Dress Shopping - David's Bridal

Yesterday was a very busy day, involving a whole day full of dress shopping! Nimalee drove down and met me at the apartment at around 11:40am, then we went to pick up Ciara from her house. First was David's Bridal.

We got to David's Bridal a little late for my noon appointment, but it was okay. They took down some information, I picked out some dresses from their catalog, and our helper (Abigael) went hunting for some of the dresses I had chosen while I picked some shoes. It took me all of 5 minutes to choose shoes from their small collection, so Nimalee and Ciara and I observed all the other brides and bridesmaids. Some of them were kinda dolled up for just trying on dresses, which I thought was funny. The dressing room area took up about half the store. It was this U-shaped structure of mirrored dressing rooms, with platforms so people could see themselves in the mirrors a little better. I then picked out a veil to try on with the dress.

Abigael came back with a strapless bridal bustier thing and a crinoline slip. Nimalee had to literally shove me into the bustier thing, but after it was on, it didn't feel too tight. Abigael had to keep coming back with new crinoline slips until the third one just barely fit. It was a size 10! And all the dresses that fit me well were size 10 too! (Which seems like a big deal to little me, who's never worn anything above a size 6 before) They aren't kidding when they say that bridal sizes run small.

I quite literally dived into the first dress, was zipped up, put on the veil, and stood in front of the mirror. It was so funny because Nimalee and Ciara took one look at me in the wedding dress and veil and went "AWW!!!". They got all choked up too! It was cute. Here's the first dress I tried on:

I really like this dress, but it's about $500... Sam doesn't think that's a bad price for a wedding dress, but I think that's a little too much for anything that's still gonna need alterations.

I look silly giddy in this picture. ^^

Close-up of detail.

The second dress was one that I had liked online. They didn't have it in the color I wanted (I don't like red...) but it looked surprisingly good on me.

Here's the back.

Back detail. To save time, Abigael laced up every other one.

And the front. I liked the way it looked on me, but the plainness of the front bothers me a little.

The next dress was another one I had kind of liked on the website, mostly because of the sash option. Abigael tied a cloth (a bridesmaid wrap, I think) around me so I could get a sense of how the color I like would look on me. (I know, I'm being very roundabout. I suppose Sam wouldn't be able to get a mental image of the dress even if I were specific...) Anyway, here I am in it.

Here's the back, with the cloth over it.

Just cuz I was feeling silly. :)

We removed the cloth to see how it would look at the back. Here it is, tied very simply and loosely.

And here, tied with a bow.

Finally, I tried on a non-poofy sheath dress to see if I liked it better. I didn't. It's a nice dress, but not "bridal" enough for me. Still, here it is.

Nimalee and Ciara tried on bridesmaid dresses too, but I think I'll wait till they say it's okay to post the pictures I took of them. I also got my measurements taken by the seamstress they have onsite, so I'm ready for any custom gowns I may come across online.

Out of the ones at David's Bridal, I liked the first one the most, because it had color, lots of detail, and it looked pretty damn good on me. It's also the most expensive, and I have a feeling it'll be hard to find online. Nimalee and Ciara seemed to like the two other poofy ones, but I'm just not liking how plain they are. I'd also have to rush order anything that I get from there because the normal wait time for a dress is 10-16 weeks, and that's just too close to the wedding for comfort.

But that's it for David's Bridal! This is a long post already, and I have a migraine (again...), so I'll end it here. I'll probably update with the next store's findings tomorrow. Let me know what you think so far, though!