Happy Monday lovelies! I’m back from a wonderful vacation down in Southern California, where I crammed three days at Disneyland, a Lazaro trunk show in Costa Mesa, and a John Mayer concert into a week! It was frenzied and fun, and Chris and I were able to spend some time together reconnecting.
And yes, you did see me say Lazaro trunk show!!
I can’t reveal which dress I chose, because the fiance reads these posts, but I can give you some of my best advice after a few different salons and coming to a final dress decision.
1. Do Your Research
When I finally found my “perfect dress” I was confident that there was nothing else out there that fit me, my wedding, and my style better than this one. Why? Because I’ve been poring over bridal magazines, spending hours on The Knot, Martha Stewart Weddings, Wedding Channel, and Kleinfeld’s dress finders, and pinning all of my favorite dresses to a dedicated Pinterest board for the past year! I’ve been following trends, checking out designers, and getting on e-mail lists for trunk shows. I found it’s even good to get “tired” of looking at wedding dresses, because you’ll start getting better at spotting the “special” dresses that really spark your interest.
2. Go Somewhere With Your Sample Size
I know most girls are going to fit the 8-10 range that a lot of sample dresses come in, but I’m not one of those girls! Also, in case anyone doesn’t know this undeniable fact: wedding dresses usually run somewhere between slightly smaller and a lot smaller than your normal dress size. I ended up ordering my dress from a salon without trying it on, but only after going to a fabulous plus-sized salon in Sacramento called Sparkle (amazing service, wonderful girls, beautiful showroom, gorgeous dresses!) where I was able to try on so many styles of dresses and see what looks good on my body. I would have never had the confidence to purchase my dress after only seeing it “paper doll style” (where they pin it to the front of the dress you’re wearing) if I hadn’t already tried on a lot of gowns.
3. Bring A Small Group
If you’ve ever watched “Say Yes To The Dress” on TLC, you know that large groups mean trouble. For whatever reason, many people like to tell you what you look good in, and think that their opinion should be respected. I even had one dress attendant (at a salon that will remain nameless) who continually put me in dresses I hated because she thought she knew what looked best.
I brought my mom, who has always been my self-esteem cheerleader, and no one else for my first try-on. I knew I would be my own worst critic, and I needed someone who wouldn’t care if I didn’t want to parade myself out in a dress or two.
4. Try Out A Trunk Show
Me with Lazaro!
As a girl who formerly knew nothing about trunk shows, I can now fully endorse them! If you have a favorite designer or couple of designers, there is usually a place on their respective websites that allows you to be emailed whenever they are doing a trunk show in your area. What is a trunk show? It’s when a designer travels across the country with their latest greatest line of dresses, visiting salons that carry their line. Instead of the selected 5-10 dresses the store already samples, the designer brings 10-20 of their own! During a trunk show there is usually a discount on the dresses (it varies per designer) and most of the time the designer makes an appearance on one or more of the trunk show days. In my case, I chose my dress on a Friday at Mon Amie Bridal Salon, and came back on Saturday to meet Lazaro and have him create a personalized sketch of my dress. It’s something I’ll cherish forever, and it adds so much to my growing cache of wedding memories.
5. Go With Your Gut – No Regrets!
When my dress attendant at the Mon Ami held up the gorgeous Lazaro gown that I’ll be walking down the aisle in, I knew in my gut it was right. It wasn’t a princess moment – I was all alone, half naked in a huge dressing room, without my mom crying or my girlfriends gasping (the price of a trunk show far from home) and I didn’t even cry – but I knew it was right. The silhouette, the color (spoiler: it’s not quite white!), the way it didn’t look like every other wedding dress, it all was right. I took tons of pictures, Facetimed my mom, made tons of calls, and got the go-ahead. It was a large, scary, pricey decision, but I powered through the anxiety. When I called Chris and told him I found my dress, and he sounded more excited, happy, and choked up for me than anyone else I’d talked to all day, I finally felt tears of joy.
That night I still sweated over my decision, but the feeling faded quickly. Like I said before, I’d done my research, tried on a lot of dresses, and was getting my dress made by a designer I’ve loved for years!
xoxo – Morgan Elizabeth
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