Wedding dress shopping. A Brides by Demetrios review.

I could not fall asleep yesterday. It was very odd. I was so tired. It could be because my brain can't stop thinking about the wedding. It is a whole year away... I figured that once school starts time will fly by, and it will fly by fast. It was super irritating to get up this morning very sleepy before an 11 hour shift at work to realize....I've woken up too early. So now I have about 40 minutes to spare. Why not blog?

This is what the store looks like. I will say, it was very pretty. 

After having that wonderful experience at David's Bridal, it was time for shop number two. After plans for Sunday were cancelled I quickly texted my girls to let them know wedding dress shopping day number two was in motion. When we pulled up I immediately remembered the place. It was the same place my cousin had went to. I hoped all would we be well as we walked up those stairs into Brides by Demetrios. After filling out my information for them, my consultant greeted us. I told her what I want. She had me start to look around a bit and then quickly escorted my group to sit down on the couches and wait as I came out. One thing I have to warn you is to make sure you wear a strapless bra! The one I had to put on....just wasn't pretty. I'll leave it at that. This made me think "strike one". She didn't ask me if I wanted somebody to help me or her. I guess that is the way they do things, but I liked it how they asked at David's. Anyway, I came out in the first dress. I wasn't convinced. As a matter of fact, I don't remember what it looked it! My girls weren't either. Dress number two proved to be more successful and turned out to the be the best one I tried on at that store. The fabric was gorgeous. I just wanted something I haven't really seen before. I felt like maybe i've seen that one. It needed a touch of pizzaz or just a little something to make it unique. I found myself altering every single dress in my head. I don't want to have to do that. Ahhh, then strike two. Another consultant started talking loudly to mine as we were putting a dress on. A minute later she opened the curtain. I found it rude. She didn't ask. She just did it. She was asking about who was in the other room and how nobody knew. She then proceeded to ask for the dress I had just put on! Another bride wanted to try it on! It was irritating. I expected my consultant to apologize for the way she acted. It looked like she was. It was rude and a little obnoxious. Instead she smiled and said, "She's so....cute". Cute? Cute?!?! Cute was not the word. I tried to brush it off but this really confirmed the fact that I didn't want to be there. I felt rushed and quickly returned to my room after not falling in love with it anyway. Strike three was her taking her time putting each dress away. It really annoyed me. Here I am half naked next to a stranger as she takes her time putting the dresses away. Not just that, but it really slowed down the appointment. She made me step into the dresses instead of pulling them over and the same to take it off. It was really not the fastest way to do it. It dragged. A dress later the lady came back. She came back!!!! This time she barged in with my in me in my underwear. Again, without asking or without a warning. This made me so mad. It was very rude and inconsiderate. I think she ran out of suggestions when she eventually no other dress to give me. I think she thought I was confused on what I wanted. She told me to look at the racks again. In their stiff (corset on top) dress, I began searching...through every dress in the store. I felt like it would be weird of me to walk away. Everything was the same though. A lot of this and a lot of that. Not enough of this. They all started to look the same as my back started hurting from the dress. I was already done. I did go through them all and picked one out to try on. She said she'd meet me in the dressing room. I went to my girls and told them I was done. There was one more, but I was pretty much done and ready to go eat! I went to the dressing room and when she finally arrived, and told her I was done. Her reaction made me feel awkward as I fumbled around trying to get dress. She suggested that I look at bridal magazines, and look at all the dresses. She was basically implying come back, when you know what you want. I don't think she meant it in a mean way, but after all that I know I will never step foot in that shop again. I do not recommend it.

 I do realize that a part of the reason why I didn't find a dress was because I might have already found the one.  I pushed that dress aside and thought, "are any of these dresses me?" The answer was no. What I want could not be found there.

At the end of the day, the consultants were nothing special. The other consultants are not considerate of brides that are not their own. Some of their dresses (I supposed this is with any place) made me feel like the dress was worth $300. I am not going to buy a dress that is over a grand to have it look like it was  $300.  I want my dress to look like a million bucks and look even better when it is on me. They did have an equal amount of dresses that looked fabulous for the price. I think it was just some materials. Again, I will not be going back.

Shopping for the dress! A David's Bridal review.

Everybody knows that one of the most important parts of the whole wedding process is shopping for the dress. Not just any dress, but the dress that will wow your groom. The dress that displays who you are. The dress you save to have your kids look at. The wedding dress.

It's so important to me to find the perfect dress that I fall in love with. A dress that will make me feel beautiful and will compliment me well. My favorite part of a wedding has always been that moment when the bride walks into the church for the first time. Everybody stands up and looks at how beautiful she is. To me it also runs deeper then that. My favorite part when I am dressed up, even when I'm not feeling so beautiful, is when I come out of my room or house when Joe is waiting for me. It's that look that he gives me. The way he whispers to me how beautiful I look. I know he'll be happy in whatever I am in, but I want this to be extra special. It's not just my wedding...It's our wedding and I want to take his breath away. Ok, I am done rambling now.  haha

Picture from Yelp

It was a Saturday morning and I headed off to my appointment at David's Bridal. I chose to go to the one in Lombard, IL. I arrived with my mom, my cousin (also my Matron of Honor), and my sister-in-law to be (also my bridesmaid). After a few minutes of waiting, my consultant came out. I had already chosen my favorite dresses online so she was able to quickly pull my favorites. The first dress I put on I really liked. The more I wore it, the more I liked it. I went on to try a few others. I have to say though, if you go to David's Bridal ask for Amy to be your consultant. She was great. She listened to what I had to say and was very helpful. She made me feel comfortable and was very friendly. After trying on a few dresses I put that first one back on. I loved it even more. I think it was a slow-ish process for me to realize how much I liked it, but I think it's the one. I won't go into details in case my fiance decides to read this...but the more I had it on, the better I felt in it. I will say this. It was from the White by Vera Wang collection. Her dresses are fabulous and are a great price from being a couture gown. I had such a great time, I didn't want to take the dress off. I tried on nets and veils. I put on accessories. I think when I put on the right net or viel (I'm not giving it away!) we all kind of knew. It was then that I became an actual bride-to-be... in my head at least. haha. In case anybody is wondering, I didn't cry. haha My mom said she came close to it, but held back. :)


Vera Wang stated,


"I adore the challenge of creating truly modern clothes, where a woman's personality and sense of self are revealed. I want people to see the dress, but focus on the woman." 


This is exactly what I want. That is what I think I have found. I adore her gowns. The next day I woke up unconsciously thinking about that dress.   :)

I didn't expect anything from David's Bridal. I will say this though (as a warning), I went the next day as a bridesmaid (for my brother's fiance to try on dresses) and this time,  we had a completely different experience. Again, Ask for Amy. She was amazing! It will make a difference.

Centerpieces for a budget

I never cared that much about the floral arrangements at weddings. At the end of the day, who will remember that? I though that I could possibly make them myself. Then I went to Dominick's. They have gorgeous flowers! They really were so beautiful and the prices were great when you think about what it includes (vase, flowers, and having it already arranged!). 

I don't know what kind of flowers I want, but these were pretty and fit the color scheme! 

I also loved the shape of the vase! 

I know this isn't the cheapest way to do things, but when I think about it, I don't really want to put floral arrangements together the day before if I don't have to. If it is a cocktail reception I only need half the tables to have flower arrangements on them. Let's say they they cost $25 each (the most expensive arrangement from above was around $25), then that means it will be around $300 to decorate the tables. Not too bad. I am going to see if they actually do weddings and if I can order them in advance. I'll update as soon as I find out. For now, I am loving this idea. 

Kitchen Chicago it is!

The venue has been booked!
Joe and I are super excited.

This also means that we have our wedding date. Drumroll please! haha

July 21, 2012

Corny picture, I know. :)

It is a huge relief to have signed the contract and to have picked a day. It's one thing I can finally cross off the really long to-do list. 

It looks like the ceremony and reception will all be there. I e-mailed my old church about the possibility of having our wedding there, but they are trying to sell it and are no longer booking weddings. I was devastated. It's ok though, Kitchen Chicago is fantastic. 

The next thing on our list as far as the venue goes, is trying to figure out if we want a sit-down dinner. It means 130 people will be invited. Unfortunately, that does not include some friends and co-workers. We now have to decide if we want a cocktail reception for up to 200 people or a sit down dinner. It's very tricky. I have been considering, if there is room in the budget, to do a dinner with the parents and bridal party only. That gets a little bit tricky, but imagine if we were able to do this at the Signature Room!? It would be fantastic!  We will have to see. I am getting a lot of negative thoughts on it. I don't know...

I made my first appointment for wedding dress shopping. I am going on Saturday morning to David's bridal. I feel like it's important for me to start there. There were about 7 dresses that I liked. I am super excited and very nervous. We'll have to wait and see what happens!