Saying No to the Dress

I loved my wedding dress...L.O.V.E.D. it...still do. Hell I would wear it to work if I could. It had everything I was looking for- lace, a sweetheart neckline, A-line and a touch of sparkle. To me it was perfect.

It took me a while to find my perfect dress...5 stores and about 35 dresses. I found it in the second to last store I went to. I knew I loved it but since I already had another appointment setup at a shop down the road I figured I would still go check out some dresses just to confirm. But nothing at the last store came close to my love of my dress.

I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the other 35 or so dresses I had to try on to get to "The One". First let's take a look at the dress I did pick which is by Impressions Bridal, it's style "Aileen".

The photos below were taken over a year ago so I'm going to apologize in advance because I don't remember all the designers/style names of each dress. The first store I went to was David's Bridal. There was one dress in particular I liked but it was out of my price range.

*The very first dress I tried on! Loved the lace but it was VERY heavy and just not flattering*

*I really liked this dress, it fit well and felt nice and I loved the neckline*

*The same dress from the back*

*Liked the lace, hated the top, made me look even flatter*


*This was my attempt at a "princess" ball gown, you can see my reflection in the mirror behind me. I looked ridiculous, it swallowed me up*

*A non-lace, satin, beaded gown. This felt VERY traditional. It was pretty but not me*

*This dress had potential but again I didn't like the bust area and the pleating*

The next set of pictures was from my second outing up in MD at TLC Bridal Boutique.

*The only dress I tried on with straps...did not like the strap look*

*I actually really liked how this dress fit and looked on me but I really wanted lace and this felt rather plain*

*Again, this was more of a fuller, princess style which just didn't look good on my petite frame. I also didn't like how plain the skirt was.*

*This was my fancy, beaded dress. I actually really liked this one but it just didn't fit our venue setting or the outdoor garden wedding we were planning. This was more of a hotel ballroom type of dress*

The next set of pictures are from my third outing at Leesburg Bridal & Tuxedo

*This was pretty but again the skirt was very plain*

*I really loved this dress, my mom actually picked it out. I very seriously considered it but it was out of my price range and then when I found the dress I ended up with I knew it was the one. Funny story- the daughter of my in-laws neighbor who got married last year wore this dress (I saw the pictures).*

*The dress from the front. The big concern I had with it was that the lace under the bust and on the train wouldn't show up well in pictures*

The last two stores I went to including the one I bought my dress at didn't allow picture taking until you actually purchased the dress which was annoying at the time. So unfortunately I don't have pictures of those dresses but I think you get the idea.

After the wedding I showed some of these pictures to Kristian so he could see some of the other options and he completely agreed that I made the best choice.