say yes to the dress

i received a call from the bridal shop 3 weeks ago saying that my dress was in. this made me more anxious than i would have thought.

i have never been the type of girl who dreamed about her wedding dress. when i got engaged, the dress choices were so overwhelming. i just wanted to find something that looked ok on me and didn't cost a fortune and get the heck out of the dress shop. there is something about being the center of attention and surrounded by expensive white delicate material that is very unnerving to me.

the first time i went shopping was with my mom and my friend erica. we went to a little boutique in seattle and i cursed myself for not wearing cuter undies. i was very nervous because i am not thrilled with my body right now and was convinced that i would be the only girl in the world who couldn't find a wedding dress that would look good. to my surprised, there were a few that i liked, but i refused to buy them because it was my first foray into dress shopping.

the second time i went was with my mom and sister in law when they were visiting me in denver. we went to a larger store and started grabbing anything that i thought might work. three dresses into it, i put one on, looked in the mirror, and thought hmm.. this actually isn't that bad.. wait a minute.. do i have a WAIST?? my mom and sil both loved it, but i wanted to try on a few more*. so after rejecting 4 or 5 more dresses, i stopped and told my mom that i actually think the one we all liked was it, and, priced at half of what i was planning on spending, it was a deal i couldn't refuse.

so my mom and sil kind of squealed and had me put it back on and i studied myself, mentally taking note of what i needed to spend extra time on at the gym.. i wondered aloud if it was really the one.. could it be this easy? is it ok that i'm not over emotional and crying? is it ok that i am being so practical about this and will i end up not liking it as the wedding day nears? will i kick myself for not trying on 100's of dresses until i found one that i didn't want to take off?

since the price was right and the dress looked good, i decided to get it.

so today when i went into the shop to pick up my dress, i was a little nervous that it wouldn't fit or look as good as i thought it did the day i picked it out. to my relief, it zipped up just fine. and i still like it. it's not uber fancy or frilly, but you know what? neither am i! and that's when i smiled to myself and realized that i *had* found the perfect dress *for me*, and i'm sure with a few alterations, i will be over emotional and crying and refusing to take it off.



*had i given into my ocd, i would have tried on every dress under the sun just to make sure that there wasn't something better. luckily, we did not have the time for that. and i got tired after about 10 dresses - those suckers are heavy!