How I Found My Dress, or, The Dress, Part I (even though Part II already got posted)

One of the things that I was most excited about about being engaged was finding my wedding dress. I've been dreaming of dresses, idly and voraciously, for as long as I can remember. I envied the soft fabrics, the pretty draping and beading, the light lace. The styles, the silhouettes, and the dramatic power of a few pieces of fabric and tulle to transform any woman into a bride.

I'd seen it happen with my own eyes. I'd watched with tearful pride as both my older sisters and one of my best friends emerged from the fitting room with an ethereal glow in their cheeks the day they found their dresses. The same glow carried them down the aisle on their wedding day.

To me, the dress is the hallowed silence, the secret place that only the bride gets to go. It is her sanctuary.

So naturally, I was a little overwhelmed by the magnitude of shopping for my own dress. Other people had weddings; other women tried on dress after dress before their friends and family. Other women glowed. It was odd to call the women in my life to arms to go shopping, but call I did, and they all agreed to come out on a Sunday afternoon a mere two weekends after we were engaged.

But my mom and I were talking the week prior to the dress-shopping trip, and she suggested we go to David's Bridal that Friday to do some "research" and see if we couldn't narrow down the styles I'd like to try on elsewhere.

I had had my heart set on the Alfred Angelo Dream In Color collection ever since I had first seen those dresses while shopping with my best friend and now-married bridesmaid K. two years prior. I thought that our one and only appointment would be at Alfred Angelo. And I thought that David's Bridal carried somewhat generic dresses. I agreed to go to DB because I thought yes, that would be a great place to do research, but nothing more. I wouldn't let myself get attached.

Well, as usual, I was wrong.

We tried on a handful of dresses that night, and had two top contenders-- let's call them Alice (because it somehow reminded me of Alice In Wonderland), and the Princess Dress. Then we went to one more store just down the street and tried on some Maggie Sotteros and Casablancas. There was a Casablanca contender, but it was quite a bit more expensive than any of the dresses at DB, so we decided we'd bring everyone back to both this store and DB after my appointment on Sunday at Alfred Angelo for final opinions.

Well, I couldn't stop thinking about the Alice dress, even on Sunday morning as I tried on dress after dress. The ladies with me fell in love with a dress at Alfred Angelo's, and that dress (let's call it the Queen Dress), remained a favorite through the other two (I opted at this point not to re-try the Princess Dress). But when I put on Alice-- I came alive. I felt giddy, and light as a feather, and . . . beautiful.

Leaving Alice to go get the Queen Dress felt like cheating on a lover. My mom put it best when she said that the Queen Dress was the dress for the bride I wanted to be-- fancy, LOTS of beading and lace, and a beautiful, elegant train. But Alice was the dress for the bride I was-- simple, still regal and beautiful, but not overpowering.

That did it. I made my decision, even though my sister and my friends still preferred the Queen Dress.

Alice will be my sanctuary on my wedding day, my hallowed silence among the chaos.

Aside from my new husband, that is.

How did you decide on your wedding dress? Did it take a couple of try-ons or did you know right away? Did you go along with what the people you brought thought, or against them?