Decisions Decisions! Pt4: I was RIGHT!... Lessons Learned

I don't to say this very often, so bear with me...

I WAS RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I feel a little better now. :)

So in my dress shopping I learned a few things. Some were practical, and others more personal.

I was pretty sure right off the bat that I did not want a white-white dress. If its an airy cotton dress in the middle of summer when I'm tan, no worries. I don't know how tan I will or won't be come next year, and I feel a little sickly looking in white when I am pale. (Note - I understand pale for me is still tan for others. For instance, My fair-haired Adam looks almost clear when he's at his palest. And having come from Antarctica, he was CLEAR when he came to Hawaii for the first time. I'll have to see if I can find a good picture of me all Hawaii tan and him Antarctic white. :) ) The other downfall to white white is the "I dont feel skinny today and the diamond white aint helpin!" potential. (Don't believe me? Scroll back down to my "eww" dress post.)

The other thing that I was pretty sure of was that I am not a strapless girl. I am a mover and a shaker and in a strapless dress that equates to a tugger and a flasher... neither of which I want associate with my wedding. No "wardrobe malfunctions" risk for me!

The other major cause for my strap requirement is the football factor. Let me explain. I grew up as a gymnast and a dancer, but its the gymnastics background that really shaped my muscles and body type. (I look soo out of place in ballet class! Oh well!) This means 3 things. 1 - My thighs are pretty thick. Granted, I can squat more than most people I know, but chicken legs I have not. 2- As previously discussed, I have a bubble butt that isn't going anywhere; which is fine by me, I like my butt just fine. And finally 3 - My shoulders are a bit broad. I am not going to be mistaken for an Olympic swimmer, but they aren't exactly narrow. Normally, this is no big deal. In a strapless dress? It means I run teh risk of looking like a football player. Granted its only 1 out of ever 10 or so photos of me in a strapless that really exemplify this fact, but when we are talking 1000 - 1500 photos? We are talking 150 football shots! No, thanks.

As anyone who has been dress shopping in the past few years knows, strapless DOMINATES the stores like Michael Jordan used to dominate basketball! This meant that this was the typical conversation when I went into a bridal shop:
Salesperson: Welcome! I have 18 bazillion dresses that will look fantastic on you! What style are you looking for?
Me: No strapless.
Salesperson: hahahah! What a sense of humor!....uhh....Oh, you are serious.....uhhh.. (often accompanied by a panicky confusion of trying to remember if or where the strapped dresses are!) We have a few.... uhh... and we could add spaghetti straps to any dress.
Me: Not a fan of the added spaghetti straps because to me it looks like they were added just because the bride didn't want to be strapless.
Salesperson: ....uhhh... they were added because the bride wanted straps...
Me: oof. Pretty please show me the dresses that were meant not to be strapless.
Salesperson: Ok. That wont take long. (Usually then started making a mental note of what other things she's now going to accomplish in the time she'll have left over because clearly I wont be there that long.)

Ok - now for a few (quick!) things every dress shopping bride-to-be should know:

• Always wear underwear you don't mind someone else seeing if they are helping you in or out of the dress. (Pink elephants might make the salesperson giggle which will make you feel awkward.)
• Don't be a pushover, but be open to options in case the salesperson brings in something you might not have picked out for yourself.
• Always take at least 1 sound opinion you trust. Don't take a friend who thinks you look great in EVERYTHING, even when you don't.
• Wear a little make-up and brush your hair. You will be staring at yourself all day and its not the dress' fault if you hate the way you look without mascara.
• DO NOT try on dresses outside your budget. You might fall head over heels for that Vera Wang, but if your budget is $500, you are always going to feel disappointed in any other dress and will feel like you are settling. (Again, not a feeling you want associated with your wedding.)
• Mentally prepare for the number game. Bridal sizing is NOT equivalent to normal clothes. Most of the time you will be several sizes up from what you normally wear. This is not a reflection of you or your weight and means DIDDLY-SQUAT about your health. Mentally prepare for that so you aren't heart broken when they tell you what size you are in.

Ok - so that was a long wordy post.... but the next one will be full of pretty dress pictures!!! =) Any other words of wisdom for dress shopping?