(Final?) Dress Hunting Day 3 - 1/18/11

It was an overcast, wet and miserable kind of day to go dress hunting. BUT Eunhye and I slogged on over down to Kleinfelds to make my 1:30pm appointment. Mom tried really hard to make it, but the Philippine embassy, the weather, and the car all collaborated against her. I'm going to make another appointment so she can get the whole experience.

Anyway, the lobby and the showroom were very elegant. The dressing rooms however, were not as chic or fancy as the one in Pronovias. And unlike Pronovias, you could NOT take pictures unless you "say yes to the dress". Grrr. As usual, this rule did not deter Eunhye and despite my attempts to dissuade her, she was able to take some pictures of the dress we loved and another we really liked.

This dress we LOOOOVED. It was raw silk, so lightweight, and was very elegant and streamlined. It looked AWESOME with a birdcage veil. It was a light champagne color which you can't see here. The pictures absolutely do NOT do it justice.

The picture below is me yelling at Eunhye to put the camera down before the bridal consultant came in. Look at my face!

A closer look at the dress without the distraction of my contorted face.

This other dress was just as structured and made my waist look tiny! Didn't love it as much as the one above, but it was also really nice with a touch of lace on the bottom. It would have also looked really good with a birdcage veil.

Sadly, I just couldn't say yes to either of these dresses. It was waaaay over my budget. But it was nice (and also a little cruel) to try them on.

Next stop: David's Bridal. My mom met up with me and Eunhye where I think I eventually found the dress thanks to Mom's eagle eye. It's not THE dress, if there is such a thing. But it was close enough and I'm happy with it. It's within budget and fits me wonderfully so there won't be much alterations done.

It has a lace bodice, which months ago I swore up and down I would never wear. However, it's a modern style lace not the old vintage style. There's also some flounce on the bottom which adds a little something, but Eunhye just thought was ok. I will make mom happy by wearing it with a traditional long veil, and I may add the birdcage veil later on during the reception. Yay!

As soon as I make the actual purchase I'm returning that Nordstrom dress. I'm so relieved I've finally found a dress! Thanks everyone for all your help!!

Dress Hunting Day 2 - 1/13/11

A really fun day with Mom, Rich, Eunhye and Jen at RK Bridal. We weren't allowed to take pictures but Eunhye managed to sneak some in. We all liked this dress. We didn't like the price. Click on the pics below to see a larger image.

There was another one we liked even better. Unfortunately, the price was even worse. However, it was here in RK Bridal that we realized the awesomeness of the cage veil.

Too bad we didn't get a picture with me wearing one. The picture above was a real wedding done in NY that was mine and Gregg's original inspiration for yellow and light gray. Click here to see more of their pictures.

It was also at RK Bridal that I realized I was getting further and further away from my initial idea of the kind of dress I thought I was going to wear. I had wanted a super simple chiffon gown that just fell down, no structure at all. But in the end, I found that I really liked how I looked in a fitted dress.

Dress Hunting Day 1 - 1/6/11

I bought this dress online at Nordstrom's because it's 40% off and they have an easy return policy. It hasn't arrived yet so I have no idea how it looks on me. If it fits well, then it can be a last resort dress.

After trying on a couple of dresses at Pronovias, I found out that dresses that are fitting throughout the waist to the hips were the dresses that looked best on me. I had always thought the simple empire-waist type dresses (see above dress) were what I was looking for. We found two dresses that we all liked but one of them really stood out. The pictures do NOT do it justice. I am not a lace person but even I had to admit that the dress looked awesome.

The lace was very dainty and was placed in such a way that it wasn't overwhelming. Unfortunately, I cannot justify spending that amount of money on a dress that I will use once. Now, if I had ANOTHER wedding in the Philippines, and I were to use this also, then MAYBE.

Here's how it looks on the model.

Here's a picture of the my mom and Eunhye (who both had great tastes) and me!

OOT bags

Medium-sized native-type bags that are foldable in order to save space. Preferably $1 each.