Search for a Dress: Part 3

Part 1

Part 2

I was still really hoping I'd be able to find my dress at Brides Against Breast Cancer. My mom, one of my bridesmaids and I went up to Kansas City on July 31st hoping I'd find a dress and be able to donate to a cause that's very close to my heart. My grandma is my hero. She passed away December 30, 2005 after several years of fighting breast cancer. I love and miss her SO much, so I try to support the search for a cure for breast cancer whenever possible!

We were a little disappointed in the selection of dresses, but we still found a few that I thought were beautiful!

You've made it this far, hunny. You wouldn't want to ruin it now! :)

This was one of the dresses I really liked - It was nothing like any of the other dresses I'd tried on, and I loved how flattering the back was! The only problem was it was fairly low cut and a little too big in the chest area (that never happens!) It was also at the high end of our budget price wise, and that didn't include having it cleaned or alterations. I did really like it, though!

This was the other dress I liked, although it doesn't fit into our color scheme well at all. I was actually hoping I wouldn't like it for that reason. It was also at the high end of our budget and definitely would need to be cleaned - there was makeup on it in a couple places.

We tried on about 10-15 other dresses, but there were none that all of us even liked, let alone were crazy about. I was reallly disappointed that we didn't find anything and that I wasn't able to contribute to the foundation. (Although, I figured out another way to do that which I'll blog about soon!) We saw a David's Bridal across the street from the hotel where the event was held, so we decided just to go look there again, thinking maybe they'd gotten their fall line of dresses in. We walked in and I chose a few dresses similar to the style I'd tried on last time: corset back, pick ups, and some type of detailing on the top (and preferably a sweetheart neckline). Lauren, my consultant, was SO nice! We loved her!

I liked this dress a lot - I liked the shape of the skirt, and that it had more of a train than some of the other ones I had tried on. The top was just so plain. My mom had a couple ideas for embellishing it, but it was the same price as other dresses that had a lot more detail.

I thought this dress was going to be a lot more flattering on than it was. I think the gathering made me look wider, rather than slimmer.

 

And then Lauren brought us a dress that looked familiar, but we didn't think it was one I had tried on before. And I ended up absolutely loving it:

 

 

I loved this dress from the second I looked in the mirror. I didn't cry, which surprised me, but I knew I loved it - I didn't just like it or 'think it was pretty.'

So, remember this dress from my first visit?

Turns out it WAS the same one! I had a fuller slip on under it the second time, which made my mom love it and my bridesmaid that was with us loved it too! We couldn't believe it was the same dress, but it definitely is! It's amazing how much of a difference the slip makes. Even looking at the pictures again makes me confident I made the right choice, it just took awhile! I'm planning on making my own chapel length veil, so I'll be sure to blog about it!

One of the best parts about buying this dress was it was on sale for $50 off and I had another $50 off coupon from the bridal fair David and I went to the weekend before. I ended up coming in $74 under budget AND I won't need any alterations! I'm hoping to lose weight and tone before the big day, and the corset back makes that possible without having to worry about alterations. I also have a slip already that will work from one of my homecoming dresses, so I won't have to buy that either. It worked out perfectly in the end!

Did you end up going back to a dress you loved after trying on several others? How many dresses did you try on before finding the perfect one?