Thursday, September 15, 2011

THE Dress

This past weekend my Mom flew into town with one mission in mind - to find the dress!  What an experience that was.  Being in the industry, I knew that appointments were needed, so I made appointments at five different bridal shops so that we could make the most of my Mom's trip and secure the perfect dress. 

First up on the list was Mon Amie.  Wendy was helping us and she was amazing.  I truly had such a great experience there.  Being that this was the first stop, it was a little over whelming.  The shop is in a strip mall in Costa Mesa right next to an entertainment company, a photographer and a floral shop.   Talk about one stop shopping!  Mon Amie however takes up about 2/3 of the entire strip mall - it is huge!  They had dresses ranging from $1500 and up.  I must have tried on at least 15 different dresses.  It actually gave me a really good idea of what I like and what my Mom and my Step Mom liked on me.  The other thing that was interesting to me is that they only have one of each dress.  Every bridal store does this.  They have a size 10 (which is like a size 6 or 8 I am told) to try on.  If you are bigger than that - tough cookies!  Wendy was amazing and so helpful with finding the right dress and helping me squeeze into them!  It's so funny how some zipped right up and others I couldn't get over my hips.  Mon Amie is where my love of sashes also began.  I love adding that touch of bling and color - it is awesome!

Next on the list was the Dresser in Fullerton.  This shop had dresses that were $2500 and under.  They had some nice things but nothing near the selection of Mon Amie.  The girl who helped me was Sara.  It was such a different experience because Sara was really young - she looked maybe 19 to 22 years old - and had a facial piercing.  She really was a terrible sales person.   She kept asking me questions trying to find out what I liked but it really felt more like an interrogation.  I really didn't find anything that I loved there and I have to wonder if it is because of the experience.

On Sunday, we paid a visit to Mariposa in Anaheim.  This store has dresses that are about $3000 and under.  Naeima was so sweet and really helpful.  I know my Mom and Step Mom felt like she wasn't listening because she didn't really put me in the type of dress we were looking for.  When we first arrived I told her that I wasn't liking sweetheart necklines on me and that I wasn't looking for a poofy ballgown.  Well, practically EVERY dress she pulled had a sweetheart neckline and at least half were super poofy!  It was at Mariposa though that my love of sashes continued.  One of the BEST things of Mariposa is that we were able to take pictures and I could then see myself in the dresses while I was still in them.  That helped me to REALLY see what actually was looking good on me.

On Monday morning I woke up like a kid on Christmas because I knew this was the day that I was going to have to make a decision.  We started the day with stopping by Jim Kennedy to show my Mom and Step Mom photos from my fabulous photographer!  It was so fun to get to see some of their new stuff and really start getting excited all together.  After we left we went to our first appointment for the day at Erin Cole in Costa Mesa.  This store is incredible.  We hadn't even walked in the door yet and my Mom says, "Ooh.  I already like this store!"  Kate was helping us and she did a fabulous job!  I didn't try on a single sweetheart neckline or poofy ballgown.  She really helped me and listened to what we were all saying and together we found the perfect dress!  Well, needless to say - I said "Yes to the dress" and we made our purchase!  I still can't believe it - it really is a dream dress and I feel like a million bucks in it!  Unfortunately I am not sharing photos for obvious reasons but I wish I could! 

We never made it to the Wedding Day, but I have heard great things about it and many of my brides at the hotel buy their dress from there.

What I thought was going to be a truly painful process turned out to be tons of fun and end in success!  When I got back to work on Tuesday I spoke to my representative from Ceremony Magazine and she said they would definitely feature my wedding - yipee!   Now it feels real and I am so excited to marry my best friend!


Cheers!
Dani

4 comments:

  1. Yay! Love ya dani wags!

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  2. I freaking LOVE you Hootchaaaay!!! I am so excited for you and can't wait until the big day!!

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  3. Love, love, love how real you described your dress shopping experience. I was just at Erin Cole for the first time last night and know what you mean! Congratulations and any chance I can get a sneak peak? Wink wink.

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  4. Yay, so glad you posted about dress shopping....I feel totally in the loop!

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