I've only gone and bought the flippin' thing!!!
So, the last update i gave was just after Candy Anthony - and christ alive i love that dress. I had actually got to the point where i had convinced myself it was entirely reasonable to spend the full £3k on it, and that it would be the most wonderful dress experience ever. and to be honest, i think it would have been a dream come true to wear it...
However, things changed somewhat.
You know, in films, when women go en-masse to the bridal shop and they're festooned with fizzy wine and everyone tries on hideous dresses until miraculously you try on one dress, everyone cries, and you look inexplicably like you're bathed in a quasi-religious light... That kind of happened. I didn't even particularly want it to, it wasn't my fault!
Was off to Brighton for the weekend to see best-mate-local, and thought that it would be fun to have the afore-mentioned dress shop experience. Free booze is never a bad thing, and we might have had a laugh at the same time. It also served another 2 purposes which was to try on loads more dresses to affirm my position that no other white creation in the world could match up to the beautious Candy Anthony dress, and also, TBJ's "step-mum" (we don't refer to her as such out loud, but, to all intents and purposes, that's what she is) hasn't got any daughters of her own, and i thought she'd enjoy a girly experience as she's so lovely and positive. So, after some reasonable googling, i selected Leonie Claire as our destination.
My knowledge of bridal shops is hardly extensive, but if i were to recommend anywhere to another bride to be, i would start with this place - the staff bent over backwards to help, were friendly and positive (which i guess you have to be if you're trying to flog mega-expensive dresses) but it never felt forced. I was smitten! They had a really great selection too, so i got a chance to try on ones i loved, ones i thought i should have a crack at, one's i was intrigued about regardless of the reality of never wearing them in a million years, and also giant-my-big-fat-gypsy-wedding abominations, which i wore for the amusement of BFL (and you know what, i can totally understand the attraction! you feel like a bajillion dollars and like an absolute princess! a princess that looks like a bit of a twat admittedly, but it makes sense at the time).
We had a couple of disasters (which i've thankfully wiped from my memory - usually when i go out shopping it just takes one shocker to ruin the day for me, but amazingly i stayed on track this day!), one absolutely stunning left-field entry (which on reflection may have been down to magic mirrors, which i'm sure they have, but i was still outwardly stunned by how i looked in a slinky number) but a surprising number of contenders - 2 very serious, and 1 which i wasn't particularly bothered about, but when the people you're with get so over-excited on your behalf, you'd be remiss not to pay attention. I left there walking on air, having had such a lovely time, with encouraging and brilliant advice from my friends, and 2-3 options to mull over for a while.
One unexpected joy of the experience was getting to see other girls try their dresses on. and they look shit. they don't really - their friends and family are doing exactly the same coo-ing noises yours are doing and everyone means it, but the other people's viewers are poor misguided fools with no taste. What, you really like that dress?! it's made of crepe paper! are you sure? My taste is so much better than yours. which inherently makes me a better person, prettier, and with a better wedding. ha! take that, person i've never met. Thank christ i don't have tourettes. I really am a terrible person.
Enough of my personality disorder. Now, do you know how long it usually takes to get a wedding dress ordered and fitted? 6 months. How long do i really have until we get married? 4 months.
Knickers.
The lady at the shop actually called me to tell me to get my skates on, which was brilliant, but also a bugger. My mum was going on holiday for 3 weeks imminently, and with a very heavy workload, it was impossible for me to take the time off work during the week to get her opinion. so i was going to have to do this alone. But then my brilliant sister rearranged her plans (again!) to come with me, and BFL said she'd come with me again to make the final decision - IT WAS ON!!!!
Yesterday was D-Day, the shop was really busy, and we entered with a sense of trepidation and a little bit of a sicky-burp. My plan of attack was to try on a few other options, just to make sure, and then run through the shortlisted 3, from least favourite to most favourite, and gauge opinion. My sister works in Fashion, and i knew she'd have a strong eye for what worked best.
and she cried when i tried on the winner. so that was that.
i don't want to describe it here in case tbj reads this (unlikely, but that's how much i want it to be a secret!) but i am completely delighted with it, and tremendously in love. More money than i'd expected, but thanks to the Candy Anthony dress, i still feel like it's a bargain! On the way home i read about New Look bridal shoes, got home, loved a pair, and bought them for £25. It was meant to be!
The whole experience has been less painful than i thought it would be. The scope for non-meringue-ness is much greater than i'd anticipated, and to a degree, i feel naive and slightly arrogant for underestimating the bridal market. My dress is more traditional in some respects than i'd planned, but also still very different to what most people would wear. so i still get to feel pretentious and superior. Which is how i should feel on my wedding day. i don't want a day like yours. i want a day like mine (so having read on freecycle today that someone else is also reusing jars in their wedding decorations made me green with rage & envy, like a jealous Hulk, and if i meet this person, i will smash them over her head! anyhoo, i'm sure mine will look loads classier and that, and not like i'm trying to be all vintage like wot everyone else is doing cos i'm such an individual and unique snowflake blahblahblah).
thinking about it, it's a bit sad that that bit is over so quickly. i could have had months and months of titting about in dress shops. but my wedding is closer than i ever dreamed, and that's totally what counts *repeats until convinced*
Now, to lose a f*ck load of weight and look like a skinny supermodel...
