Dress Shopping 101

I have begun what is becoming the endless task of dress shopping. I quickly got a crash course in all things bridal attire and now know terms like rouching and pick ups and bodice. Who knew there were so many choices out there. Ok, so yes, we all knew there were tons of different styles and fabrics and details (and prices), but seeing them up close and personal is just down right daunting. There are so, so many out there, how are you to find the one?! You can’t exactly approach it like you would when finding the right guy. You can’t take it home with you, spend time with it, get a feel of it and then see if it annoys you after a little one on one time. No, instead it is like speed dating. You jump into it in front of strangers to see if it looks shiny and nice while trying to imagine taking it home to meet everyone You ask whatever questions you can think of to see if you guys will mesh, make a mental note and then move onto the next, and next, and next. And then sometimes it is like speed dating with an audience. Not only are you trying to decide if it is your style, your friends and family are there looking at you quizzically trying to decide if they like it while trying to get a hint of how you really feel about it so they don’t say the wrong thing. The bride can’t look too excited coming out for that first look because she is fearing that maybe she has horrible taste and thinks she looks like a princess when she actually looks like a lumpy marshmallow. The onlookers can’t make any snap judgments because what if the bride really likes those lace appliqués that they think look like grandma’s couch cover. The whole process is tricky and unsettling. In fact, its making me re-think the Jimmy Buffet theme of shorts and flip-flops.