The Wedding Dress

Picking Out My Wedding Dress

When it came to wedding planning, the first thing I actually got done was my wedding dress. Six months after Devin and I got engaged, I was spending the summer in NYC for work and my mom, aunt and cousin were coming up for a couple days. I decided I was going to make an appointment at Kleinfeld Bridal to try on some wedding dresses to get an idea of what dress I would want to wear. I really never pictured what my wedding dress would look like so I had NO idea what I wanted, other than the fact that I liked that Sofia Vergara’s dress had a removable skirt and I didn’t want strapless.

I made the appointment and printed some photos for inspiration and let the stylist do her thing. I tried on a total of probably five different dresses: sleeves, tight-fitting, ball gown, and mermaid. The dress I actually ended up getting was the second dress I tried on. The stylist brought in the dress and said it was a Pnina Tornai that she thought I would really like. I had no idea who Pnina Tornai was, but I was willing to try on anything.

I slipped on the dress and I LOVED it, but thought it was missing something. I knew I didn’t want to walk down the aisle in a tight dress, it didn’t feel right for me. So, she came back in with a skirt that was PERFECT. It was long, it was detachable, you could still see the detail of my dress all the way down the center, and it wasn’t too poofy. It was like a sweet two for one deal. I could walk down my with skirt and then have my tight dress for the reception.

Going into this, I really didn’t think I was going to wear a super tight dress because I’m not curvy. But, when the dress is made for you it just hugs in all the right places. The boning detail in the bodice of the dress and the low back and just low enough front, broke it up and showed the right amount of skin. I think it emphasized all my best features.

Say Yes To The Dress

I walked out and did the reveal to my family and they loved it too. The stylist showed me some headpiece options and put a long veil on me and that was it. Tears, the whole nine. I was in love. Mind you, my wedding was 2 years away LOL and I had no intention of buying a dress that day, but when you know you know. My mom was worried that I hadn’t shopped at any other bridal store for my dress and that my wedding was so far away that I could hate my dress in two years. But, I knew I didn’t need to look elsewhere and my mind was made up.

Sidenote: I know I look like a baby in these photos, I was 22 here lol and also funny that I wore my hair the day of my wedding really similar to how I had it here.

Pnina Tornai was actually having a trunk show so she happened to be there and I got to meet her and have that special moment of saying yes to the dress that happened to be her dress. My overall experience at Kleinfeld was incredible, the staff, the process, the fittings, everything was great and they made it so enjoyable that I was sad when it was all over. I didn’t have my first dress fitting until about a year and a half after I paid my whole life savings (kidding, but not really) for the dress. She had to make one for me and also match the skirt to the dress and then I had about 4 fittings after the dress finally came in.

Tip: When you go for your wedding dress fitting wear the underwear you’re planning to wear on the day and also the shoes. You want to make sure you can’t see any undergarments through the dress and if you could last through an entire fitting wearing your heels, you should be good the night of the wedding.

It was a process I will never forget and yes, wedding gowns can be expensive and yes, they are only worn once, but it is the one day in your entire life that it is worth it. It was the best kept secret for two years and putting it on the day of the wedding was completely worth the wait.

Fittings

xx Raquel