This week, our bridal story comes from a bride-to-be on the search for that dream wedding dress…
Wedding dress shopping was such a super exciting part of the wedding prep and I loved every minute of it, well up until the 10th shop anyway!
Armed with research from Find Your Dream Wedding Dress and recommendations from friends and blogs off I popped, over enthusiastic and ridiculously naive to search for ‘the one’.
I had full belief that I could find an amazing dress in a few weeks. All I wanted was plain simple dress that was unique and didn’t result in applying for a mini mortgage. How hard could it be, right?
Having experienced almost every size, shape and manner of bridal changing room imaginable and encountering the same styles and designers over and over again it came to a stage where I began to see dresses I’d originally considered on friend’s Facebook pages. So much for unique! Thankfully I never saw any of them on my Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. That couple of weeks soon spiralled into a couple of months and searching became more of a chore than the fairytale fun it was meant to be.
A friend then told me about ‘Little White Dress’ in Castleknock and finally I found a dress that blew my socks off. I didn’t turn into a babbling balling mess as the majority of brides would when I tried it on but instead I just beamed as bright as a thousand suns, well not quite but I was well chuffed with myself. I knew it was my ‘ONE’ when I was still as elated as I was the first time I tried it on even after my 5th trip to the shop, yes 5 times, I kid you not. Here’s to the ever so patient shop owner Janet!
The designer of the dress I choose only supplies to this store in Ireland so I knew the chances of seeing it in bridal magazines, bridal supplements and the dreaded Facebook were as remote as the groom having any knowledge of any wedding dress designer. It was well over my budget and far from my original vision but I finally decided to sacrifice on other areas of the wedding for this amazing dress. Who needs a cake at the wedding anyway?
I finally paid the deposit which was half the price of the dress and I pranced out of the shop as if I’d won the lotto even though I had spent money and not gained it. I was well chuffed. A week later to my surprise the lady in the shop rang and informed me that the dress I had chosen was being discontinued and while she could still order my dress, she could also offer me the sample dress for the price of the deposit I’d already paid. The sample was in mint condition and I just knew the dress only needed a few minor alterations so raced to the bridal shop faster than Usain Blot on steroids and snapped it. I got my designer dress for half the price – GO ME!
Just like the rest of the wedding plans, it might take a bit of effort and perseverance but everything works out in the end!
Image via Etsy
