The pressure's off

I read an interesting statistic about wedding gowns (yes, it's come to that). According to The Wedding Network, the average bride tries on at least 14 wedding dresses before finding “The Dress”. She starts bridal shopping 7 months before the big day and changes her mind on the dress 3 times.

So how do I compare? Well let's see, I lost count after 22....I started my bridal shopping nearly 15 months before the big day. And I've changed my mind about 99 times.

You'll remember from previous posts that I had narrowed the decision down to 2 dresses. But to be honest with you I wasn't super excited about either of them. The reason I felt like I had to make a decision was because the price on dress #1 is going up August 31, so if I'm going to buy it, I need to buy it in the next week or so. Dress #2 is ready for purchase now and won't be held for me past this weekend.

I was really feeling pressured to make a decision - one that I wasn't ready for. For one, although I'm very keen on finding bargains and loved the idea of getting a "deal", I don't think I should bargain shop here just for the sake of saving a couple hundred bucks. I need to LOVE my dress. I need to see myself walking down the aisle in it long before the assistant gets it zipped up (in most cases, clamped and pinned because frankly there is no chance of getting a size 8 dress zipped up with my boobs.) And although I loved the prices, I didn't love the dresses. I want to LOVE my dress. Actually, I want to have that feeling of "I need" this dress.

More importantly, my mom isn't scheduled to come visit until September, and if I make my decision now without her being there, well...it sort of defeats all that mother/daughter bonding I was looking forward to.

So I took the pressure off. And I went back to all my dream stores to try on the dresses I really liked again, regardless of price, attitude or all the other issues I've been processing. I am so so so glad I did. One of the places I went to I tried on the dress again and thought "okay, this is nice, but SO not nice as the first dress" There problem solved...I can rule them out as potential dresses. What a relief!!

The other place I went to I tried on the dress I liked (actually the FIRST dress in Philly I ever tried on and loved. And all I thought was.... "I can't wait for my mom to see this."

Bingo.

So no more dress talk until October...I don't want to jinx my vibe here until my mom gets into town. But don't worry, we still have lots to talk about for the next few weeks - bridesmaid dresses, wedding rings, and oh yes...HONEYMOON!