Wedding Journal: May
Well this
is it - the big dress shopping expedition. My mom, dad, and brother Brian are coming
to Boston Memorial Day weekend and my mom and I are going dress shopping. I am
worried I won't find anything because I really want something simple and elegant.
Nothing too beaded or sequined or just too much - it isn't me. So I found a designer
I really liked in one of the bridal magazines, Randy Fenoli for the Diamond
Collection. I think I liked every dress I saw by him - it was shocking. So I
called the designer to see who carried his work in Boston. Actually we originally
planned for me to go to PA for dress hopping but the only stores that carry Diamond were
in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh so it didn't make much sense to go home to travel another 3
hours when my mom could just come here. So, the salons in MA that carried this
designer were Yolanda's in Waltham and Nikki in Framingham. I booked us solid that
weekend. Friday: 10:30 Yolanda's, 2:00 Priscilla of Boston, 4:00 La Reine.
Saturday: 10:00 Nikki's, 12:00 Elle Bridal. We were going to find a
dress - we just had too! I really wanted to do the dress shopping with my mom.
So we were off. My family got to my house Friday around 9 am and
we headed to my favorite local diner, Kelly's, for breakfast. Yum! And then at
10, my mom and I dropped my dad and brother at the T - they were to fend for themselves in
Boston while we shopped - and we were off to Yolanda's!
A Morning at Yolanda's: Arriving at the salon, I was a little nervous about what to expect. Yolanda's is very well known in MA and its also very pretentious and pretty cheesy. They park a huge white car out front which the bride can rent for her big shopping day (we did not do this), they have a spa, a bridal salon, and a beauty salon. But here goes nothing - so we went in. We were shown upstairs to the bridal salon. It was not what I had imagined (I don't know what I pictured though). It was pretty dark and the ceilings were low. Odd. So we sit and fill out the standard information form and then our consultant, Lucia, arrives. I showed her a few pictures of dresses that I liked and she said she had them all and would bring me those and a few other similar ones to try. I told her I wanted relatively simple and she said no problem. So far so good. So she leads us into the back which is like night and day (literally) from the front room. Although its a little cheesy, with Greek columns, everything is white and airy and there are private rooms for the bride to try the dresses on in. The room we were in was in the back with two windows - it was actually bigger and nicer than my bedroom! Before we could enter this area though, we had to take off our shoes and put on white slippers. It was all rather amusing. Then in the room I had to change and put on a robe so I could try on the dresses. In my robe and slippers I felt like I was a t a spa!
Lucia brought in about 9 dresses. And I tried them all on. She was wonderful. She told it like it is. I'm short -barely 5'2 and she was honest, saying things like, you really can't wear that style, it cuts you off, etc. She even said that about some very expensive dresses so I knew she was being honest and not trying to talk me into anything. But THE DRESS turned out to be the fourth one. We judged all the other dresses by it. And nothing compared. I am not going to describe it here because one Michael has not and will not see it before the big day, and two I want to keep it a surprise for everyone else as well. Amazingly it was one I had liked in the magazine. But she insisted I try on a few more so I absolutely knew this was THE ONE. So I tried on a few more in different styles and the 4th one was still it. So that one came back out, I put it back on, this time with heels and a veil, and that's when i hit me - I'm getting married. I looked like a stranger in the mirror - in a big white dress and long veil, a far cry from the dress up bride I used to play as a child with a white turtleneck as a veil! Wow. I started to get a little misty. My mom was doing OK though, i had thought for sure she would be crying! But this was it and we knew it.
But what about all of my other appointments? What should we do? Should we keep looking? We decided no. This was it. And plus, trying on wedding gowns is exhausting. It is a very stressful decision first of all, and then not to mention that they are heavy - very exhausting! I really didn't think I could hit two more boutiques that afternoon - what had I been thinking? Regardless of that though, I knew this dress would make me happy. While I know some people won't like it, too plain, too long, too whatever - I love it. And that was all that really mattered :-)
So in all that hub bub we forgot to take my picture in the dress! The salon rule was no pictures unless you buy it which is too bad because I really would have liked pictures of all the dresses I tried on, if for no other reason than posterity! But we had planned on taking pictures of me in THE DRESS and were so caught up we forgot. By the time I finally remembered I was very upset - I could hear my friend Therese saying "Take lots of pictures..." Oh dear. Well I guess I'll just have to take pictures at the fitting! I really was mad at myself - the pictures would have been nice to show my dad, my grandparents, Michael's parents and grandparents. Hmmph.
Once all the financials were settled, my mom and I were free for the day! I called all of our other appointments and canceled them. We had to meet my Dad, Brian and Michael at Quincy Market at 6 but other than that we were free! So we drove back to Davis Square and parked there and took the T into Boston. We got off the T at Charles street and just kind of meandered down, looking in store windows, then walked through the Public Garden (saw my mother's favorite swan boats) and headed to Legal Seafood's in the Boston Park Plaza for lunch. Unfortunately it was after 2 by this time so the main dining room was closed. It turned out alright though because we got a great seat by a window in the lounge area where we could do some great people watching. We had a very nice lunch - it was the perfect treat to top off our successful shopping morning. Thanks Mom and Dad! And then after lunch, we hit Filene's Basement hard for some more very successful shopping. All in all a very good day :-)
