Wedding Wednesday - Say Yes to the Dress

It’s Wednesday and I’ve got quite the post for you today! It’s the “big” post – finding the dress for the big day! So let’s get this one underway why don’t we?

I did quite a bit of dress research through The Knot which has honestly been a wealth of information. I found our first wedding dress boutique through The Knot – Ashley Grace Bridal, located in Lynchburg, VA. Our second wedding dress boutique – Church Street Bridal, also located in Lynchburg, VA was a shop we’d learned about when touring Rosemont as a potential wedding location. Church Street provides dresses at a reduced cost from places like Kleinfeld’s. The dresses are from previous “seasons” and so a dress that was originally $14,000 (that makes my eyes water & my throat go dry) sells for less than $800. We figured it was worth a peek.

The original plan was for my friends Meridith & Danielle to tag along with my Mom to the wedding dress boutiques for the day, but Danielle ended up having a COVID scare, so the group that went ended up being my parents and me. I’m sure that some people might have been upset by this but truly – there are so many people who have had much bigger things derailed due to COVID, so I wasn’t going to let this bring me down. We made the almost three-hour drive to Lynchburg and after a quick bathroom stop, we arrived at the first boutique: Ashley Grace Bridal!

I was so surprised to see my name on the sign outside the boutique and when we went in, everyone was so friendly. I think I was – internally – immediately overwhelmed in the best way possible. White and cream, lace, ribbons, sparkle, and sequins and stitching and so much more, all around me – it was amazing! This was a moment I had imagined for so long and it was actually happening – I tried to be mindful to take it all in. We were greeted and introduced to our consultant who escorted us to our gigantic fitting room and seated my parents and I on plush couches. We face-timed my sister Lindsey (my Maid of Honor) and my Mother-in-Law to be and set them up for the dress process… and we were off!

I walked the store with my consultant (and y’all – I do not remember her name, but she was THE BEST, absolutely the most incredible). We discussed what I was interested in, and she selected dresses similar to the style I’d mentioned and also selected some dresses she thought would look great on me. I cannot say enough about what an amazing experience it was – everyone was so kind, truly complimentary and so very helpful. We ended up taking about ten dresses into the gigantic dressing room and we disappeared behind the curtains to begin trying on dresses!

It was the most fascinating experience! My consultant deduced that I didn’t have any children because I was a bit shyer about getting undressed behind the curtains – she said women with children were much “freer” and that cracked me up! As I tried on dresses, she had me tell her all about my fiancé Ryan, how long we’d been dating and our proposal. Some of the dresses were immediately a big “NO” and some were a maybe… and what I’d been told by so many people rang true: the dress I imagined I’d get wasn’t what I ended up with. Our wedding is in November, and I thought a dress with sleeves would amazing… and then I tried one on and hated it, ha-ha!

I tried on one dress – and this one dress, was “the one”… it’s quite true; or at least it was for me, when I put it on I just felt different somehow. I think everyone could tell that I was feeling a certain way about this dress, and everyone was feeling the same way about it. It was definitely special and since I was thinking it could be the one, they placed a veil on me, placed my headpiece on with it and had me go up front to look at myself in the three-way mirror. I’d done this in some of the other dresses – the mirror that is – but with everything put together, I was 99.99% sure that this was “MY” dress. I knew we had an additional appointment at Church Street Bridal, so we agreed that if I was sure it was the one – I could come back at 3:00 to “say yes” to the dress.

We popped into Church Street Bridal after having lunch in downtown Lynchburg and the feeling was immediately very different. They had very few dresses to choose from and we quickly discovered that while an $8,000 dress might be on sale for $500, it was sold as is – and that meant that if the entire back was ripped out (like one I tried on) then you bought it that way and it was up to you to fix it. Everyone was friendly and I’m sure they’ve helped plenty people find their dream dress, but I just wasn’t impressed and the memory of “my dress” was still in my head – so I thanked them and told my parents I knew my dress and it was back at Ashley Grace Bridal. We called them back and told them we’d be returning at 3:00 – and then we perused Hobby Lobby until it was time to go say “YES”.

When we arrived back at Ashley Grace, they escorted us to our dressing room where my dress was displayed in front of the mirror and there were glasses of sparkling cider and a t-shirt that said, “I’m an Ashley Grace Bride”. I put the dress back on – yep, definitely the one! Everyone in the store cheered and we toasted and then it was down to business – taking my measurements so they could order my dress! I got to take a picture with the sign that says, “I Said Yes” and it was just the most wonderful, supportive experience! I can’t say enough about how kind and wonderful everyone at Ashley Grace Bridal was during my appointment (and when we returned to pick up the dress).

The whole experience was so wonderful! I laughed because I went to two shops and ended up finding my dress at the very first shop – so I definitely didn’t try on hundreds of dresses – but I suppose (much like when I met my fiancé) – when you know, you know! I’m so glad I stumbled upon Ashley Grace Bridal on The Knot and was able to find my dress at their shop! Everything about the experience was wonderful and it’s a memory I’ll hold in my heart forever!