I said YES to the dress!

You read that correctly - I said YES to the dress!! It has actually been three months since that day but I still wanted to share the details and a few pictures. While this isn't a creative challenge, per se, it has clearly been a challenge for me to get these posted, so I'm rolling with it!

I was in Denver for 10 days in the beginning of June for two bachelorette parties. During the week between the parties I planned a day of dress shopping with as many of my favorite ladies that were available (others were greatly missed!).

We started off with lunch and bubbly beverages at Vita in the Lower Highlands.  Cheers! It was good to hydrate and fuel-up before trying on dresses because, yowsa it's a lot of work!

{L to R: Chels, Sarah, Kaci, Me, Crystal, Jess. Layna taking pic!}

After lunch we walked around the corner and up the stairs to the sweetest bridal boutique in Denver - Anna Be. I was so happy to start my dress shopping here because it is so charming; great space (hardwood floors, plush rugs, exposed brick walls and floor to ceiling mirrors with good natural lighting), beautiful selection of dresses and helpful, accommodating staff. 

After admiring all the dresses and securing our glasses of champagne, we got down to business. The gentleman who helped us allowed each lady to choose a dress for me to try on, which was so much fun! This gave me a wide range of possibilities, especially since I did not really know what I wanted.


I went into the whole dress shopping experience with a very open minded. I looked at magazines and online but did not obsess. I had ideas of what I liked, but knew from experience with other friends it's best to be open minded. Going into the day I thought I knew what I would not like, but you know what? Those two details are part of what I ended up with and I could not be happier!!

Back to shopping...I tried on a lot of pretty dress...

With each dress I got to model them for the ladies. Layna kindly documented the day so I could look back at all of the photos later. It was so fun to try on an array of dresses and get the immediate feedback.

I quickly realized what I liked and did not like. No surprise, my favorite part of every dress I tried on were the details!! Here are a few snapshots of what I'm referring too...

{click to enlarge}

So lovely!  

After getting a better idea of the styles that looked the best, our helper grabbed me a few more dresses. The top two at the end of the day were two he'd picked out for me. Clearly a trained professional! Before we left, he sketched pictures of those two dresses for me to keep.

I also tried on some fun accessories. Shown below is hair vine by Sara Gabriel. It might be hard to tell from the photo, but it is two flower clips connected by a 'vine'. You clip one flower to your hair and wrap the vine around like a headband. Then clip the second flower wherever you like. It was so neat! I don't think I'm going to do this for the wedding, but I really liked the idea!

After Anna Be we made a pit stop for ice cream and then headed on to the next dress shop, D'Anelli Bridal. This shop is randomly a mile from where I grew up and also where several of my friends found their dresses. I went into the shop having a good idea of what I wanted. I was delighted to see one of my "top two"from Anna Be on a mannequin. I was thrilled to then find out all the sample dresses were 25-75% off. I tried on a handful of dresses leaving my top choice for last. 


When I put the dress on again, I still loved it and so did the ladies and my mom. When I found out the price (75% off) and that it was my size, I could not say no! It also happened to be B and my 4 years anniversary and one year from when we wanted to get married. Since we couldn't do that date for our wedding, I thought I could at least buy my dress. So I DID IT, I said YES to the dress! The best part was that I got to take it home that day, since it was a sample dress.

I am still kind of surprised at my impulse purchase, but I am so happy I did!!! After the big purchase we went out for a drink to celebrate.

After the holidays I will start the alterations process. For now it hangs in the closet at my mom's house. Every time I've gone home I unzip the bag to look at it! I've only taken it out and put it on once...so far :) 

Over the summer I had the opportunity to try on a 50 year old family wedding dress. This dress was worn by my mom's second cousin, her two daughters and daughter-in-law and my aunt. It's been altered for each woman and their name and wedding date embroidered inside. I feel so lucky to have tried on such a piece of family history!

 ~

Engaged? Check!

Photographer? Check!

Venue? Check!

Engagement photos? Check!

Popping the other question (bridesmaids)? Check!

Wedding dress? CHECK!

283 days and lots of details to go!!