It started while driving up to the lake for Thanksgiving. My family drove past Kathryn's Bridal in McHenry, and there was a sign outside that said they were having a Black Friday sale. I had not planned on looking for dresses until I came home for Christmas, but my mom told me that we may as well stop by and at least get an idea of what I liked. I was not in the mindset for dress shopping yet, but I had two days to prepare myself.
Once Black Friday rolled around, my family and I all decided to go on this adventure, as well as one of my bridesmaids, Paige. My dad wanted to go as well because as he said, how many times do you get to go wedding dress shopping? We arrived at Kathryn's Bridal and started to take a look around. The prices were a little out of our budget, so we hoped that the sale was something good. After finding out that it was not as good as we thought, we decided we wanted to leave and shop elsewhere. We had already told the store owner that we would leave and make an appointment for a later date.
While my dad was on the phone making an appointment at another store, the girls and I were looking at all the dresses just getting an idea of styles that I liked. My sister Kelsey's dream dress is more of a blingy ball gown style, and she could not comprehend why I did not love her dream dress :). After looking around, we decided to stay after all and at least try on a few. We talked to the owner, and a consultant took a few dresses that we had chosen and led me into a changing room.
This is where my experience began to be similar to the show, "Say Yes to the Dress", only on a smaller scale. I had not expected it to be like this. The consultant led my mom and I into the changing room where she asked me about what I liked and disliked. She went and pulled a few dresses for me, and then I tried my first one on. It was a surreal experience because I did not feel like I was really allowed to be trying them on! Growing up, girls dream of their wedding dresses, and now I was finally allowed to try one on! I still felt like I was pretending.
The first dress that I chose was my dad's pick. He actually picked the dress closest to what I was looking for! When I got all clipped in, the consultant and I walked out to where my family was sitting, and I stepped onto a little stool where I showed off the first gown. Of course, my dad starting crying, which made everyone else get a little teary eyed. I tried not to look because I was not about to start crying too! We decided that the dress was gorgeous, but that there was one thing that I did not like about it. The consultant said that she had another one in mind.
After the first dress, I tried on another that was nice, but plain. My family had been watching another girl try on dresses, and they told me I needed to try on the one she just had. The consultant informed me that it was the same dress that she had in mind for me!
We went back in the room and proceeded to get the third dress on. When I put it on, I started to get a good feeling. The consultant told me that she saw a little spark in me when I put it on :). When I went to show my family, everyone agreed that it was amazing. At this moment, I was in shock because I had not planned on finding something I liked that day! How could I possibly be done shopping? Shouldn't I try on a million dresses at multiple stores before finally deciding? We all agreed that we loved the dress, but that I needed to try on some different styles to rule them out.
After trying on about 4 other dresses including the one I liked again, I put it on for the third time. This time, we added the veil and the jewelry. It was perfect! There was nothing that I did not like about it, and it was what I had been picturing for myself. I though for a long time, and after searching Pinterest to make sure that there were no other dresses that I liked better, I decided on that one! I said yes to the dress, everyone clapped, and all of the consultants came from the other room to check it out. It was such a good experience because I never had time to stress about it, and it was one of the easiest decisions I have ever made. That is saying a lot because I am VERY indecisive!
I can't believe I am already done, but it was meant to be. The dress ended up being in my price range and was the designer that I had loved and printed out pictures of dresses from. I would love to show you all what it looks like, but I've decided to wait and surprise you :). You'll have to make your own guesses and see if they're true! I'd love to hear your predictions of what style I'll be wearing if you think you have an idea!
