Wedding Dress Woes

Fancy dress shops, formal fittings, surrounded by family and friends.  Pah, who needs them.  Well...  I can't say that it wouldn't have been nice to have somebody there with me, to tell me what they thought.  But my mom is halfway across the country, and I didn't have a whole lot of notice before the Goodwill Bridal Gala, so I couldn't get my friends on board that fast.  Besides, it started at 6AM, way before anybody wanted to be awake.

Both of these numbers on my dress were higher.

And yes.  I did say 'Goodwill' there.  Meaning those charity thrift shops, selling secondhand clothing.  It was actually pretty fabulous, with a really nice set up and everything.  Lots of mirrors, staff on hand to help out whenever necessary, cake.  We all stormed in.  Shopping happened, and it happened hard.  Gowns, bridesmaid dresses, veils, decor...  It all vanished off the racks before I left.

It took me a couple of hours, but I was able to find a dress that fit me, and was lovely, at a price I could actually afford.  The fit was the hardest thing, since wedding dresses are apparently sized by blind monkeys, and have absolutely no relation to any other sizes.  I was told by other brides to be that they could easily fit into dresses smaller than their actual size.  My dress is a larger size than I normally wear.

The price was fantastic.  $99.99 exactly, with no taxes.  I'll be doing some alterations myself, to fix up some missing buttons, and to bustle the train, take it in just a little bit to fit better.  But I'm starting to get those nagging doubts.  I believe others call it 'dress envy', where I see another bride's dress and begin to question my own.  I cure this by trying on my dress again, though that's becoming less and less effective.  I believe my final cure will be to get a cheap, but pretty, sun dress to wear for a good bit of the reception.  My gown is really too hot and heavy to wear so long anyways.

Video of the Gala, you can see me at 0:59 in, trying on a dress in the background.  It's not the dress I wound up buying, but I'll post pictures of my actual dress after I alter it.