THE DRESS!!!

Although I REFUSE to share THE DRESS with anyone before I walk down the aisle. I most certainely can share my amazing weekend of dress shopping.

Back in November my Mom, Ryan's Mom, maid of honor Jessica, and Jessica's Mom Karen (or as I like to call them- MOB, MOG, MOH, and MOMOH) came to Chicago. Our objective was to find my wedding dress. That was easier said then done....

Several weeks before our shopping weekend I started researching bridal boutiques in Chicago. I wasn't finding what I was looking for. I was already having anxiety about wearing "the big white dress" so I needed the shopping environment to be relaxing with no pressure and preferably fun. In two days I called 13 places in Chicago. Most had no appointments available and the rest were either pushy and rude or gave me the "mam you can't afford to walk in to our store".

So I was on to plan B...head to the burbs! Another day of phone calls (lets just say my focus on working at home fell short this week) lead me to find three well reviewed boutiques...two of which put me on the wait list. But thankfully spots opened up and I was set to go.

That Friday the Moms and Jessica flew in to Chicago. Ryan and I brought them back to our place for a quick stop before going out to dinner. To my surprise Jessica had bought me the sweetest gift! Two charms for my Pandora bracelet. Well one is for hers. When the two are together it makes a butterfly. Long story short I wrote something to Jessica once about how I thought of her as my butterfly effect. Her decision to go to MSU sparked me to as well. And that lead to me ultimately meeting Ryan. So we are here today, planning a wedding folks all because of Jessica.

The next morning came early. I had to rent a car to haul all of us out the the suburbs. The first place we went was A'lamour in Barrington, IL. They were having a trunk show of a dress designer I really like. I won't tell you the name, because some sneaky people would look up the dress. Anyway, it was amazing! My consultant Susan was so great. She understood the style I was looking for and she kept me relaxed. There were some definite "nos" and a couple "hell nos". But you can't know what you like until you see what you don't like. To my surprise I absolutely loved the first dress I tried on!It has the accents I was looking for. I had the rght balance of classy and sassy (like me!). I really felt beautiful in this dress. But when she told me the name of the first dress was a name of significance to me (I won't share because you can look it up), I knew it was meant to be. I tried on several others dressed but I kept going back to the first one. There was a close second at one point, but much like dating and love, when you know you know.

Even though I was pretty sure I had found the dress,I still wanted to go to the other places I had appointments. So we headed to Geneva to go to another boutique. This place, while it was very lovely, it didn't have much of a diverse selection. But that doesn't mean you can't have fun! They had ballgowns as wide as I am tall. When else am I ever going to get the chance to wear dresses like that? So I tried a few on for a good laugh.

Mental note..I cannot pull off a box hat! But
it was fun trying!

We only went to two places but that was enough for one day. We were tired and ready for food. I made a dinner reservation for all of us at one of our favorite pizza places Pequod's Pizza. It was really great to relax, have a drink and enjoy everyone's company.

On Sunday we went to our final appointment. This one was in the city at a highly recommended boutique in Lincoln Park. The place was so sweet and charming. It had a lot of character...and a lot of dresses. It was fun because everyone could pull the dresses themselves. It's interesting to see what people think you will like. I did consider one dress from at this shop but it couldn't beat out "the dress".

After our last appointment we grabbed a quick bit before everyone had to fly home. Over another round of wine I officially decided to go with dress number 1! And as a bonus to my parents, I was able to get the trunk show discount : )

I have to send out a big thanks to all my M's for giving me all the support a bride could ask for. Although I didn't admit it then, this was a big deal for me. You only wear the big white dress once (well that's my plan anyway). To share it with some of the most important people to means everything.

Karen thank you as always for taking thousands of pictures. It's so worth it to always have those memories. I look at the photos of my dress all the time. And everytime it makes me smile. I am so glad you were a part of this important weekend.

Mom and Lauren thank you for all your honest opinions. I rather know now that something looks bad then when I'm walking down the aisle. I love you both so very much.

And Jecs, I owe you the biggest thanks. Thanks for pushing me to shop in Chicago. Thanks for helping me get in and out of what felt like 100 dresses. I know you got some views of me you probably didn't want to! And thank you for leading me to the right place and the right time so that I could meet my fiance!

At this spot a year before we took the same picture when we
were shopping for Jessica's bridesmaid dresses.

Find the most beautiful (and expensive) dress you will ever wear: CHECK!