Bought a Wedding Dress!

I've finally started looking for a wedding dress! I know the wedding is almost a year away but everyone keeps telling me that I need to buy one now so there is time for alterations and such.

On Thursday I went to RK Bridal with a friend. Overall experience, positive!

First let me say that place is overwhelming. I walked in and there were hundreds of dresses all crammed together. They were separated by designer and I didn't even know what kind of dress I wanted much less what designer. When you want to try on dresses, you have to sign up near the fitting rooms, pick 5 dresses and then wait for a bridal consultant to help you. I picked 4 that I wasn't even in love with but I wanted to try since I was so overwhelmed.

After a wait, Jo came and helped me. She looked at the dresses, asked my price range, asked what I was looking for in a dress and then left to find me more. I never even tried on the dresses that I picked because her selections were so spot on. I fell in love with 2 dresses that made me feel gorgeous. I even got teary-eyed about one. Jo wrote down the dress names and I told her I would probably return with "the mothers" in the next couple of weeks.

On Saturday I went dress shopping with my mother and one of my bridesmaids. My sister and future mother-in-law were supposed to come but the FMIL was sick and my sister was forced to stay home waiting for the cable guy.

The first store we went to was Valentina Bridal Salon Inc on New Utrecht in Brooklyn. The experience, somewhat positive.

The first thing I did when walking in was fill out a card with all my information. A bridal consultant immediately came over to help me and led me to a portion of the shop that carried dresses in my budget. We picked a few dresses and she and I went into the changing room where she helped me try them on. I liked the 1st dress and left the room to show my mom and bridesmaid. This is where the problems come in. The dresses don't fit exactly so they can't be zipped all the way. At RK, the dresses were clipped in the back as much as possible to keep it tight. At Velantina, they weren't clipped very well and I was walking around with my back exposed. I was not comfortable with that at all. I admit it, I have back fat and I don't want people seeing it! I'm self conscious. Other than that, it was a positive experience and I liked a couple of dresses. None of them grabbed me like the 2 from RK though.


The second store we went to was Sposabella Couture in Bay Ridge. The experience, very negative.

I told the woman behind the counter what sort of dress I was looking for and she sent us upstairs with a saleswoman who pointed at some dresses in a small side room, told me to look them over and walked away. I checked the tags and they were all out of my price range so once she came back I told her what I was willing to pay. She immediately seemed annoyed but pointed me to the sales racks.

I found a couple of dresses I thought were nice and when I wanted to try them on, she told me the fitting room was the same small side room crammed full of other dresses. There was no curtain and she told me to go in and put the dresses on and come out. I am sure she couldn't have come in because the room was so small and filled with dresses but I was under the impression that part of the reason these women were here was to help me get into these cumbersome dresses! My bridesmaid was appalled but I tried to make the best of it. I tried on 3 dresses, hated them all and we left. The woman was very condescending in telling me that I need to make a decision fast or the dresses would be gone soon.

The fourth and final store we went to was Lotus Bridal on Avenue U. The experience, amazing.

We walked in and were immediately greeted by one of the owners, Wendy. She said she had a 3 pm appointment about to come in but we could look around and she would see about working me in to try on dresses. The 3 pm never showed though. I found the same dress I loved at RK and was excited to try it on for my mom and friend. I also found a couple of other dresses I liked and found a dress in the sample sale book that was pretty. Wendy led me to dressing room (with a curtain! yay) and I tried on the sample sale dress 1st. The dress was not what I was looking for. First of all, it was gold! It was also gorgeous! It has a very antique feel to it. I loved it but I was also scared because I wasn't supposed to like these other dresses! Heh.

I walked out of the dressing room in the gold gown and my mother and friend were stunned. They loved it. Shit! Now I couldn't try on the dress I loved next because I wanted some distance between this one and that one. After that I tried on a few more dresses and the ones that didn't close in the back, were zipped as much as possible and then Wendy pinned a cloth cover the rest. That automatically put her on the top of my list. Lastly I tried on the dress I tried on at RK. I still loved it but now I was torn between that and the gold. It was no contest for my mom and bridesmaid. They loved it but really wanted me to go with the gold. The pressure was really on because the gold one is discontinued so they only had the one in the store and wouldn't be getting any more.

I couldn't make a decision right then though so we left and headed home. They came in the apartment and we were telling the fiancé about the gold dress. When he heard the price ($600), he said I should buy it just because it was so cheap. Then my mother offered me $200 to buy it. Heh. I called Wendy and my mother had me ask how much of a discount I could get if I bought both dresses. Wendy offered me 20% off the sample sale dress if I bought both. I honestly couldn't buy TWO wedding dresses so I put a deposit on the sample sale dress and she said if I ended up buying the other then she'll still give me the discount. So IF I change my mind and buy the white dress, then I'll get the gold one for $480, and with the $200 my mother promised it would only be $280. I could have the train removed and wear it as a formal dress at some big event. That's just the backup plan though. At the moment it is my wedding dress and I have to say ... I'm in shock.