The dress

It took three trips and hundreds of miles of driving but I finally picked out my wedding gown on Wednesday at Vows Bridal in Newton, MA.

When Kenny and I first got engaged last year, my mum and I were so excited that we immediately arranged to go dress shopping at Vows. I tried on lots of dresses but didn't quite know what I wanted and it was so early that I didn't pick any of them. It was a great trip and the sales people were so helpful, and I always appreciated their patience with me. They probably knew as soon as I walked in the door with a brand new diamond ring that I wasn't going to buy anything that day but they still treated me well and were willing to talk to me and spend time helping me pick out dresses. The best part about Vows is that the dresses are all designer and couture sample dresses. They are SOO beautiful. You get the brand names that people rave about but since the dresses are samples, you do not pay the same hefty price. You can't argue with that!!

After the first shopping experience, I waited quite a while before going out a second time. My mum and I were out in Nashua, NH and we decided to stop in at David's Bridal to see what they had. I tried a few on and really liked one but I didn't purchase it because I just didn't get the "this is the one!" feeling from it. It was lovely, though.

Then about a month and a half later I arranged a girls day out to a store in Southern MA. I won't specify what store it is because it was terrible. The sales associate was awful and overly opinionated. I loved one of the dresses I tried on but it was beaded very heavily and when I put my arms down, the beading scratched my arms a lot and it was pretty uncomfortable.

Finally, on Wednesday I had an appointment at Vows again to see one particular dress I had found online. The one I was interested in was a Melissa Sweet and was very soft and beautiful, but when I tried it on I didn't like it as much. Unfortunately that meant I had to try on a bunch more (I was really hoping to just love it and be done with it!) but in the end it paid off. I am glad I waited and went back to Vows because I found the absolute perfect dress for me! The dress I'm wearing in the photo is the runner-up, since I don't want Kenny to accidently see the winner :)

It was such a great feeling to say "This is the one!" All of my girlfriends were so excited. My mum loves the dress, and in fact she had pulled it off a shelf for me to try on.

We put a down payment on the dress and I have a week to decide if I actually want it. After a week they send it out to be cleaned and any minor repairs needed are made, and then in 3-4 weeks it's mine to take home! I will get it altered closer to home since Newton is kind of a trek.