the dress

i started this process early as i was afraid that it would take me a long time to find the dress. i had scoured the internet before actually going into stores, trying to find something that was affordable and nice. when i started trying on gowns it occurred to me that i couldve never found something online without trying it on. i had found many reasonable, designer gowns that were used but without being able to try them on, they were pretty much a no go.

i took some fridays and weekends to look with my sister and then with my mom. we went to quite a few places - looking at sample sales and also full priced gowns. some places i stopped in were: priscilla of boston, bella bridesmaid, the bella bride, marina morrison, and glamour closet. the priscilla at santana row also carried vera wang so it was nice to be able to try those on as well as priscilla gowns. i had made appointments at bridal galleria in sf and also jcrew, kleinfelds, lovely, and jenny yoo in ny but i cancelled those because by that time i had already found the dress.

some criteria:
1. trumpet/fit to flare
2. natural materials
3. no jewels/rhinestones
4. some interesting detail: swiss dots, lace, tiers etc

the funny thing about the dress i ended up getting was that i had tried it on once before. marina morrison was having a sample sale and i went in to take a look. i picked out some gowns to try on but the salesperson insisted i try on this particular gown. i told her i didnt like it because it gave no shape and she told me i needed to wear a sash. i left but i keep thinking about how she was right!

my mom and i went to a bunch of places before going into glamour closet. the first day we went they couldnt take us because they were maxed out but my mom loved all their gowns. i actually saw another girl try on the dress i had tried on at marina morrison and i was so jealous! so the next morning we woke up early to be first in line. and thats it!