Dress hunting

My little sister & MOH had arranged to spend June 2009 with us, which turned out great! I was just starting to think seriously about wedding planning and she was nearby to help. Having her here, my numero uno priority was dress hunting. I didn't really have anyone else in mind to go shopping with... so... I decided I would have a dress by the time she left! (I didn't have a date or a venue yet, btw.)

I had gone out and bought a stack of bridal magazines and very quickly, Mr. SB told me he wanted to look through them with me to pick out a style of dress. I was surprised, ok shocked, by this request but eagerly agreed. We quickly fell into a pattern.

Mr. SB: "Hideous. No. So-so. No. Ugly. Ok. Hate the sparkle."
Me: "OMG. I am so stressed out now! You are going to hate my dress!!"
Mr. SB: "I won't hate it if you don't pick an ugly one."

I was pretty stressed about this, but we did share a similar esthetic: strapless, not too much embellishments, relatively simple, but with some interesting components. With these guidelines (read: rules) established, MOH and I headed to a few bridal salons in San Francisco. (PS. At that time, I had a broken right hand with a sexy splint. All my photos have my R hand strategically positioned behind my back. You can see it in the pic with the column dress.)

At the first two salons, I narrowed my choices down to a favorite at each place that was within my budget. (Another aside: "Hey, Mr. SB, how much should I budget for my dress? $XX" "The dress is the most important part of the day: double that." Ok, pressure again to not pick an "ugly one"!) They were *everything I was looking for* but there was no zing. I'm not a super romantic, I didn't need the feeling of THE ONE, but I really wasn't feeling it. And my sister only had a week or so left in SF with me. Sooo... onto another place.

The place was small and crowded, the lady was quite a salesman, but you know what? I loved two of the dresses. One was more modern, one more classic. Both fit beautifully and will need minimal alterations and were within Mr. SB's price.

I bought one. (!!)

I can't believe it either. I had been looking for about two weeks, didn't go home and price shop. I just bought it. And I love it. I won't post me in the dress here... because I don't want Mr. SB to stumble across it. But it's great (and similar-ish to the second picture) and I can't waitttt to wear it!



Did your dress purchase feel like an impulse buy or were you more responsible??