Introduction: Recapping the last three months

This blog is entering my wedding planning a little late. It's only been three months since I've been engaged, but I feel like a lot of stuff has already happened. Mostly because I feel like there are several battles that I've already had to overcome.

1. We've pick a date: June 18, 2011 
2. We've picked a location: Byron Colby Barn in Grayslake, IL (with much hesitation from Eric because he didn't want to have our wedding "in a barn." But this isn't your ordinary country barn with hay and animals. No. It has been refinished and hosts events like weddings all the time)
3. We've bought our wedding rings (from Steve Quick in Lincoln Square- the same place Eric bought my engagement ring at. They gave us a bottle of champagne and a really cool bottle stopper in the shape a huge diamond- totally worth it!)
4. We've (fought over and) picked our colors: Crimson Red and White/Cream (as in "creme brulee;" I can be a real blonde sometimes) 
5. And last week I bought my wedding dress. I think this is where we'll start talking...

I went shopping with my future mother-in-law, Cherie, on a Monday. I think this was a great choice of day because who goes wedding dress shopping on a Monday? Only me. And Cherie. So we had a sketch of a plan- go wedding dress shopping. We didn't make any appointments, which is something that I realized was required by most salons that Sunday night. It was too late to make any appointments. Even though, I tried to call that Monday morning before we left and no one was even open to take my call. So going to the fancy salons was out of the picture, but I couldn't afford any of those dresses anyway. 

I had a bunch of shops I wanted to go written out on little squares of paper (which are now stapled into my wedding planner as keepsakes). House of Brides. David's Bridal. Wedding Belles, Inc. and Here Comes the Bride. Not one of these shops is near the vicinity where I live. So we headed out to Schaumburg. At 9:30 AM! I don't know why we decided early morning was the time to go dress shopping, but we did. None of these shops was open at 9:30am. So we stopped at IKEA and Cherie bought some plates for her work. Woo hoo! It was about 11am when we decided we didn't like the way IKEA was laid out (we kept getting lost and going in circles). So we headed out to the first shop. The only one that opened at 11am was David's Bridal. I had read many horror stories about buying your wedding dress from David's Bridal, but I didn't make any appointments at real salons, so David's Bridal it was! 

We walked in and by passed the front desk, going straight for the dress racks. Together, we picked out at least four dresses that we liked. Now we needed to try them on. We had to sign up for a consultant to help us in order to try them on. I told her what I was looking for, what I didn't like and my price range: under $1,000. 

Filippa, my consultant, put me in a dressing room, told me to undress and she'll be back with a slip and some dresses to try. I didn't believe she wouldn't just let me try on the dresses I'd already  hidden in a bunch among the racks! Nonetheless, I was standing in my underwear hiding behind a curtain, so I couldn't do much about it. I'd even bbm'd Eric to tell him that "She's not letting me try on the dresses we picked out. Weird." Filippa turned out to know everything about wedding dresses stocked at David's Bridal! Well duhh! I don't really know what I was thinking when I look back at the situation. I'm no wedding dress expert! My word to brides looking for a wedding dress: Just tell the consultant and let them do the work. They know what dresses the shop has; you don't. 

I tried on my first dress, one that I actually stashed away earlier. It was just beautiful. It fit perfectly. Hid all the things I wanted hidden. Had just the right beading. It was even WHITE (one detail Eric and his mom wanted; not ivory). I didn't even look pasty. The beading even highlighted my blonde hair. My only complaint was that the train was a little plain. It has no details; just white. I'm not going to describe the dress here just in case Eric wanders upon this blog. It's just about the only detail of the wedding he isn't part of and I'd like to keep it a surprise. But I did indeed purchase the first dress I tried on. 

I'm not stupid. I tried on about eight dresses before I could make my decision. It took three hours. And I didn't eat any breakfast. So Cherie and I decided we needed to eat and think the purchase over. Filippa was very understanding, especially after Cherie slipped her a $20 on our way out the door. I knew this was the dress and I really didn't want to spend another three exhausting hours of trying on dresses. I don't know how women enjoy putting their hands over their heads, pulling in and out of those huge skirts for hours at different shops. I felt comfortable with Fillipa. I didn't feel like I was being sold a dress. Just that I had the chance to try on a few different styles and find the one I liked best. I had found the one I liked best. Why not just get it over with? One less thing for me to think about. 

We picked up my mom from Antioch and rode back over to the DB in Schaumburg. I tried on two dresses that I had limited it down to but I think I already knew the dress I wanted. We found a veil that matched perfectly. It may have cost almost $200 for a piece of mesh with some beads, but it is really pretty. I packed up, purchased the dress and left with it that night. Once I find my shoes, I can bring the dress in to be hemmed and then they'll also clean and steam the dress so it looks good. It may have been off the rack, but I think it fit just right. I like knowing that they can't order the wrong sized dress or that it won't fit brand new, since they tend to be smaller. I need no alterations besides a short hem. And that 's the story of finding my wedding dress. I slept really good that night!