Dress Debacle

Every Brides Nightmare!

I think it is safe to say that wedding dress shopping is complicated.

I would assume that for most women, wearing a white dress is important and special on that day, but also can turn you into a hideously unattractive blob. It's a odd combination of both a sense of pride and duty to be the bride in this amazing dress, but also to try and not let ourselves just go crazy with insecurities. This, this is much harder than it seems.

I remember the first time I put on the elusive "white dress". I went dress shopping with my parents and sister in Winnipeg (not the greatest place for fashion, might I add), but I wanted the first time to be at least a little memorable and special. We arrived at this boutique off of a main street downtown and I walked through the doors. I had some idea of what I thought I wanted in a dress, what sort of styling and fabric, but all I saw was a sea of white. It's what I imagine our teeth feel like as we cram a gooey, toasted marshmallow in on our mouth.  Just absolutely consumed by white. 

A lovely older woman greeted us, and started asking the standard questions like, "tell me about your groom" and "where is the wedding?" I knew the next question was coming as I was still trying to figure out how to answer: "How do you want to look on your wedding day?"

I struggled to answer for a moment or two, then just blurted out, "not like a horrific, white blob." The consultant laughed and said she would do her absolute best to make me a beautiful bride. I wasn't too convinced that this point, but I let her start pulling different styles and waited nervously in the dressing room.

After what felt like forever (it was 5 minutes, I checked), the woman returned and told me that she brought a variety of shapes and styles to help me get a sense of what I liked and disliked. I already knew that I wasn't going to be a "cupcake" or "princess" bride, nevertheless, I slipped into a ruffled tulle ballgown to start with. As she laced up the back, I stared at myself in the mirror. To put my skin tone in perspective, my nickname in school was Snow White, due to my dark hair and very pale skin. Standing there, strapped into this large puffy dress, I was hideous. Honestly, it was more funny than tragic. I waltzed out of the dressing room cooing to my family that I had found the perfect dress. My family erupted into laughter and recommended that I keep looking. With humour, I'm glad to say that I stuck through quite a few more disaster dresses before I started to understand what I really wanted. 

'Emma' by Maggie Sottero

 I didn't leave that store with a dress; luckily, I wasn't expecting to. Rather, I wanted to get that initial shock over with and to have some fun with my family. Once we returned to Calgary, the real shopping began.

 To be a little more on the serious side, wedding dress shopping isn't as fun as it's made out to be (i.e. TV Shows like TLC's Say Yes to the Dress). At least, it wasn't for me. I'm not a large girl but I have my own body hang ups, like not having a long neck and being larger busted. These two don't blend well together. However, I would recommend to those girls out there worried about looking like a blob, or even just not beautiful, that there will be a dress for you. You just have to have the patience and humour to find it. 

 It was not without heartache, and frankly a few tears, that I found my dress. Even now, I have my doubts. It's hard to imagine what your dress will look like on you in the perfect size, the right colour and with alterations. I'm having to believe that when I put that dress on the day of, that I will be the beautiful bride that the consultants assured me that I would be. 

I'm looking forward to finally seeing my dress when it arrives in November. Until then, my mom continues to remind me that as long as I have the man who loves me standing beside me, it won't matter what dress I'm wearing. To him, I am perfect.