I Said Yes (to the Dress)

Well - it's Thanksgiving Week! Also - I have a wedding dress. *screams with joy and wild abandon* I'm not excited about it or anything... ha-ha! Yet again the weekend passed in a blink - I think that would be the theme for the entire month of November - it has flown by!

Friday night after work Ryan and I ended up running errands and putting together a last minute Christmas gift (or two) before getting dinner at Longhorn and then heading home. I'm not sure quite what was bothering me but I felt out of sorts (emotionally) all evening - thankfully my sweet fiancé is always so wonderful at cheering me up and kept me smiling! He was also smiling, especially when we arrived home and he saw the addition to the mantle for him! 

Saturday morning arrived bright and early - my parents and I headed out from the house around 7:40 to make our way to Lynchburg, Virginia to begin shopping for a wedding dress! The drive to Lynchburg was pretty uneventful and we ended up arriving with some time to spare for a stop to grab my Dad a sausage biscuit and some additional coffee too! We arrived at Ashley Grace Bridal at 10:50 for our 11:00 appointment and the fun began!

 

The entire staff was beyond amazing - so friendly and personable - the whole experience was incredibly special and I enjoyed every moment! My consultant was so kind as she escorted me around the store, asking me questions about what I was looking for... how I was hoping my wedding day would go... and asking questions about Ryan and I. She selected dress after dress... and I selected one dress... and we took them all back to the gigantic fitting room and the process began!

Originally two of my bridesmaids were going to tag along but illness got in the way of that - so I ended up taking my parents and I had my little sister (who is also my Maid of Honor) and my future Mother-in-Law joining via Face Time. They made for a hilarious and opinionated group and some of their reactions were priceless! I tried on all sorts of dresses but there was one dress - when I put it on - the reaction from everyone was pretty much the same reaction I was having in my heart. The dress was absolutely not what I'd thought I'd choose... but oh man - it was exactly what I wanted once I had it on.

Please look at my parents holding on to my sister (on the tablet) and my future MIL (on my phone) so they could share in the moment! So precious! I didn't immediately say "yes" even though I was 99.99% sure that it was "THE DRESS". We had another appointment at 2:30 and since I only intend to look for wedding dresses once - I wanted to take full advantage. We headed into downtown Lynchburg, had lunch at the Depot Grille and then went to Church Street Bridal - and we were only there for twenty minutes before I announced that I was done because I knew my dress and it was at the other store.

We called to tell them we were returning to say "yes to the dress" and they said they'd be ready for us at 4:00 - so we perused Hobby Lobby for a wee bit before heading back to Ashley Grace Bridal, where my dress was displayed prominently by the mirror, I had a champagne toast, an Ashley Grace Bridal t-shirt and got to take pictures with the "I Said Yes" sign! It was so fun - they took measurements and placed the order for MY dress and we all had a little celebration before we headed home! 

The drive home was uneventful and I was more than happy to take a nice bubble bath and then crawl into bed - so splendid. Sunday morning we headed for church, then grabbed some Popeye's and drove by two potential homes that Ryan and I are looking before heading home for a lazy(ish) afternoon. We watched a little football and I ended up wrapping the entirety of the gifts that Ryan and I have purchased for Christmas. We are completely done shopping for Christmas and now everything is wrapped for Christmas - so we can just sit back and enjoy the season!

It was such a fast weekend but a wonderful weekend too. I cannot believe I have a wedding dress - it still seems a little surreal and I keep looking at the pictures on my phone, ha-ha! I also can't believe on Thursday I'll be eating turkey with my love, my family and my future family in Charleston! Whoosh!