Finally, we meet.....

Last Friday, I went on the aforementioned journey into bridal gowns. I ventured to two bridal shops with the intention of remaining open-minded, but the dress that I have had my eye on the most still couldn't stay out of the picture for very long. I will hereto forth call said dress "dream dress."

On my dress shopping excursion, I had the pleasure of being accompanied by my fabulous mother and my two best friends (who also happen to be my maid & matron of honor). We began at a nice little shop in my hometown called Bridal Sophisticate. There I tried on about 6 dresses; about 2 of said dresses really tickled my fancy once I had them on. Unfortunately photos weren't allowed, but I do have photos of one from the Jasmine website:

Please disregard the erotic model pose.....

I had seen this dress online a while ago, and have always liked the simplicity and the *bling* details. I know that I said I didn't want a strapless dress, but something about this dress doesn't bother me as much as some other strapless styles, and I love the asymmetrical cut and the embellishment on the side. Once I tried it on with a veil that had some sparkle to it, I really felt like a princess.

After a nice lunch with my favorite ladies, we then ventured to Fantasia Bride & Cocktail in Delaware (hooray for tax-free shopping!), about 25 minutes away. This was actually the only store within about an 80 mile radius that had a sample of the dream dress that has been wooing me for some time now (see post below!). Fantasia was tightly packed with dresses, but we were the only ones in the store so we swiftly picked out about 6 dresses to try on (dream dress being the first, of course). Although this shop wasn't as "posh" as Bridal Sophisticate, the fitting rooms were MUCH more spacious and I didn't feel like I had to squeeze into dresses that were bigger than the room I was standing in.

Anywho, dream dress most definitely did not disappoint! Although the sample was 2 sizes too big on me and they didn't have clips to make it fit a little better, I still felt fabulous in it. Please disregard the oversized-nature of the dress:

Sorry this shot is a little fuzzy.... MOH was trying to sneak a picture without letting the salesperson know that we were taking photos!

The salesperson said we couldn't take photos, but I nicely mentioned that I already knew who made the dress, so she said "okay, just don't tell anyone!" and let us take a better photo with the flash. Sweet-talking always does the trick!

The only thing that slightly concerns me is the width of the lace V-neck -- it doesn't seem as delicate as I pictured it to be. However, this may be cured by actually buying the right size and having a good seamstress fix it up a bit. Aside from that, I love the asymmetrical cut (again), I adore the V-back and my heart skips a beat when I see the train..... it's soooo lovely!!

This store also had the same dress that I had tried on at Bridal Sophisticate, so I got into it again and we took some more photos.

Please pardon goofy grin

Once I saw the photos, it was no contest -- dream dress definitely takes the cake. Although I loved the strapless dress in the store, it doesn't do much for me in pictures, and I'm not sure it's entirely flattering. (Kind of creates a una-boob, no?) Tan lines aside, I'm just not sure it's "me," and something about the lace details of the other dress really call out to me. And frankly, I'm just kind of tired of seeing strapless dresses everywhere I turn.

I plan to still visit a few more bridal shops, but it was such a great day finding one dress that I already love and can picture myself swaying down the aisle in! It's starting to feel more real!!!