The Veil

So after settling in to our temporary home (the fiance's parents' house) I was finally able to get back to work on the wedding planning.

The first thing I did was order my veil (yesterday).  I will need it when I go to do my hair trial, so I wanted to order that now in case it took a while to get in.  And it's a good thing that I did too!  If they're warehouse has it in stock it will be here within the next week and a half.  Otherwise, they have to order it and it won't be here until late May or early June.

The grand total:  $150.  When I called and asked they quoted me $180, but I had found it in Michigan for $150 and brought that to their attention.  They immediately offered to sell it to me for the $150, so that was a nice bonus.

Also, I will make sure to post some pictures on here when it comes in.  The only picture that anyone can seem to find of the veil is the one below from the Alfred Angelo site, which isn't the best quality.  It's hard to tell from the picture, but the detailing along the edge of the veil matches the detailing in the gown.

Veiled

So since I had my dress, the next step was the veil.  Here is a picture of my dress with the matching veil!

It's hard to tell, but the beading on the veil matches the details in the dress.  So of course, I definitely want it! Before committing though, I wanted to get an idea on cost.  Yesterday I called up the Alfred Angelo store that I had visited before (read about that disaster here).  Though they had screwed up before, I figured that they really wasn't anyway to mess up with this.  All they had to do was go onto the computer and give me a price.  

After being put on hold for almost minutes, the sales woman came back on the line  to tell me that they didn't sell that veil.  I explained that I was sure they sold it because I had tried it on there before (that picture above was taken there).  She apparently had typed in the wrong number.

Take 2.  And so I was put on hold for at least another 5 minutes.  After getting back on the line, the sales woman told me they sometimes sell that veil but they don't right now, so she can't give me a price.  I told her I wanted to buy it but I needed to know the price first.  She then put me on hold again.  Finally, she told me that the probably cost about $150 dollars, but she wasn't sure.  She said to call back tomorrow to confirm.

Fast forward to today.  I called back to Alfred Angelo and asked again for the price of veil.  After being put on hold again for a while, a new saleswoman got back to me.  She then told me that they couldn't tell me the price of the veil over the phone - it was company policy.  I then explained that I had just called yesterday and was given a price, but I just wanted to confirm it.   She responded only by saying, "well its a fairly new policy.  Is there anything else that I can help you with then?"  As politely as I possibly could at this point,  I said no thanks and that was that.  

CHA-CHING

So, I finally made the decision on the dress.  I am buying the one that I found online from preownedweddingdresses.com.  The dress itself is only going to cost me $800 (literally half of the original price).  I am so excited about this great deal!

AND I am ecstatic about the corset back.  If you recall my previous post about this dress, I was worried that it had a corset back because I had only tried on the dress with the zipper back.  However, I was able to find someone that had tried the dress on with the corset back and they sent me the picture below.

I LOVE the corset back, I think it just adds the the "princess-y" feel of the dress.  I can't wait to get my dress and try it on.



And now that I have a dress with a corset back, I MUST have this picture of the rings on the day of the wedding.  I saw it before, but completely discounted it because I had no plans of getting a dress with a corset back. I am so glad that I changed my mind.  :-)

Dress Disaster

As I talked about here, I have already found THE dress.  However, I found it while I was  home in Maryland for my engagement party, but I plan to buy it here in Michigan.  THE dress is part of Alfred Angelo's Disney Fairytale collection (Belle's dress).

So I called Alfred Angelo's a few days ago and basically told them that I knew what dress I wanted and was planning on coming in to try it on one more time/figure out all of the logistics of ordering.  They set me up with an appointment earlier today.

After an hour drive I arrived at their store.  I wasn't greeted for at least 5 minutes even though I was the only customer in the store (they had recently opened for the day) and the sales women was only a few feet away from me.  Finally, after introducing herself, she went over to the computer to check me in.

Apparently, I wasn't in the system for my appointment.  I explained that when I had called to make the appointment the women on the phone was having some trouble with the computer and kept losing my information.  She told me that she would write it in though and that I would be all set for my appointment......apparently that wasn't the case.

So, after waiting at least another 10 minutes, the sales woman agreed to take me for an appointment (still no one else in the store).  She kept asking which dresses I'd like to try on and I repeatedly told her that it would only be one dress - THE dress.  After that was established, she took another 10 minutes just to find the dress (after getting one wrong dress and bringing it to me).  I had even pointed right to the rack where the dress was, shown her a picture, and given her the style number.

Then came her attempt at getting the gown on me.  She seemed to have no idea what she was doing.  I ended up just telling her what to do.  She then proceeded to explain how she was still very new.  This was her first week of work (and she was apparently just left to figure things out on her own).

Fortunately, none of that mattered after I had the dress on.  <3  While admiring the dress (and myself in the dress I suppose) I asks the sales woman what the policy was on keeping the dress at the store between alternations.  I had read this particular stores reviews online and a common topic was that the stores gave you "x" number of days to pick up your dress after it arrived and then you were stuck with it.  It was your job to bring it back and forth for alterations and such.

That would not work for me since I live in an apartment (that's already too small) with my fiance.  She kept repeating that, "usually brides want their dress with them , so they keep it at home," avoiding answering my question.  I eventually gave up and decided I would ask someone else later.  Finally, she got me out of the dress and I was ready to order.  She then explained to me that they don't do dress orders on Sunday because there is no one there to do measurements.  I was confused as to why they had scheduled me for a Sunday then, when I had made it clear that I was planning to order the dress that day.

With that, I politely thanked the sales woman for her time and headed home.  Unfortunately, this is the only place within 200 miles of me that sells my dress, so it looks like I just have to suck it up and deal with them.  I am considering finding a local shop for alterations.  Then, after the dress comes in I won't have any reason to go back there.

Any dress stories? Feel free to share.