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.  

Say Yes to the Dress

I posted here about THE dress, which I found back at the end of September (while I was home for our engagement party).  I realized though that I never posted about my dress shopping experience.  So, here it goes.

  After getting engaged, I pictured my dress shopping experience as many future brides probably do.   I imagined my mom, my sisters and my bridesmaids there with me.  Then when I stopped daydreaming about going dress shopping and really thought about it, I was pretty bummed out.  Just over a year ago we moved out to Michigan for my fiancé's work, which meant leaving all of our friends and family.  What that meant for me now?  Nobody to go dress shopping with.  

However, my awesome Maid of Honor pointed out that we were all going to be in Maryland for a few days for the engagement party and we could do shopping then.  I don't know how I didn't think of that.  Well I guess that's why she's my Maid of Honor.  I immediately began working out a schedule with my family and bridesmaids immediately and calling around to places in the area.  

After making some appointments I realized that I was going to have a very limited amount of time for dress shopping (I'd only be in town for 2 days and one day was dedicated to the engagement party).  With that in mind I got onto Pinterest, printed out a few pictures of dresses that I liked, and headed over to David's Bridal.  I decided to take a solo trip while in Michigan to get a better idea of what was out there, what I liked, etc.  I figured that would make things easier when I went along with everyone else.  I didn't like most of the dresses that I tried on that day.  Here's one that I did like and I have the saleswoman take a picture of.  In fact, at this point I was even considering that this was THE one.  So glad that I moved past that!

After this trip the dress shopping was put on hold until I was back in Maryland about 3 weeks later.  As I said in my previous post I had 2 appointments - the first was at David's Bridal and the second was at Alfred Angelo's (I had discovered their Disney Princess collection).  

And so the adventure at David's Bridal begins......

 I tried on somewhere between 15 and 20 dresses there.  I found many myself that I wanted to try on and the saleswoman was also extremely helpful in picking out some dresses based on pictures that I had brought in.  Without further ado, here are a few of the highlights.

 Dress #1:  I liked the general idea of this dress, but it jut wan't quite right.

Dress #2: This dress was similar to the dress that I found at the David's Bridal dress back in Michigan.  I did not like this dress at all.  Somehow in just 3 weeks I had done a complete 180 in regards to what I wanted in my wedding dress.

Dress #3:  I really liked this one for some reason.  I think it was because it was so different.  

Dress #4: I hated this one, I couldn't get out of it fast enough.  My MOH insisted she get a picture.  You can't tell in this picture, but the skirt is very.....interesting.  There are feathers and sequins on it.

 More of dress #3.  I had to try it on again.  Everyone really liked it.  This was again possibly THE dress, but still not sure.  Again, I'm glad this is not where it ended.

After 2 hours at David's Bridal we went across the street to Alfred Angelos.  The saleswoman there (who we later found out was the manager of the store) was not so great at, well, sales.  I showed her pictures of the dresses that I had brought with me and she told me that I wouldn't like any of their dresses.  Nobody knew what to say, we all just stared at each other confirming that none of us could believe she had said that.  I finally convinced her to get me a few dresses to try on, explaining that I wouldn't know if I liked it until I tried them on.  In particular, I was interested in their Disney collection.  Here it is....

 The first 3 didn't work out so well.  I believe that they were Jasmine, Ariel, and Rapunzel.  The worst was Ariel (the second row), the skirt actually looked like pieces of seaweed.

But then, I tried on the Belle Platinum dress and I knew right away that I had found it!

 I'm so happy to have found the dress.  I haven't ordered it yet, but plan to soon.  I can't wait!

Engagement Party and Dress Shopping

My fiancé and I just got back home late last night after our engagement party.  We had so much fun.  It was so nice seeing all of our friends and family.  All of our immediate family was there, along with the majority of our wedding party (everyone but the best man was able to make it)!   Now that it's over, that means that we have just under a year until the big day- WOW!  Where did all of that time go?  We were talking on the flight home last night, and neither of us can believe that we've already been engaged for 2 months.  With that said, we are getting back into wedding planning mode.  As I mentioned here, I did go dress shopping while I was home in Maryland.  And, it just so happens, I found THE dress.  It's part of Alfred Angelo's Disney Fairytale Wedding Collection.  It's called the Belle Platinum.  I will add pictures later!  I can't believe how easy the whole process was.  I began my search at David's Bridal where I tried on about 15 dresses.  My next appointment was at Alfred Angelo's where this was the 3rd dress that I tried on.  I was supposed to have two appointments later that day, but I immediately called and cancelled.  Between the engagement party and the dress, everything is coming together and making me realize that this is actually happening.  Less than a year away, we can't wait!

Anyways, time to get to work on some Thank You cards for gifts from the engagement party.

http://www.alfredangelo.com/collections/styles/217

EDIT:  Read about my dress shopping adventures here.