dreaming of wedding dress and not even engaged...

[audball]

Say you wind up not suiting the styles you love in pictures.. I imagine once you are in one that makes you look like a slammin' babe you'll forget about all about it!

Speaking of DREAMING OF WEDDING DRESS AND NOT EVEN ENGAGED..., I have found one that I really like! Its actually one of SO's former admirers wedding dress, TEE HEE. The designer was tagged in the photos on FB - thanks digital age! AND its around the $400-$500 USD mark.

People on other wedding boards get stuff made overseas. Lots-o-threads to read about the experience!

Aww, you're too sweet. Let's see the dress you're loving!! This thread is worthless without pictures!

 

[audball]

Yeah, I've seen lots of dresses from China. Some stuff isn't bad depending on what you want them to replicate, but I (and SO) would hate the idea of supporting Chinese sweatshops (even though most of these dresses are probably made there!)

I have an appointment at a local bridal shop with a friend next Friday to play with some dresses so I can see what styles look best!! From my online likes I seem to gravitate toward a certain style but we shall see how I look IRL. She is already engaged but we are approaching it as a preview for the real deal before she goes with family/friends to look for realsies (and she was kind enough to let me tag along so I don't have to go alone or make my other friends think I'm crazypants). Will keep y'all updated!!! audball I think you'll look amazing in anything!! I can't wait to see some of the options you try on!!

Yeah...that's kind of depressing. I know most of these low budget dresses are probably made there, but at least I'm not knowingly and specifically sourcing one to be made.

I can't wait to hear about your trip!! I hope you both find some amazing looks!!

And thank you - I can't wait to try on some dresses - but I've got a bit farther to get before I'll be comfortable going. You know there will be pictures, though! I need my girls to help me choose!

 

[LJL]

youre a trip pandabee!

 

[distracts]

I've chatted with several friends who are already married and most said that dresses they loved in pictures weren't good on them when the time came to try them on. It seems to be a common theme that you end up in a different cut or shape than you love in pictures.

This happened to me. I LOVED LOVED LOVED like every Jenny Packham dress ever in pictures, but I have some hips and a big bootay and reasonable boobs and it turns out I need to be a waifish elf in order to look good in those. The detailing was spectacular, but I tried on a million, and there had recently been a trunk show or something so they were all very close to my size, but it still looked like I was wearing a fancy but not very flattering nightgown. It was SO SAD. The dress I ended up with had some things I originally wanted - not really white (the color is gold/silver/ivory, whatever THAT means), v-neck (boobies yay!), not buttastic (I don't like those tucked-in-under-the-butt dresses for my wedding - I don't need to look like JLO with a painted-on dress in front of my family and new in laws, thankyouverymuch), nice detailing (beading, slightly sparkly but not too much), could be made without a train. But I THOUGHT I wanted an empire-waist, slinkier instead of more structured, and sleeves (mine has straps but not sleeves), and I didn't get that. But I cried when I first tried on my dress so, you know, details.

See this?
http://who-do-you-like-more.popsugar.com/BEST-BUTT-KIM-KARADASHIAN-JENNIFER-LOPEZ-813684
http://cdn03.cdn.thesuperficial.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/13/jennifer-lopez-golden-globes-0113-06-435x580.jpg
That is NOT the look that I want at my wedding. Going out for a night on the town, sure. Wedding? Nope. Cause guess who all gets to stare at my butt for most of the ceremony? Oh, that's right, EVERYONE. (Of course, when my fiance and I were watching the Golden Globes and JLo came out, he was immediately all, "THAT is your wedding dress! Ba-BAM!") Sorry I've gone a bit off topic here, lol.

 

[pandabee]

youre a trip pandabee!

hehehe don't lie, you are excited to go with me!!!!

I've chatted with several friends who are already married and most said that dresses they loved in pictures weren't good on them when the time came to try them on. It seems to be a common theme that you end up in a different cut or shape than you love in pictures.

This happened to me. I LOVED LOVED LOVED like every Jenny Packham dress ever in pictures, but I have some hips and a big bootay and reasonable boobs and it turns out I need to be a waifish elf in order to look good in those. The detailing was spectacular, but I tried on a million, and there had recently been a trunk show or something so they were all very close to my size, but it still looked like I was wearing a fancy but not very flattering nightgown. It was SO SAD. The dress I ended up with had some things I originally wanted - not really white (the color is gold/silver/ivory, whatever THAT means), v-neck (boobies yay!), not buttastic (I don't like those tucked-in-under-the-butt dresses for my wedding - I don't need to look like JLO with a painted-on dress in front of my family and new in laws, thankyouverymuch), nice detailing (beading, slightly sparkly but not too much), could be made without a train. But I THOUGHT I wanted an empire-waist, slinkier instead of more structured, and sleeves (mine has straps but not sleeves), and I didn't get that. But I cried when I first tried on my dress so, you know, details.

See this?
http://who-do-you-like-more.popsugar.com/BEST-BUTT-KIM-KARADASHIAN-JENNIFER-LOPEZ-813684
http://cdn03.cdn.thesuperficial.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/13/jennifer-lopez-golden-globes-0113-06-435x580.jpg
That is NOT the look that I want at my wedding. Going out for a night on the town, sure. Wedding? Nope. Cause guess who all gets to stare at my butt for most of the ceremony? Oh, that's right, EVERYONE. (Of course, when my fiance and I were watching the Golden Globes and JLo came out, he was immediately all, "THAT is your wedding dress! Ba-BAM!") Sorry I've gone a bit off topic here, lol.

I totally get what you mean about the Jenny dresses. That JLo dress is gorgeous though!!!!

 

[audball]

youre a trip pandabee!

hehehe don't lie, you are excited to go with me!!!!

I can't wait to hear how your trip goes!

 

[audball]

I've chatted with several friends who are already married and most said that dresses they loved in pictures weren't good on them when the time came to try them on. It seems to be a common theme that you end up in a different cut or shape than you love in pictures.

This happened to me. I LOVED LOVED LOVED like every Jenny Packham dress ever in pictures, but I have some hips and a big bootay and reasonable boobs and it turns out I need to be a waifish elf in order to look good in those. The detailing was spectacular, but I tried on a million, and there had recently been a trunk show or something so they were all very close to my size, but it still looked like I was wearing a fancy but not very flattering nightgown. It was SO SAD. The dress I ended up with had some things I originally wanted - not really white (the color is gold/silver/ivory, whatever THAT means), v-neck (boobies yay!), not buttastic (I don't like those tucked-in-under-the-butt dresses for my wedding - I don't need to look like JLO with a painted-on dress in front of my family and new in laws, thankyouverymuch), nice detailing (beading, slightly sparkly but not too much), could be made without a train. But I THOUGHT I wanted an empire-waist, slinkier instead of more structured, and sleeves (mine has straps but not sleeves), and I didn't get that. But I cried when I first tried on my dress so, you know, details.

I really have heard similar sentiments from many brides! It's so hard to know in photos what will look good on you. I'm nervous and excited to eventually go shopping. I'm glad you found one that you love!

 

[atp223]

I set out not wanting to spend a ton on a dress at all, and thought I didn't care. I actually found a few dresses that I liked enough to have been happy in, but I ended up completely falling in love with a lace Alvina Valenta, and that derailed my attempt to buy a budget dress. After I fell in love with the lace dress, I went back to the store that was selling it to visit it, and then found one I liked even better (the one I ended up getting; a Jim Hjelm). Unfortunately, it was kind of pricey.

While I am 100% happy with my dress, and am so excited to wear it, I honestly think I would have been just as happy with a different dress. For example, there were a couple dresses I liked almost as much (let's say 90% as much), that were half the price. So the way I looked at it was, I don't like this dress TWICE as much as the other dresses...which is why I almost just got one of the original (cheaper) ones. If money had been a big factor I *would* have gotten one of the cheaper ones. But since my parents were paying and it was coming out of the overall wedding budget, I went for the "fancier" one. But now that I have it, I'm not sure that I wouldn't have been just as happy with something else.

Haha I don't want to stir up trouble, but I don't necessarily believe in "the one" in terms of dresses. *ducks*. I think that there are lots of different factors that go into choosing a dress - the price, the quality, the style, how it looks on you, how you feel in it, etc...to me, it seems like when all the factors are weighted/added together, there may be more than one dress that fits the bill. Does that make sense?

My best advice is to take TONS of pictures when you go shopping. I forgot what the dresses looked like afterwards, and did not even remotely consider any dresses that I didn't have a picture of me in. Having the pictures was soooooo helpful! Good luck with your decision!

 

[audball]

Haha I don't want to stir up trouble, but I don't necessarily believe in "the one" in terms of dresses. *ducks*. I think that there are lots of different factors that go into choosing a dress - the price, the quality, the style, how it looks on you, how you feel in it, etc...to me, it seems like when all the factors are weighted/added together, there may be more than one dress that fits the bill. Does that make sense?

My best advice is to take TONS of pictures when you go shopping. I forgot what the dresses looked like afterwards, and did not even remotely consider any dresses that I didn't have a picture of me in. Having the pictures was soooooo helpful! Good luck with your decision!

THIS! So true. I don't think there's just a single "THE ONE". A lot of times a dress is selected based on time of year, type of venue, how fancy the event is, in addition to budget, quality, style, and how you look/feel in it. I think you could plan 10 different kinds of weddings and have an ideal dress for each potential scenario.

For instance, most people wouldn't wear a heavy full ball gown with a very long train for a beach ceremony. Likewise - most wouldn't choose a knee length simple dress for a black tie evening affair. There are SO many factors!

 

[star sparkle]

Haha I don't want to stir up trouble, but I don't necessarily believe in "the one" in terms of dresses. *ducks*. I think that there are lots of different factors that go into choosing a dress - the price, the quality, the style, how it looks on you, how you feel in it, etc...to me, it seems like when all the factors are weighted/added together, there may be more than one dress that fits the bill. Does that make sense?

My best advice is to take TONS of pictures when you go shopping. I forgot what the dresses looked like afterwards, and did not even remotely consider any dresses that I didn't have a picture of me in. Having the pictures was soooooo helpful! Good luck with your decision!

This, exactly. I never had a "OMG THIS IS THE ONE!!" moment when I was dress shopping. Tons looked great and I liked a bunch of them. Ultimately I picked something that I loved and that fit into the parameters of what I was comfortable spending (I did NOT want to spend a ton on a dress), and that made me feel good. Would another dress have fit the bill? Yes. But this is what I went with for no other reason than I wanted to make a decision and not prolong the dress shopping longer than necessary.

*shrug* Lol, that totally sounds unromantic and not the "right way" to do things, but whatever.

 

[star sparkle]

double post

 

[audball]

This, exactly. I never had a "OMG THIS IS THE ONE!!" moment when I was dress shopping. Tons looked great and I liked a bunch of them. Ultimately I picked something that I loved and that fit into the parameters of what I was comfortable spending (I did NOT want to spend a ton on a dress), and that made me feel good. Would another dress have fit the bill? Yes. But this is what I went with for no other reason than I wanted to make a decision and not prolong the dress shopping longer than necessary.

*shrug* Lol, that totally sounds unromantic and not the "right way" to do things, but whatever.

I haven't been shopping yet, but I don't think this is abnormal at all. There are far too many dresses that could be ideal for you that how could there possible be one and only one?

 

[star sparkle]

I haven't been shopping yet, but I don't think this is abnormal at all. There are far too many dresses that could be ideal for you that how could there possible be one and only one?

I don't think there is, but I think the expectation of most brides going into dress shopping is that there will only be one "The One." How many do you hear things like "You'll know your dress when you put it on!" or "I started crying the first time I tried my dress on"? There's so much propaganda and such out there claiming or alluding to the fact that there's only one dress for you, and that finding "your" dress should be this super deep/emotional experience.

Yeah, none of that happened for me.

 

[audball]

I haven't been shopping yet, but I don't think this is abnormal at all. There are far too many dresses that could be ideal for you that how could there possible be one and only one?

I don't think there is, but I think the expectation of most brides going into dress shopping is that there will only be one "The One." How many do you hear things like "You'll know your dress when you put it on!" or "I started crying the first time I tried my dress on"? There's so much propaganda and such out there claiming or alluding to the fact that there's only one dress for you, and that finding "your" dress should be this super deep/emotional experience.

Yeah, none of that happened for me.

Agreed. I won't say for sure yet, you never know I guess! But I doubt I'll have overwhelming feelings either. I'm practical - it'll be budget first, fit next. I tend to get frustrated when shopping for too long so I know I won't want to prolong it more than necessary.

If I do cry, I think it'll be because I(fingers crossed!) meet my goal weight and can't believe what I actually look like in a dress and not because of the dress itself!

 

[pandabee]

I haven't been shopping yet, but I don't think this is abnormal at all. There are far too many dresses that could be ideal for you that how could there possible be one and only one?

I don't think there is, but I think the expectation of most brides going into dress shopping is that there will only be one "The One." How many do you hear things like "You'll know your dress when you put it on!" or "I started crying the first time I tried my dress on"? There's so much propaganda and such out there claiming or alluding to the fact that there's only one dress for you, and that finding "your" dress should be this super deep/emotional experience.

Yeah, none of that happened for me.

Agreed. I won't say for sure yet, you never know I guess! But I doubt I'll have overwhelming feelings either. I'm practical - it'll be budget first, fit next. I tend to get frustrated when shopping for too long so I know I won't want to prolong it more than necessary.

If I do cry, I think it'll be because I(fingers crossed!) meet my goal weight and can't believe what I actually look like in a dress and not because of the dress itself!

Yeah, I don't believe in "The One" dress idea either, (unless that dress was specifically made for me ). I think I could be happy with many things but of course there are many different factors involved. We'll see what I end up liking!! Will update everyone tomorrow evening audball honey you look amazing already...I can't wait to see you in some dresses!!!

 

[distracts]

I didn't expect to have a "omg this is THE ONE" dress moment - I thought that was all BS manufactured by wedding shows. I mean, it's just a dress, right? But I did. When I put it on, I looked in the mirror and just started grinning and then there were a lot of tears streaming down my face. It was so weird. There was another dress I'd have been perfectly happy with, but this one really made me feel like I was getting married. Like, instead of playing dress-up it felt REAL. I dunno. I probably would be just as happy getting married in any dress, but it was kind of fun to have that moment. And I've tried the dress on twice since (once when we bought it, since even though I had the moment I still had to shop around, of course, and once when we picked out bridesmaids dresses) and both times I had almost the same reaction. Totally weird.

 

[chloeishere]

I didn't believe in a "the one" dress moment either, but I had one. I'm not particularly a romantic sort... I'm pretty pragmatic.

But, by "the one", I meant that I felt really beautiful in the dress, it was within my budget, and I couldn't picture liking myself in any other dress on me more than I liked that one. All those things together made me feel "the one" and feeling like how I would want to feel on my wedding day (beautiful, yet sophisticated).

I didn't cry, but I did smile a WHOLE LOT. There are (candid) pictures. You can tell in the pictures that I feel beautiful in that dress, and that's what counts in my book.

The dress made me feel excited to be having a wedding-- probably the first thing to do so (I am very excited to be getting married to my fiance, but I am really not excited for the big fancy party thing). I'd never buy such an extravagant dress for a courthouse wedding, and I am excited to wear this dress for my fiance (/ husband).

 

[distracts]

Yeah, Chloe, that's how I felt too. I cried, but I cry at A LOT of things. Like in this week's episode of White Collar where Neal hugged his dad for the first time in like thirty years, I TOTALLY started sobbing. I cry through almost all of Star Wars: A New Hope (IT IS SO EMOTIONAL YOU GUYS). My fiance says I have too many emotions and they leak out my eyes. So I can totally imagine that people less prone to leaking emotions out of their eyes might not do it for a dress. I have actually started tearing up while writing this post just thinking about the emotions. Emotions are dumb.

 

[pandabee]

So I tried on a bunch of dresses yesterday...definitely didn't get a warm fuzzy feeling from any of them, but they were all beautiful!!! I think it really just comes down some of the nitty gritty details and how the dress would work in with the rest of my wedding "theme". We weren't technically allowed to take pictures, but this was one of my favorites (ignore the light gold color and the clearly way too big boob area)



They also wouldn't really tell us designers/names but I *think* this one is Mori Lee 1861 http://www.morilee.com/Bridals/bridal/1861

 

[chloeishere]

That is a very pretty dress, but if you don't feel like it's the one, well... I think you should keep looking. I find it weird that they wouldn't tell you designer's names or let you take pictures? Is that weird to other people, or is it just odd to me? How are you supposed to remember how you much you liked the dresses on if they won't let you have pictures?

Yeah, Chloe, that's how I felt too. I cried, but I cry at A LOT of things. Like in this week's episode of White Collar where Neal hugged his dad for the first time in like thirty years, I TOTALLY started sobbing. I cry through almost all of Star Wars: A New Hope (IT IS SO EMOTIONAL YOU GUYS). My fiance says I have too many emotions and they leak out my eyes. So I can totally imagine that people less prone to leaking emotions out of their eyes might not do it for a dress. I have actually started tearing up while writing this post just thinking about the emotions. Emotions are dumb.

I think that's sweet, actually! Emotions are awesome, and I think it's healthy to be able to cry/ express them, if you know what I mean!

I sometimes am more prone to crying, but it tends to be hormonal or from being under too much stress for too long a time (between work and wedding, I think I've cried about once a week every week, lately. Sigh. I wouldn't mind if it were normal for me, but it's not).

 

[pandabee]

I think that because they are supposed to be a step up from DB and sell a lot of semi-designer dresses, they don't want people to go home and look up the dress and buy it somewhere for cheaper, or try to replicate it, or what have you. As for which dresses you liked, the consultant wrote them down and put them with our client file. With the pictures, LJL suggested that they are probably hoping that you go more by the "feeling" of the dress rather than by pictures of it but meh.

I actually really liked this one the more I look at it! The train wasn't too long and I liked how the appliqué fell. I think it was just hard to "connect" with it because 1) I'm not engaged/wedding planning mode and 2) it's not the color I would want, it actually was a lot more gold/yellow than photographed.

 

[distracts]

I also find it weird that they wouldn't let you take pictures or tell you the designer. I ended up buying from a fairly inexpensive place but I looked at a lot of fancy places including Stanley Korshak (a high end department store here in Dallas) and Neiman Marcus and I was allowed to take pics and know the designer/style number at everywhere I went. Although I did have the feeling that mine was "the one," I still overanalyzed with the pictures and tried it on multiple times before I bought it, lol.

 

[pandabee]

Oops, guess I should clarify. If I asked her straight up who the designer was she would tell me. But she didn't remember on most of them, or had to refer to their store tag which was coded in a funky way. Unfortunate, because I don't know if I would want to go back there but they had most of the designers with dresses I thought I was interested in. We'll see how I feel about it when it gets closer to actually needing to purchase!

 

[audball]

I love that on you pandabee!

 

[princesss]

I haven't been shopping yet, but I don't think this is abnormal at all. There are far too many dresses that could be ideal for you that how could there possible be one and only one?

I don't think there is, but I think the expectation of most brides going into dress shopping is that there will only be one "The One." How many do you hear things like "You'll know your dress when you put it on!" or "I started crying the first time I tried my dress on"? There's so much propaganda and such out there claiming or alluding to the fact that there's only one dress for you, and that finding "your" dress should be this super deep/emotional experience.

Yeah, none of that happened for me.

Yeah, I think that puts a lot of pressure on people - one of my best friends just went dress shopping for the first time yesterday and it put her in such a funk! It's a lot to process and then to add the "You MUST find a dress you are in love with!" BS is just too much. It's just an article of clothing! A pretty, special, fun article of clothing, but still. I'd worry more about the shoes since there's a chance you can wear those again!

That said? I am totally the type to fall in love with a dress. I do it for every event I go to - I think I'll be content with a nice dress, but then I fall in love. I have double booked/rented dresses before and now I know to just get a dress I know I love. Luckily I am amassing quite the collection, so pretty soon I should be done buying.

(Also, from general black tie dress buying sprees - find somebody that REALLY know what they're doing and let them work their magic. I have a shop I go to for gowns and I walk in and just say short or long and the kind of event I'm going to, and they take it from there. Not everything they pull is perfect, but it's so much easier and more fun to let them do that and not stress.)

 

[Chewbacca]

Aww, panda! That is the kind of gown that must make you feel like a BRIDE. All the lace and sparkles and skirt.

Say you wind up not suiting the styles you love in pictures.. I imagine once you are in one that makes you look like a slammin' babe you'll forget about all about it!

Speaking of DREAMING OF WEDDING DRESS AND NOT EVEN ENGAGED..., I have found one that I really like! Its actually one of SO's former admirers wedding dress, TEE HEE. The designer was tagged in the photos on FB - thanks digital age! AND its around the $400-$500 USD mark.

People on other wedding boards get stuff made overseas. Lots-o-threads to read about the experience!

Aww, you're too sweet. Let's see the dress you're loving!! This thread is worthless without pictures!

I am too chicken to post it, because it is decidedly not wedding gown-ish! Its just.. a plain white dress. I am very boring, but VERY paticular with my boring.

 

[LJL]

Pandabee didnt fall in love with a dress, but of course I did. So stressful. Wasn't even trying, its out of the price range that I wanted (its 1558, I wanted ~1000 or less) and now I'm just stuck on it.


I resolved to buy it in May when my mother and sister come into town so we can have the big MOMENT that I know they want. But it sure is nice to know that there is something out there I love (a feeling I didnt think I would have) and that I have to lose prob 15-20 more pounds to feel ideal in it.

As for the dress itself, i dont think I will post any pics of myself in it. Just take panda's word for it that I had j-lo a$$ and it was wonderful

 

[lin_ny]

Here's a few I've really loved the past few years. I've never tried anything on though - I'll save then until I actually get my ring so I don't torture myself too much.

Basically I'm totally obsessed with Jim Hjelm.

ETA: Yes I just totally saw a dress thread and thread jacked a bit and slapped some random pics of dresses. Sorry













Aside from these, I really love the natural waist ball gowns with ruffly, fluffy skirts. I just don't think that'll suit my wedding as much as something sleek and light.

 

[LJL]

lol lin_ny, I'll bite - I tried on one of those fluffy types when pandabee and I went to the shop.

Here is a nice secretive pic of me in it... I thought the form-fitting stuff looked better on me than this. They didnt have an all-over crazy-beading dress unfortunately.

 

[pandabee]

Was perusing through my old threads...and funny enough! I actually went with one of the dresses I posted here...Watters Devenport! I didn't try it on this first round, but it looks sooooo much better IRL and much more flowy (bottom is silk tulle and has a bit of a ripple effect). It should be here in a few weeks, by the end of the month!!! So excite!!!