#2: Adventures in Wedding Dress Shopping

I have rather unusual requirements for a wedding dress, particularly relative to what most bridal shops stock. I don't want a white dress. I've kept an open mind -- I'm willing to entertain the possibility of a long dress -- but I don't want a train. I don't want a veil. I don't want anything stiff. We're getting married on a beach in Maui, so I want whatever I end up with to have some movement.

I was shocked when, last week, Mr. CP walked in the house and promptly started raving about a tea length wedding dress he had seen in the window of a nearby bridal boutique on his walk home from the bus stop. The entire conversation was surreal. Usually I'm the one raving about an item of clothing while he makes noncommittal noises of encouragement, and feigns interest. The very idea that he had noticed a dress was hilarious, which might be why I spent the entire conversation clutching my sides and gasping for breath between fits of giggles. Later that same night, he suggested that we should go take a peek in the window of the store so that I could see the dress. Can I just say that we looked completely crazy? It was ten o'clock at night, and we had our noses pressed up against the window like teensy little children at a candy store... or burglars unsubtly casing a place. The dress he had seen was absolutely lovely. So lovely, in fact, that I called the very next day and went in to try the beauty on. (You can see said dress right here).

To be frank, I was nervous about trying on wedding dresses. I had absolutely no idea how I was going to squeeze into their sample sizes. No amount of holding my breath and sucking my tummy in was going to help me fit into a sample size. It just wasn't. Much to my shock, however, all but one of the dresses fit well enough to give me a sense of what the gowns would look like. I'm still convinced that the bridal consultant must have worked some sort of magic. 

I tried on dresses that made me look like a cupcake. I tried on dresses that made me look like a passenger on the Titanic. I tried on dresses fit for Cinderella. I tried on dresses fit for a nightclub. I tried on tight fitted sheath dresses that made me fall over when I tried to walk in them (true story... unfortunately). I tried on dresses that weighed as much as I do. But of all the dresses I tried on, I loved the tea length dresses most of all.

Mr. CP recently shared with me that, in general, he likes long dresses. In all fairness, this was before he spotted the dress I mentioned above in the window. But even after our late-night trip to the boutique, I found myself torn: was I supposed to pick a long dress that he would like? Or a shorter, knee length dress that I would like? My appointment convinced me that, fortunately, it doesn't have to be an either/or situation. A tea length dress seems like a perfect compromise. 

I don't want to say too much about whether or not I've found The Dress. I still have other appointments, and I want my choice to be a surprise. What I will say, though, is that this particular adventure in wedding dress shopping gave me a much better idea of what I'm looking for.

Oh, and a side note. Unfortunately there's a law in Washington that you can't take photographs of dresses while you're trying them on. Lame! So, you probably won't be able to see any photos of me trying on wedding dresses. Still, I'll be sure to provide links to some of my favorites whenever I can!

Want to following along with my wedding pinning? I have a Pinterest board dedicated exclusively to wedding-y things, which you can find here.