Say Yes to the Dress

Are you all ready for this week’s little Throwback Thursday post? I was scrolling through Google Photos, trying to think of what I could do for a TBT, and I realised that around this time last year, was when I first tried on what would become my wedding dress. On May 14 2016 in fact, according to the date on these photos. So I thought I would take you through the adventure I went through choosing my wedding dress.

Here we go.

Originally, I was planning on buying my dress online over at JJ’s House. The one I was eyeing up was this one, which you can see from all angles here. There were a few others I liked, but I just really liked the look of this one, and there were lots of positive reviews from this site. Jo and Kruti got their bridesmaids dresses from JJ’s House in the end.

However, for fun and giggles, I thought it would still be fun to go into a bridal boutique and try on some dresses. My sister was coming down to town that weekend (May 14), so I thought it would be fun for her and me to try on dresses and to bring along mum. Sounded like a lot of fun in general. So I contacted Sally Eagle and made an appointment to come in.

The below images are not mine, but from the official Sally Eagle site on Google Maps. But it shows just how beautiful and open the boutique is.

Isn’t it so beautiful?? In person, the boutique is just as beautiful. Mum, Jo and I made out way in and were greeted by Ashleigh. She welcomed us in, set up tea and snacks and explained how the consultation worked. It cost $30, and we had an hour. That gave us time to try on a range of 4-5 dresses and see what we like. I went first. Basically, we looked through all the dresses, and if I liked one, she took it off the rack for me to try on. I collected around 8, and narrowed it down to a few I liked. Some I pulled on and immediately thought nope. Some, I ummed and ahhed but I wasn’t too fussy. There was one that I was pretty happy with, and then I tried on the Diana dress, and I was pretty taken with it.

It was way too long, but this was just the one that you could try on. They would custom fit it to me, as well as make any changes I would want. I tried on this dress three times I think, I kept coming back to it. I loved the lace detailing on the back so much, and the way that the skirt ruffled as it fell around me. I felt beautiful in it, even though I wasn’t at all dressed up outside of the dress. Mum and Jo really liked it as well, we all agreed that an off-white dress looked better with skin tone. The ivory dresses I tried didn’t complement my skin tone as much as this champagne colour. I couldn’t stop looking at myself in the mirror.

After the consultation, I couldn’t stop thinking about that dress. I really wanted it. But, it wasn’t cheap. It wasn’t crazy expensive compared to some stories I heard out there, but it was a great deal more than I was originally wanting to spend. I thought, and talked, and went back and forth for  a week. Finally, Jo offered to help me pay for the dress, as she could see how bad I wanted it, and as she didn’t want to have a wedding of her own (they may elope or just go to town hall) one of us may have well the proper wedding with the full on gown. I decided to go for it, I was already planning on going for it really, I was literally dreaming about the dress. I spent ages staring at their site and looking at the model wearing the Diana dress.

 

Look at the details!!

So I contacted Ashleigh back and we got the ball rolling.

I got my measurements taken in August.

I had my first ‘toile’ fitting in early October. A toile is “an early version of a finished garment made up in cheap material so that the design can be tested and perfected.” It was basically a brown cloth material that they used to make sure the measurements were right before using the correct material. I was a little bummed that it wasn’t the fancy dress yet.

I had my first fitting in the official dress in December. They hadn’t added any lace details yet, but it was from the actual dress material. At this point, I had to wear the bra I would be wearing to the wedding, so they can fit it correctly. Because the back of the dress is sheer, I couldn’t wear a regular bra. I find strapless bras uncomfortable, so I wore a wing bra. Which is like strapless, but they have sticky flap things on the side that stick to you basically. It offers more support than strapless is what I’m trying to say.

I had my hem fitting in January. I had to bring my wedding shoes, so we could get it to the right length. My shoes were kitten heel, as I can’t handle really high heels. I really liked the lace design on the side as well, as it went with the dress. I’m not too fond of open toe, but I really liked everything else about the shoes.

In February, a month before the wedding, I had my final fitting to make sure everything fit. We decided to take off an extra 2 inches off the hem to really make sure I don’t trip or anything, cause I was nervous about that. Then, I took it home.

Then of course, I got to wear it for the whole day on my wedding! Rory insisted on not seeing the dress before the big day, I showed literally everyone else, but he wanted to keep it as a surprise.

Our photo shoot at Percy Scenic Reserve got my dress a teensy bit muddy at the bottom. But it was on a hidden layer, so it didn’t show. I did get it dry cleaned though. So now my dress is clean, safe, and will stay beautiful.

I’m still so happy with my wedding dress. It was perfect for me, and I felt stunning and beautiful on the best day of my life. Isn’t that what a wedding dress is for? 🙂

Also, according to WordPress, this will be my 100th post I’ve published!

Angela.

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