Gringa and Groom: Saying Yes to the Dress

I wanted to get dress shopping done early because I felt that the dress would set the tone and the theme for the entire event. I began my dress shopping adventure by browsing through bridal magazines in an effort to research designers and to get an idea of what I wanted. This did not help me at all. I had a very clear idea of what I wanted, but I wasn't sure how it would look on me. I went to David's Bridal with a friend who is also wedding planning, and we tried on several very different gowns to narrow down our search. I found shopping, with no intent to buy, incredibly helpful and I highly recommend it when it comes to wedding dresses. I came to David's Bridal with A, B, and C in mind; I left thinking of X, Y, and Z.

Attached to the idea of a dress with X, Y, and Z, I began to research bridal boutiques. I googled, asked around, and narrowed it down to 7 stores. I then looked at each store's website and viewed their selection. Some carried more designers than others, and some had more affordable designers. I narrowed it down again to 3 final stores and made appointments. All of this involved lots of color coded spreadsheeting, of course!

Mr. Lion, do NOT read any further!

I went to my appointments with some of my bridesmaids, and found my dress at the first one. I knew it was the one. I didn't cry or scream or anything like that, but I kept it on for about 45 minutes and just didn't want to take it off! I wanted to be sure, so I went to my next appointment. I found another one that I liked a lot and immediately stressed out. The other salon had told me that I would get a discount if I ordered it today, so I wanted to make a decision. I called Mama Lioness on the verge of tears and asked her what to do. She gave me some of the best advice I've had so far with wedding planning: "If you like both of them, then you need to think about which one HE would like more." I pictured myself walking down the aisle in the dress I was wearing, and I smiled. I pictured myself walking down the aisle in the dress I had worn earlier that day, and I smiled wider and burst into tears. There was the Lifetime movie moment I had been looking for! We left the salon and called the other store to make our purchase, the Zora by WToo: