After we got engaged at my parent's house, I managed to hold out about 36 hours and one RV breakdown before forcing Dan to stop for bridal magazines. I remember when my sister got engaged, she came home with ARMLOADS of bridal magazines and we spent hours pouring over them together. Well now it was my turn baby! I bought every bridal magazine the Cornwall Walmart had to offer!! I diligently dog-eared the pages with beautiful ideas I wanted to use. I started honing in on dresses, particularly lacy vintage looking dresses. I fell in love with Jim Hjelm dresses.
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I loved his simple style. Classic. Not poofy. Not silky. Not overly embellished. He just lets the lace be beautiful and concentrates on the silhouette. Love! I made appointments at two stores in Toronto that were having Jim Hjelm trunk sales when we got back from our trip.
Fast forward two months. I have said appointments, but I also find out about this amazing place called The Brides Project. The money they raise selling dresses and accessories goes towards a children's cancer camp, Camp Quality. My thoughts were this: If I'm going to spend $XXXX on a dress, why not have it go to a great cause?! So I quickly managed to get myself an appointment before my trunk sale appointments, and set out to find me a dress! I tried on dress after dress, some too big, some too small. A lot of what they had was perfect for other girls, but didn't fit the simple lace classic lines idea I had in my head. Finally I found a Paloma Blanca dress that was a bit short, but I thought that with my red shoes poking out it was a cute party dress. I loved it. It, however, was exactly opposite of what I wanted. It was silky, it was poofy, it didn't have lace. Hm.
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Also, it was a weeeeeeeee bit small. Despite all that, I still really liked it. Thankfully The Brides Project kindly loaned me the dress for two weeks to take it to their incredible seamstress to see what could be done.
Meanwhile, I had my appointments for the trunk sale. We arrived at L&J Bridal in Brampton for our first appointment. Little did I know that Jim Hjelm dresses start at about $4000 regular price, and the trunk sale was only 10% off. Ummmm no thanks. Now I didn't have a specific budget in mind for my dress, but I knew I didn't want to spend $4000. Every penny we don't spend is a penny we're saving towards our house renovation, so if I can find a dress for less that I love, bonus! We get windows! Our lovely saleslady Lina ushered us into a gorgeous room and pulled dresses for something closer to my "budget". The first one she pulled was beautiful but not what I wanted. It was a mermaid fit, and I'm really insecure about my hips/stomach area. I got junk in my trunk, which I love, but always feel really hippy in anything too form fitting. I love being a curvy woman, don't get me wrong, but this is one day I want to feel GORGEOUS, not self conscious. So I put it on, because, hey why not, it doesn't cost anything. I came out, stepped on the little platform, and blam, I fell in love. This dress made all my curves work in the RIGHT ways. I was a perfect hourglass figure, not hippy. The junk looked damn good in my trunk! I tried on the other dresses (including a Jim Hjelm just to see), but that was *the one*. Enzoani, you make goooooood dresses!
My dress! The Dakota! I can hardly wait to squish into this puppy!
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Moral dilemma. The dress that's cheaper and the money goes to a great cause, or the dress that's more expensive and makes me feel like a friggin supermodel? I debated. I hummed. I hawed. I complained and complained to Dan. Finally he made a great point. I was more in love with the idea of the first dress, not the dress itself. While it's great that the money goes to such a wonderful cause, do I really want to spend my wedding day wishing I was wearing a different dress? I'm not sure Dan has ever told me to spend more money before, so I wasn't about to argue with him. And he was right. The first dress is beautiful. It's perfect for someone else though. It felt like a fun party dress but the Enzoani dress. Oh man. It made me feel like a BRIDE. How could I not?!
So my friends, that is the story of the two dresses, my moral dilemma, and the momentous occasion Dan told me to spend more money on our wedding.
Did anyone else have trouble deciding? Did you find a way to contribute to charity while making purchases for your wedding?
Hello! I am considering the Dakota Enzoani dress for my wedding. My first trip I tried it on and didn't expect to like a mermaid dress. I also have junk in my trunk and the sample I tried on was too small... I am worried about the comfort of the dress and how much I can move around in it. How is the leg room in your dress? Is it comfortable?
ReplyDeleteHi there! The sample was a teeny bit snug, so I didn't sit down in it (I had visions of the butt sheering open and I would be emotionally scarred if that ever happened!). I could walk around really easily though, the leg room wasn't a problem. I wouldn't be able to hike up a mountain in it, but for just walking around it was fine. I mean really, it's never going to be as comfortable as a dress with an empire waist, that's for sure, but it's so beautiful I'm willing to deal with it! I go for my first fitting July 27th, so I'll post updates for you and I'll be sure to sit in it!
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