Saying YES to the Dress & What I Learned

I was surprised to find that shopping for THE wedding dress, was harder than I thought. I thought it would be a super fast, easy decision for me, but it took me 3 shops and at least 20 dresses to try on. I was both underwhelmed and overwhelmed, resulting in feeling like I was stonewalling my own emotions. It wasn’t that I didn’t feel beautiful, it was just missing a huge wow factor in combination with feeling like myself but better. But finally, I felt what I was looking for. I was moved with a magical feeling of “this is the one” and didn’t look back. 

So here is my experience at 3 different bridal boutiques in San Diego, CA. I’ll also share what I found helpful to bring and how to prepare.

First up was LUV Bridal in Linda Vista, San Diego.

To learn more about LUV Bridal, view the website here.

I had the pleasure of having Sidney as my stylist. She was very sweet and pulled some beautiful dresses. Although I knew I was dead set on an Aline or a Ball Gown style, I really appreciated Sidney taking the time to walk me through the dress racks and allow me to pick which details I like about the dresses. I think this is why every dress she pulled was stunning and I loved them all. But at last, we had another bridal boutique to go to right after, so I knew I wasn’t prepared to say yes to the dress.

Quick note: one con about this stop, is there isn’t any privacy when showing your guests your dress and seeing it in the big mirror.

Second stop was Here Comes the Bride in Mission Valley, San Diego.

To learn more about HCTB, view website here.

I had the pleasure of having Val as my stylist. She was so great at getting me to step outside my comfort zone and reminded me to embody how I was feeling in each dress. This helped me make decisions quicker on whether or not I liked a dress or if it didn’t stand up to a previous contender. She had so much patience and even allowed my bridesmaids to pick out a couple of dresses they wanted to see me in. Val always had the right amount of input to give and I really appreciated her opinion.

I ended up really loving a dress at Here Come the Bride, and even got to strut around the store and “Say Yes”, BUT I felt that I needed to sleep on it and come to a decision then.

I got home and looked at myself in all of the dresses that I adored, and was excited to make a choice in the morning.

That night I slept terribly. My mind wouldn’t shut off and I actually didn’t come to a clear decision when I woke up. I looked back at the photos again and was expecting to have a clear choice and as much as I was trying to talk myself into a dress I knew I looked and felt beautiful in, something was off and I felt like I needed to go try out some options that I didn’t get a chance to explore. 

Quick note: Two adorable loving cats live here! If you are allergic or don’t like cats maybe skip this one or mention that to your stylist.

My unexpectedly final stop that afternoon was David’s Bridal in Mission Valley, San Diego.

To learn more about David’s Bridal, view website here.

Katherine was my stylist, and she was a saint. She spent her afternoon basically helping me find the one, but I knew halfway in, that all the other options were out and we were on to something. Ultimately, the one that Katherine picked out was The One. She even made me realize that a veil was the way to go, when before I was dead set on not having one. 

Quick note: This place is huge and there are shoes, accessories, and even gifts and tons of other wardrobe options!

Here, are some things I thought were very helpful to prepare in advance, and to bring to the appointment:

-style your hair in curls and bring a hair clip. I know I will be wearing my hair up but most people usually style their hair around the dress, so do bring a clip to see your hair half up and up to see the vision start to come together.

-do wear nude or white undergarments. If you already have your shapewear, wear that.

-bring a heel height you plan on wearing. At the first 2 shops I didn’t wear heels but at David’s bridal Katherine recommended it, especially because I was walking around there more.

-if you plan to have a spray tan, get one two days before your appointment. 

Some helpful questions to ask at the appointment:

-ask for a petticoat if you are trying on an A-line or Ballgown dress and want the look of more volume. Katherine did that for me at David’s Bridal, and it really helped me envision myself on the day of. 

-ask to see if they have another fabric color to temporarily line the dress so you can see how it looks. Val did that for me at Here Comes the Bride and it really helped me envision the color I would actually choose for the Day Of.

-if you are trying on strapless or spaghetti strap dresses, ask to try on some sleeve options. This can dramatically change the dress style, and could be the one that way!

To close this blog post out, here is an ode to all the other dresses that were so beautiful but were not chosen:

To all the wedding dresses I loved, I’m sorry. My choice wasn’t easy and I know I strung some of you along. What we had was so great, but ultimately one stole my heart. I loved you all in different ways, and some of you even showed me the infinite possibilities of a new wedding theme but I had another fantasy call. 

xoxo Chelsea