The Dress Hunt (Part 2 of 4)

A few months after my dress appointment in New York, I had a trip to Los Angeles planned. I knew I had to take it seriously--plan out appointments, set up dress try-on dates with my bridesmaids and mom--so I started combing through TheKnot.com's dress pages. When I saw something I liked, I'd note which stores sold it in LA and try to find stores that sold multiple designers I liked. Schlepping across LA, circling blocks looking for addresses, and finding parking can get extremely tiring so I tried to spread out the appointments as best as I could. 

A little dress shopping in LA, anyone?

(source)

My mom loves to mention to everyone she meets that her daughter is getting married. She'll often end up talking about weddings with the person for an hour or so, noting any advice she gets and making sure to pass it along to me. I try my best to acknowledge it and oblige her. Someone she works with mentioned the store Lili Bridals in Tarzana, so I agreed to make an appointment. 

When we got there, at least five brides-to-be were popping out of changing rooms, dresses were being dragged across the room, racks were bulging from every wall, and it was nothing like my last appointment. The saleswomen were buzzing around, pulling dresses from every direction, and selling. selling. selling. The samples were dirty and some had holes in them. It was not the environment I'd want to make such an investment in. 

Nonetheless, I made the most of it. Amidst the chaos, I happened across two dresses I considered fairly seriously. And, amidst the chaos, I found out there is no picture-taking allowed. The good news is, I know which dresses I tried on so I can share their brands and styles with you.

Dress #1:

Watters 6043B

(Watters)

(Watters)

The website describes the dress as: "Re-embroidered lace, sweetheart strapless gown with full trumpet skirt and velveteen ribbon at waist." I describe the dress as: heavy. It felt like I was wearing a robe and dress from the Renaissance days. While I loved the way it hugged certain areas of the body and felt it would be great for a ranch wedding (albeit, a little costume-y), I would've been fed up with it by the end of the night. 

Dress #2:

Amy Michelson "Grace"

(Amy Michelson)

(Once Wed)

Oh, how I loved this dress. It was soft, feminine, blush-colored, swimming in pools of soft organza. It accentuated the chest, arms, and shoulders, sat taut around the waist and flowed out from there. It was unique. It was, gulp, $4,000. This was my introduction to swooning over a dress that was well outside of my budget. Or was it "well outside of my budget"? Did I dare dream of spending this amount on a dress for one day?

Did you fall in love with a dress well outside your means? How did you deal with it?