Here Comes the Bride!

It's amazing how finding your wedding dress suddenly makes a looming wedding seem real. Staring at your gorgeous engagement ring while flipping through bridal magazines is fun but until you step into that white dress and see yourself in the mirror for the first time, you're not quite a bride.

We made our first trek out with Lindsey this weekend to shop for wedding dresses. And, I must say, it was a smashing success. We did find the tear inducing, "I'm really getting married" dress. But we also found bridesmaids dresses that four bridesmaids with very different body types could agree on.

Trying on dresses with my baby sister was fun. Seeing her dressed up in her bridal undergarments reminded me of a picture my mom took of me, sitting on the floor of the dressing room with my bustier and crinoline underskirt on waiting for the next round of dresses to hit the door. Lindsey was pretty specific about what she wanted. Simple, not too poufy, and obviously gorgeous. She accomplished every one of those requirements and then some.

We went into dress shopping with clear minds and a stack of print outs from the Internet of things she wanted to try on. We gave that to the sales associate and waited for her to bring what Lindsey had asked for. The dresses started making their way into the dressing room but none of them looked like what Lindsey had asked for. There were several ornate, and very heavy styles that only took 1 second in front of the mirror to know they were just the wrong dress.

Then the sales associate brought in a dress that we knew for sure was crap. Lindsey and I looked at each other like, what the hell is that? Lindsey actually asked, "why the fuck does this lady keep bringing me all these ugly dresses?". It was long and heavy looking and had a long sleeve lace bolero jacket that went with it, definitely not the style she was looking for. But, we decided we'd have a little fun with my mom and the other bridesmaids sitting outside the dressing room door. We came up with a plan that Lindsey would put on this wreck of a dress and walk out exclaiming that she loved it. She loved the jacket and would say she felt like Princess Diana. She walked out of the dressing room laughing and the looks on all of their faces was priceless. Then she took off the jacket, and the look on her face was priceless. This dress that looked crazy on the hanger looked gorgeous on her. We knew right then that this was THE DRESS.

We got Lindsey up on the platform and added a few key accessories. We added a brown sash around her waist and a beautiful broach and topped it off with the key accessory for the bride-to-be, a veil. That's when the waterworks started. Lindsey broke down in tears seeing herself in the dress she'll be married in. Then my mom broke down in tears, then Becky, then the other bridesmaids. That was it, the dress had been chosen by the tears.

Now that we have a dress and Lindsey is "officially" a bride-to-be the wedding planning is full steam ahead. We're in full-on party planning mode. My mom and I are meeting the caterer this week and we're starting to plan flowers and linens and cakes (oh my!). It's going to be a long 9 months but I know the end result will be worth it. Seeing Lindsey walk down the aisle in that gorgeous dress will be the highlight of all our hard work. And I can't wait!