I know I’ve said it before, but I wasn’t one of those girls who planned her wedding when she was younger. I didn’t have visions of me in big poofy ballgowns or anything. So when Monsieur P proposed, I finally had to sit down and really think about what I wanted to look when I got married. THAT was a weird time. What do I want to look like?
Well, I knew that I wanted to look like me, that’s easy. Years before Monsieur and I got engaged, I actually started easing my hair back to my natural color (I know it sounds ridiculous, but I had dyed my hair dark and I knew I wanted it to be somewhat natural when all the major things in my life started happening. And that process literally took a year). So being my natural blonde was one thing I knew I wanted for my wedding look. And I’m naturally pale, but don’t worry, I got that on lock whether I want it or not.
All terrible photos personal.

But what did I want to wear? What kind of dress even SUITS me? Who am I? What fits me? The whole thing was really strange. I’ve never been a big dress person to begin with. If I had the pictures readily available (I’m so relieved that I don’t), I’d share my high school prom photos with you. Sophomore year I borrowed a dress of my best friend’s older sister, which was a cupcake-type dress. So I got that out of my system. Junior prom, I bought my dress from DEB (oh yeah, DEB, taking it back) for a whopping $130, which doubled as my Junior Miss dress (what up, “scholarship program” pageant friends?), and senior year, I borrowed my sister’s dress from a wedding in which she was a bridesmaid. Suffice it to say, I’m not a huge dress-buying person. So suddenly I was at a complete loss when faced with this massive endeavor to find a wedding dress.


So let’s take it back 40 years… my mom MADE HER OWN DRESS for my parents’ wedding. There was a time when I thought “sure, I could wear my mom’s dress.” Except that MOH Big Sis apparently wore/modified my mom’s wedding dress for a Halloween costume one year. So that option was out the window. Which is fine, a clingy satin dress wouldn’t really be my ideal wedding dress anyway, though I’m sentimental so I would’ve liked that aspect.

And so… to my beloved Google I went.
I was drawn to the classic look of lace dresses. Ahhhhh, yes. I’m not great at describing myself, but “classic” taste I think fits me pretty well. Some of my friends might call me “boring” but I like to call it “classic.” And so, a lace wedding dress fit me pretty well, I thought. Plus all-over lace is a great way to cover up lumps and body imperfections, no?
Well, all logic aside, when I started looking online at lace wedding dresses, I fell in love with this beauty:

They since have updated the model, but I prefer the old model because she’s blonde and I can visualize myself so much better in the ivory.
I mean, look at this detail!

But, alas, my dress lust pointed out that no dress shops near me carried her, and that was the end of that.
Because both MOH Big Sis and MOH Palm Tree got their dresses at David’s Bridal, one might think that I’d start my dress search at David’s Bridal. But no, I looked online at their selection of lace dresses and could not be swayed. So I started my dress search at another big bridal store, Alfred Angelo.
I even thought for a minute that I could be swayed by one of their Disney Collection dresses. I mean, I have always loved Belle… but no. That dress is not for me.

Maybe if they had this when I was looking, but it’s too late now. Plus I never really identified with Snow White anyway. I mean, what kind of girl lives with 7 men, amirite?! 😉

So I was pretty sure I was looking for lace, but I wanted to try on plenty of different silhouettes so I could be sure that the slim lace gown I envisioned would be the one to look best on my body. I’ve watched enough Say Yes to the Dress and I Found the Gown (sorry, I REALLY like TLC) to know that what you think you want isn’t always what you end up with!
Did you play wedding when you were a little girl? or were you at a complete loss like I was? Did you wear a homemade wedding gown?