Finding THE Wedding Dress

Have you found your wedding dress yet... still looking?  How do you know when you've found the right one?  My~ what a hugely important decision it is...

Lisa & Johnathon Part I
As you know, MagnetStreet's Lisa and Johnathon are newly engaged and now furiously planning their October 09 wedding  ~ a lot to do in a fairly short amount of time!  One of her to-do's... finding THE dress.  THE wedding dress to beat all other wedding dresses.  HER  dress.  Perfect for her!  Well, she did it and today... Lisa shares with us her venture:

I am a slow decision maker.  Always have been. Maybe you know someone like me: I like to try on everything...and then maybe buy nothing.  It might be related to my curious nature, because I simply want to know what all these outfits would look like on me.

But this day was different.  This day I was finding a dress...but not just any dress...this is THE dress.  The dress that will be photographed and viewed for years to come.  The dress that my fiancé will see me wearing on the day I become his wife.  The dress I will wear on the day my life as Miss ends and Mrs. begins. This is a big deal!  I had an appointment at a bridal shop, my mom was in town, my fiance's mother was coming along, and I was planning to leave that store checking "buy wedding dress" off the list. Do you see the irony here?  The one day I have all the right in the world to be picky, suddenly I'm a snap decision maker.  Wedding planning certainly gets to a person, I guess.

We picked out a few options and got started.  The first one was really nice, and I began to wonder how I'd ever know when it's "the one."  Then she put a veil on me (to help envision the whole picture).  I looked into the mirror and saw a bride...wait...that's me?!  I'm getting married! Whoa.  I just kept staring, then looked over to my panel of gown judges to see if they were having the same moment, but my eyes were losing focus so I still don't know if they were.  The veil was placed at the crown of my head and fell slightly over my shoulders...perfect.  At least I now know how I want that part to look!  The dresses kept coming and we established a "Top 3" judging list.  And wouldn't you know it, that first dress never left the Top 3.  So after we had viewed them all, I tried on the first one again, and the panel voted unanimously: this is the one. But how do they know? Why do I not know? Is this really the one? The weight of the decision was too much for me, so I went with their recommendation.  The dress was bought.

The rest of the day I was a in a bit of a daze, needing a lot of assurance that it was the right choice.  We agreed it was a great cut for my body type, so very flattering.  The wedding is leaning towards casual and will take place in the morning, and the dress has a very romantic, light feel that will fit right in.  The back is interesting, which is good because people will be staring at it during the ceremony. :-) They say hindsight is 20/20, and as I look back I'm confident that it was the best fit for me and my wedding, so I'm happy. (I'd show you pictures, but the FH may read this and I want him to be surprised!)

What about you? Did you have a similar experience, or did you immediately know when the dress was right?

{Thanks Lisa!  You had me at "Whoa"}