Wedding Dress Hell

Wedding Barbie - perfect synthetic hair. perfect painted on makeup. perfect smooth plastic skin. PERFECT barbie white wedding dress.
Cinderella - Gorgeous shimmering ball gown
Little Mermaid - a bit eighties with the huge shoulder poofs but hey, that was her style and that made it her perfect dress
Snow White - I don't think I ever saw her in a wedding dress. She probably eloped - smart girl

Anyway, the list can go on and on. Little girls grow up dreaming about their wedding day and it is always magical, stress free, and, let's be honest, simple. There were no wedding planning woes and there was definitely no sleep lost over picking the perfect dress. It wouldn't be the first time but girls, we have been LIED to. Wedding planning is not magical and it is definitely not simple. There are budgets to deal with, vendors to choose, dates to juggle, and the worst part: if you are a jeans and sweatshirt wearing casual attire bride like me, wedding dress shopping proves to be more of a stressful challenge than you could have ever imagined.

I knew that it would be difficult planning a wedding when none of the key players lived in the same area. I thought the difficulty would be due to my fiance living in WA but, after reading a groom's guide that my mother bought for him, he is the most easy going piece in this puzzle.

No, by far the hardest part of the wedding planning process is proving to be picking the perfect wedding dress. Heck, let's throw out the word perfect. I am not sure such a thing exists. I have tried on a multitude of gorgeous gowns and feel like a princess in all of them but still, I have not been able to settle on a single gown that I want to walk down the aisle in. Who knew that I would have to take venue into consideration?

Anyone who knows me, understands that I would be completely unable to pick out the perfect dress on my own. If I were left to my own devices I would end up being one of those brides who people quietly ask each other "who let her walk out looking like that, didn't her friends tell her she looks awful?" No, it is crucial that my mom be there (as she is making the dress) and I have the support of friends confirming that the dress I pick does not look like a burlap sack on my rectangular body. This means that dress shopping is an expensive and time consuming experience. I have to take time off work and school to fly to L.A. so that my mom can be there. Or she has to take time off work to fly to San Francisco. We have made the trips twice and still, no dress. Third time has to be the charm. I fly down on Labor Day Weekend for our final wedding dress venture.

To be honest, I thought I had found the "perfect" dress. I saw in on a television show and fell in love. I immediately grabbed my laptop and when searching for this gown that had a little bit of elegance but a fun flirty flare. When I found it, I could envision what it would look like on my wedding day but then I hit the inevitable snag. I sadly realized that it would not look right because of the shoes I would have to wear due to our ceremony taking place on grass would not go with the gown. You may be asking what do shoes have to do with it but, trust me, they played a significant role in why this dress looked amazing.

Then there was the dress that I thought we had agreed upon only to run into a snag of not being able to find it anywhere as it was a year old design.

DO I want to feel sexy or do I want to feel flirty? Is the feeling more elegant or casual? Strapless or spaghetti straps? The questions go on and on and when you don't have clear answers, the stress lines grow deeper.

No wonder Mike is loving the "groom's guide" advice that says "sit back, show up, and look pretty." Sounds pretty good to me right now.

Mom, in advance, I apologize for any additional stress I may cause you in this process. It is definitely going to be a crazy ride.