A few weeks ago, we asked you guys about to write about how you found your wedding dress…. And the response was amazing! Our first bridal story comes from Lou Hynes, who found her dream dress unexpectedly in her home town. This just blew us away:
Years before I had even met my loved one I knew what style of wedding dress I wanted. No I am not the girl who had filled a scrapbook as a child with cut outs of what my dream wedding would look like. Instead, I blame hours lost in classic novel, days lost watching back to back episodes of Sex and the City and hours drooling over celebrities dressed in Vera Wang and Monique L’hullier. So the search began, I did a lot of research online and contemplated buying online but after hearing some horror stories about dresses arriving that looked like they had been made from Maria Von Trapp’s curtain material I decided that I would either buy In Ireland or travel to London or further afield to purchase it. My mother being the wise woman that she is suggested that I should have a look in Ireland and see what designs I like. So with over a year to go to the wedding I said I might as well have a look at home first anyway, I went to my first wedding shop in Dublin and loved every minute of the experience but I did not find the one. Being a girlie girl I really enjoyed trying on dresses and knew I had to try on more.
A wedding dress addiction began and my sisters really wanted to be a part of the process so they booked a few wedding shops in my home city of Cork. The first shop I went to in Cork, my sister made me try on every style of dress. This was definitely a good suggestion as I am normally a very indecisive person and my sisters were shocked as was I at how quickly I dismissed dresses and styles. Secretly I think I just liked the idea of feeling like Julia Roberts in that scene in Pretty Woman where shop assistants answer to her every beck and call as they run around her trying to find the perfect dress. Still that style I had always imagined myself in continued to dominate my mind. I researched the websites of the next few shops I went to and told them in advance about the style I was looking for.
After looking in so many shops I really did not expect to find my dress in a shop 15 km from where I grew up but I did. As I was being whisked into the shop floor to pick out dresses to try on a lady in the shop walked past carrying a dress and my mum spotted it and knew it was my style and asked if I could try in on. The shop assistant said that the dress had only come in that day as part of the new season’s stock and that another girl was about to try it on.
After trying on three dresses the shop assistant came in with the dress my mum had previously spotted and I was a bit hesitant and not sure as it was a bit fussy. However, the minute I put it on I had a good feeling and loved how it made me feel. It was exactly what I wanted as it is romantic, dramatic and whimsical. The shop assistant told me I was actually the first person in the shop to try it on as the previous girl wasn’t brave enough to. I loved her honesty when she said “now this is the type of dress that people will either love or hate” and that is exactly what it is. She also asked me would I think my fiancé would like it and I told her that he will either laugh or run to help me when he sees me trying to manoeuvre down the aisle without falling over. Clumsy is my middle name. However, being the very indecisive person that I took a few days to decide. For those few days I stalked images of that dress online and could not get it out of my head. I know this obsession that made me feel like an ice princess had to be the dress for me.
It is funny because many of my friends and work colleagues say all of the time that they can see me in a particular style of dress but boy do they have it wrong. I really cannot wait to wear it and feel like the belle of the ball. And yes I do believe some of my guests will think that I look like a tea cosy or toilet roll doll but all that matters to me is that I love it. My wedding photographer started following me on Pintrest to get an idea of my wedding inspirations but I’d say he is regretting it as I seem to have notions of myself doing all these poses as if I am a contestant on Britain’s Next Top Model or the star of a high end fashion shoot. I’d say he must think I am some kind of crazy brideziilla.
I even suggested to him; the first time I met him in a joking kind of way that I jump into the pool in the hotel where we are having our wedding reception so that he can get a cool shot. That has to a trash the dress right?! A bride to be is allowed to at least dream of being adventurous! My fiancé thinks I have scared him but I definitely saw a glimmer of excitement in his eyes. I better start the swimming lessons or my photographer will become a life saver.
Other ideas about what to do with my dress after include cutting it up to make a shorter dress which I am pretty sure I will never wear, the traditional turning it into a christening dress like my mother did for me. Or simply put it in a box and when I am old I can pass it onto to a girl who wants their something old and borrowed!
So with four months to go to the wedding the shoe shopping is about to commence and I am thinking sparkly and oh so high. And of course weddingtons for when I need to be poolside!
Image from Etsy
