After booking our vacation house/venue, the next thing I did wedding related was go dress shopping. I had THE dress in my mind after seeing it over and over in magazine ads. It was exactly what I pictured myself being married in when I walked down the sand path to Chris. I went down to David’s Bridal to try it on… and was quickly thrown into reality. It looked horrible on. HORRIBLE. I am not being a girl here. I seriously looked awful. I would post the picture here but I want to keep it G rated. Let’s just say that one comment on my picture was about showgirls. It was THAT bad. Problem was, with the happy helper nowhere to be found and a nasty bridezilla on the other side of me I decided to cut my loss and get out while I wasn’t in tears.
After a few days I sucked it up and went back to shopping for a dress. Growing up, I lived across the street of Rosann’s Bridal in Greentown. The owner used to comb my hair because my Mom couldn’t do it and I wouldn’t kick and fight a stranger. So I had fond memories of the owner and figured it was worth a shot. The great thing is that she remembered me and it made the experience that much nicer since I have no family to shop with. I chose a few dresses and she insisted that I try on this dress that I HATED on the rack. It was nothing like I imagined for myself. I didn’t like it, AT ALL. I tried it on first so that I could get to trying on the ones I liked. Funny thing is though that I LOVED it and the rest didn’t compare.
Then came the bad news when I went to get the dress altered… it could only go up about 3 inches due to the design of the dress which left me with another 3 inches before the hem hit the floor when I was standing. The bodice fit perfectly but the dress was too long and there was no way to hem it high enough to go barefoot on the beach. I would have to either find platform sandals or find a different dress to wear for the ceremony and then change afterwards. I was bummed because I always saw myself barefoot on the beach.
My first operation was to try and find a pair of shoes that would fit the bill – be wearable on the beach and match the dress. Sounds easy but it was anything but. All wedding flip flops are either flat or if they WERE a platform they were white or black. There are no off-white platform flip flops to be found. I tried EVERYWHERE. I found a pair of shoes for the reception but I couldn’t find shoes to match this dress to save my life that were high enough to keep the hem up so I wouldn’t trip.
I finally gave up on the shoes and decided to try and find another dress. I went and tried on another slew of dresses at the evil David’s Bridal (this time bringing a friend to cheer me on when I felt like a whale as the so-nice-bridezilla called me my first go around). While some were OK none were THE ONE like the first dress was. Then I got lucky. I found a dress that I liked a lot, was completely different from this dress, did not need any alterations and was priced to sell – at $200 and then there was some sort of discount (20% I believe).
Of course not too long after finding the second dress I literally stumbled upon a pair of sandals that matched the dress, were high enough and would work on the beach. I bought them and moved the second dress to a “Trash the Dress” dress as I planned to do a session in the water with my husband after the wedding. It worked out perfectly as the second dress was ideal for those kind of pictures since it was a light dress and easy to frolic in. The shoes that created all the fuss? Ironically they ended up being kicked off after I went out on the beach the day of the wedding before the ceremony and kept falling because of them. Platform sandals and soft sand really don’t mix! I ended up being barefoot the day of the wedding and only fell once – and it wasn’t my fault (more on that later).
Corey’s Lessons: 1) Try on gowns that you may HATE on the rack, you never know what you will end up loving on you. 2) Don’t listen to the bridezilla that calls your 10 or 12 you request from the happy helper “a whale size.” 3) Make sure you find out if the dress you are buying can be altered for your body type and footwear BEFORE purchasing.
PS: Please comment for cans… and I am extending the last blog date to the 20th!!!
- Gather at the Lakes Wedding with Megan and Landon - August 18, 2025
- Ariel International Center Wedding in Cleveland with Caitlyn and Simone - August 12, 2025
- Sun Valley Wedding with Anisha and Karim - July 25, 2025
I can really relate because I found a dress that was the total opposite of what I had in mind but it felt charming and sweet after I tried it on. The fact that I spend almost the whole day at Filene’s Basement Running of the Brides made me go back to THE dress after many, many unfit dresses.