Dress update

The last time I wrote on here, I was attempting to go to David's Bridal. I made the appointment for a Monday and we finally made it inside. =) So, third time of making the appointment WAS a charm. ha ha. My sister-in-law, my cousin and my mom accompanied me to DB at 8 in the evening on a Monday night. Weren't they sweet?

A few days prior to my appointment, I went on DB to look at dresses that I might possibly like. I searched for "lace" and "bead". I kept looking at one dress in particular: T9612. I read the reviews and knew how much people liked it. I also liked the simplicity of it as well. So, I knew I had to try on that one for sure. I called to make sure that the store I was going to did have the dress in the size I needed. And they did. So, on we go on our appointment.

As soon as we stepped in the door, there the dress was! T9612! I didn't know it was that dress when I saw it at first. I said, wow, it's really pretty! And then I looked at the tag and that was the dress!! So, of course that was the first dress I tried on. It was very pretty. I liked it a lot! But I couldn't settle on the first DB dress. I asked my consultant (Camie) that our wedding was going to be in Hawaii and that I'm looking for simple but elegant gown. Camie was really good because she actually listened to me!!! I tried on a few more dresses and decided that at David's Bridal, T9612 was the dress for me!! The dress that I tried on was ivory but my mom thought it was "dingy" looking cuz it wasn't white. And because I'm so indecisive, I didn't buy the dress then. I tried on two different sizes since both didn't fit me right -- size X fitted me everywhere but near the waist area, it needed to be brought up. But size XX fitted me right near the waist area but the hip area was a bit big. Camie thought I should get size XX but my mom thought it'd be better to get size X. Hm...so I told Camie, I had to think about it. I'm still not sure which size I should pick to this day.

That's me with T9612!

So, the dress was on sale that day. According to Camie, she said that if I buy the dress then, it'd be $699. That's $100 off from the original price of $799. But add tax, and alteration fees and I'm thinking it'd be at least $1100. But here's the thing: I can't imagine spending so much money on a dress that I'll just be wearing for a few hours. I still am at awe at women who spend thousands of dollars on a wedding dress. Where do you get the money? Or is it just me being a "thrifter"? I still made an appointment with Camie to go see her the following Thursday BUT I haven't been back yet.

As soon as I got home, I went to weddingbee and posted an ad to say I wanted that dress. Then this girl contacted me and said that she was looking for the same dress. I found out that girl and I are almost identical in our measurements. I was thinking...wow..score!! We can share the same dress. We emailed back and forth and decided to share the dress. So, I was really excited, thinking that I get to wear the dress I liked AND stay within my budget. I was so excited that I even told my dad and my mom about it during one of our Friday dinners. And my cousins thought I was being a cheapo. ha ha ha. But guess what happened? The plan didn't work out. That Saturday, she tried on the T9612 dress and then tried on another dress. She fell in love with another dress! Bummer! But hey..it just wasn't meant to be, right? She felt really bad but I told her that she should go for her dream dress and not to worry about me.

Another week later, on Wednesday after school, I went to Papers and Petals store in Burlingame with my lovely entourage to try on a few more dresses. Guess who else came with me that day? My lovely niece. She was so sweet. She stayed with me in the dressing room as I was trying on dresses so that she can help me zip the zippers. So sweet.

The thing I didn't like about my experience there was when their sample dresses are street size 2! Um...thanks for the compliment but I'm NO WHERE near size 2. ha ha. After trying on a few more dresses, I narrowed it down to two dresses: 1. simple and elegant with lots of silk lace in a sheath shape and 2. longer train with polyester satin but has lots of details. The prices for each dress? For dress 1: $2400! For dress 2: $1400! I couldn't decide! I told the consultant that I have to come back the following Wednesday after I make my decision. She said that because these dresses take about 4 months to order, I should make an appointment to come back very soon. She suggested to come back on Friday. I said, alright. So, i got an appointment at P&P at 2 p.m. on that Friday. I assumed that if I look at the pictures that were taken by my cousin, then I can make up my mind. Did I? NOPE! I really love that dress #1 but dress #2 was so pretty in the pictures because of the sparkles and such. I know I know. I thought you didn't want to spend more than $500 on a dress? Well, I don't! That's why I knew I wouldn't go back there to buy the dress.

dress 1 -- front and back

dress 2 -- the consultant was nice enough to turn down the lights so that I can see the sparkles!

The whole time I was trying on my dresses, I was thinking that only if I can have it made. I even went to a dressmaker near my house with the pictures of the dresses I liked. Guess what her quote was for me? $2,000!!! You read right! TWO THOUSANDS! And that doesn't even include the material fees. It's all for labor. OUCH!!

So, my alternative? JeffLiu8800 on ebay! I sent him pictures of the dress I liked, which I never tried on in any of my dress shopping trips. His price was more friendlier to my budget then any alternatives. Of course, Mr.JB didn't like that idea! He said what if the dress doesn't look good? What's your alternatives? Do you have a back up plan? What about the money? Ah...sometimes Mr. JB has too many good questions. I said, well, if it doesn't work out then it doesn't work out. But I would hate to miss out wearing a dress I liked because I didn't even try. My backup plan? Well, J-Crew, of course!

I gave my measurements to JeffLiu8800 on Friday and asked him for pictures of the lace he'll be using on my dress. Of course, the original gown has silk underlining but this one will have satin. it's okay, right? No big deal. Nobody's going to come up to me and lift my skirt to say, "oh you have satin, huh?" ha ha.

I shall keep you updated as soon as I get my dress. It's going to be about 4 weeks until I get it.