She's Here!

When I finally got the email from Bliss letting me know that my dress had arrived at the bridal salon I was so happy I actually squealed. Mr. P came running into the room and asked "Good news or Bad?" When I told him my dress had arrived, he gave me a hug and said " I am so proud of you!" (Is it possible to over-train a man?? hehehe.)

Back to the news at hand. I immediately emailed my seamstress Susan to set up an alteration date. Susan is A-MAzInG! She was not only able to travel to my house for the fitting which was so crucial since I was right in the middle of finals but she also volunteered to store my dress for me while I'm in Amsterdam. Did I mention she is A-Mazing!?!

Within hours of receiving the email I was plagued with second-thoughts! The washed over me and consumed my every thought. I couldn't study. I could barely even think straight. What if it wasn't THE dress!?!?

My three doubts about the dress were (1)the neckline. The neckline isn't a true sweetheart neckline, which I knew when I bought the dress so I was just hoping it would be a pretty easy alteration. (2) I wanted an all lace dress but Mr. P and my Momma P hated all-lace dresses. (No, Mr. P did not go wedding dress shopping with me but we did look at a few dresses in magazines together so I could get an idea of what he liked.) Lastly, and most importantly, the bottom of the dress isn't very full. The reality is, I don't really remember how full it is and it was like 5 sizes too big so I can't really get a sense from the pictures of how the bottom will sit.

Once I bought the dress I tried really really really really hard to stop actively looking for dresses but now that the dress is here all bets are off! I immediately started googling mermaid dresses to figure out what I really wanted.

The reality is, I love a full mermaid skirt, I mean have you seen the size of Vera Wang's Spring dresses!


{Source}
However, it just didn't seem practical to try and get a dress that size to Costa Rica. Also I am not sure I'm tall enough to carry it off so I decided to focus on a more modest skirt.

I love the shape of this Jim Heljm and I think it's a good compromise size. I just think she's so elegant, romantic and feminine:

{Source}

However, I think that it's also really important to look at real brides to get a sense of the way different shapes photograph and move throughout the day. Here are three of my very favorite real brides.

{Source}

1. The fullest - I love this tiered skirt. My dress isn't tiered but I also love the shape this dress gives the bride. I think this skirt has the most crinoline and I kind of the love that it doesn't need to be messed with in order to get that great shape. However my train is a little longer than this one so I have to figure out how that would look.

{Source}

2. Medium fullness - I think this dress is the closest to my own dress shape and if it isn't then I think it's the shape that I want the most!

{Source}

3. No fullness - This dress doesn't seem to have any crinoline and still has an amazing shape. I think this has a lot to do with the brides natural shape and the tiers of the skirt.

At the end of the day, I think its gonna come down to my budget versus my obsession with having the "perfect" dress. I haven't even met Susan but I get a great vibe from her (aka she answered my emails while on a Caribbean cruise and even apologized for taking 48 hours to respond!) and I think she'll be really helpful in deciding which of these looks will be best for me. I hope that this process of looking at dresses has helped me collect my thoughts so that I can both articulate my feelings and be at peace with whatever decision I make.

**I am obviously also trying to keep open the possibility that I will just love her once I get her on and perhaps I did pick the "perfect" dress.

How much did you alter you dress? How bad were your second thoughts and when did they finally stop!?