ohboy.

I had my first "real" dress-shopping outing yesterday, with an appointment and consultant and everything! I went to David's, I figured it was a good place to start.

The consultant lady was nice, very quiet, brought out some good things based on feedback, and it is waaaay easier to throw gowns on and off with someone who knows what they are doing. i guess you are supposed to dive into them headfirst, not step in and shimmy up. hm. even though i was wearing a full-length flexee, they still wanted to put me in a community longline bra, i said no. i did wear community slip, which is kinda gross, it had makeup stains on it and was overall dingy, but thats not rubbing up against my intimate areas really, so im ok with that.

keri, keris mom, my mom, and matts mom came with. (thank you soooo much, all of you!!!) i tried on 7-8 (i think?) dresses, none of them were "THE DRESS",, but there were a couple that I liked. One made 2 or 3 people cry, but it wasnt even one of the top choices, i think it was just the first one that made me look like a real bride... at least, thats what im going to chalk it up to.

3 important things that I learned from/were accomplished yesterday:

1 -- My mom originally wanted nothing to do with dress shopping. I was happily surprised that she went yesterday, and i think it was a good experience for her, that this is not like "normal" shopping. it was really nice to have her there, and get her input. i'll throw out invites for the next times i go, and we will see what happens.

2 -- its really, really mofo weird to walk out wearing a dress, that you havent seen yet, and have a line of people scrutinizing. not making eye contact with you, but clearly staring at what you are wearing, and making oooh/aaahhh sounds along the spectrum of approval/disapproval. i want to emphasize that i am so grateful and happy with everyone who came, and gave valuable input, but this is such a unique experience. its odd.

3 -- None of the dresses I had picked out beforehand looked good on me. The ones I did like on me were not at all anything I had looked at before. It turns everything I did not like in pictures (full skirt, beading, embroidery), actually looks good on. WTF. so, now I have to completely do a 180 on the styles i am looking for. this was the biggest thing that came out of yesterday, which is extremely productive in itself. designers i would have blown off before are now coming back (im thinking of demetrios). it sorta takes everything in a completely different direction than what i was envisioning. but, thats good! what i was thinking of before just does not work with the body i have, and thats ok, and good info to have.

So, now -- sweetheart neckline ; A-line dress, structured top (no Grecian styles), and a little sparkle. maybe a lot of sparkle. lace would still be nice, but not a must-have. beaded lace is actually preferable now, as before it was a definite no.

i think in 2 weeks from now, i will make appointments for Demetrios in Schaumburg, and a little place called Gipper in McHenry that my mom referred me to,,,, and go from there! i would really prefer to get the dress picked out sometime in the next 2 months; i think it's do-able, but will mean putting a lot more time into it than I have thus far. I wont lie, a little part of me wanted to find THE DRESS the first time out, but i know thats unrealistic, and i think the whole idea of the perfect dress is a myth anyhow... but you never know, maybe i will change my mind on that too.