my knickers line. The saleslady was trying to convince me that I should buy it because I had such a lovely back. I didn't care if I had the best-looking back in the world, I wasn't going to walk down the aisle half-naked in front of my pastor and my in-laws to name a few.

Christina came with me to the next two shops and it was at the third shop overall that I finally found my dress. I was beginning to think I'd never find anything and it was the last one I tried on. Chris and I just looked at each other and nodded. It was the right one, I just knew. Not only was it a great dress, it was the last one on the rack and they weren't ordering in any more so I got a massive discount! It's a little bit big so it will be adjusted in March.

I wanted a dress that I was happy with but I don't see the dress-hunting mission as the big deal some brides make it to be. I wasn't going to sell all of my possessions to buy the perfect (and most expensive) dress and I'm not even sure if I'll keep it after the wedding. I may sell it. It seems a bit pointless to have something I'll never wear again taking up room in my wardrobe and gathering dust.

I'm just glad to have a frock. Duncan said he wouldn't care if I turned up in my pyjamas but I think he would really as my PJs are all pretty old and scabby ;)

If you're married, it'd be great if you could share your dress-hunting experience (or your wife's). Was it a big deal to you or were you just happy to not have to go down the aisle in your birthday suit? Did you go traditional or unusual? Or did you even wear a dress at all (one of my workmates got married in pants)?