Anniversary: Dress Shopping

So I won't lie, wedding dress shopping was definitely my favorite part of the wedding planning process. It was also the most stressful & scary part. So like I mentioned in my previous post I had the opportunity to start my search at Kleinfelds.

Which now looking back was probably a bad idea, seeing how they have the most awesome but expensive dresses there are.

I originally saw this dress online & fell in love.

The lady I got was not one of the ones I recognized from the show. We also didn't like her very much. She was super bossy & opinionated. She told me my budget wouldn't get me anywhere & that I would ruin any of the beautiful dresses by putting sleeves on them. Rude much, though I agree g-ments ruin fashion sometimes. She also wouldn't pull the dress I saw online because  she said it was too far out of my price range. So from the start me & my mom knew we were on our own!

So this is the dress I fell in love with & kept coming back too. It was by the designer Lazaro.

I loved the off white color, soft ruffles, fit, & the gorgeous flower. Problem was it was still way over my mom's slim budget, & I would still have to get some sort of jacket made which I just couldn't picture. I still think about this dress all the time. This was definitely Jer's choice. Maybe I can find some other reason to wear it?

So right as our time was coming to an end Jer stopped by to pick us up & good old Randy stopped by. He is the one who closes the deal & I know why... He is the nicest guy there is. I am SOOO sad I did not get a picture with him. He also after hearing our engagement story told us if we had applied we totally could have been on the show! How cool would have that been!

He was especially* nice to us because he thought Jeremy was "gorgeous" (his words not mine. Ya he's gay.) Jeremy told him about the dress that brought me there in the first place and Randy went and found it even to the disapproval of our sales lady.

I was amazed at how beautiful this gown was. It of course was the last one left, the sales model (which means the one everyone tries on), & in a size 10 which is why it is a little large on the sides. They have it pinched a  ton in the back.

(It was restricted to take pictures, which is why Jer is guarding the door.)

This was the dress of my dreams! And it only cost $10,000. Yes you heard me right. Somehow Jer & Randy dropped the price down to $4,600. But it was still huge needing to be taken it, some sort of jacket made with no extra material, worn from people trying it on, & way further out of my price range than the first dress. My mom said no, but was heartbroken with me. Randy hid the dress for us anyways in case I changed my mind before we left. Jeremy still has his cell phone # he gave him, as we called him twice after we left.. :)

So that was a bummer but I hoped I would find a similar dress somewhere else. In the end I went to over 12 dress shops in Utah & California with none coming close to these 2 dresses. (I would however recommend Alta Moda bridal as the best wedding dress shop for people in Utah.)

My poor family & friends who had to keep coming to see potential dresses.

In the end my mom finally talked me into getting my dress made. She just knew I wouldn't find anything that measured up to the kleinfeld's dresses I had fell in love with. We have a family friend who is an amazing artist & seamstress & she agreed to take on the challenge. She did an incredibly job and in the end gifted the dress to me! I couldn't have been more grateful for Danise Salgado & her amazing talent. 

(She is who inspired me to take up sewing)

As you can see it's a combination of the 2 dresses. I choose to go with a high neck because I didn't want the sweetheart neck to be covered & love the vintage look of the lace overlay.

In the end it all worked out & I loved my dress!