When I Said Yes to the Dress

A little more than a year ago, I said "yes" to the dress!

I shared a little bit from the day in this post here, but of course, wasn't able to share too much without giving anything away before I said "I do."

I remember the day perfectly, as it was a complete surprise that I even bought my wedding dress that day. It definitely wasn't the plan!

The original plan was to buy my dress at Bridals by Lori - you know, the Atlanta bridal store featured on the TLC show, Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta. I actually had an appointment for the following month. To my surprise though, an appointment time at Bridals by Lori was only an hour and a half... Knowing that I had no idea what I wanted and apparently wasn't going to have too much time to figure it out, I decided to try on dresses at a local boutique to have an idea of what styles I liked and didn't like before going into the appointment.

My mom, sister and best friend, Ashley (A Thousand Words) were all sharing in the day. I valued each one of their opinions, but once again, never really planned on finding the dress of my dreams.

The day started out fun and really light-hearted, trying on all sorts of styles.

My original thought for my wedding dress was big, some poof and an empire waist.

But the reflection in the mirror reared it's ugly head and quickly corrected me and my short little body. It just wasn't the style for me.

The more dresses I tried on, I started to realize I was only liking the same styles and fits over and over again. But none of them felt like "the one." 

Though, I did get pretty close a couple times to picking a different dress!

I actually tried on my (eventual) wedding dress after about ten dresses or so. My mom actually had pulled it for me. (Mom knows best!) But I wasn't sold on it yet, and I wasn't ready to commit.

After about an hour and a half of trying on dresses (not enough time Bridals by Lori!), I had narrowed it down to a few I liked. My mom was persistent about me trying on the one she pulled again, so I did. The girl helping me switched out the floral belt that came with the dress, for a more sparkly and flashy one instead. We added the matching veil to get the full picture, and it suddenly all came together.

Of course, I had to practice sitting in it and walking around because believe it or not, you actually do have to move in those suckers!

We even added a miniature Cody to get the full effect. ;)

It was like the dress was made for my body.

It hugged all my curves in just the right way. The lace was classic, but so unique - not any lace I had seen before. It fit our rustic venue absolutely perfectly.

And I knew Cody would think I was absolutely beautiful when he saw me for the first time.

So... I said "yes!" to the dress!

I couldn't have been any happier with how my dress looked on our wedding day.

I had never felt more beautiful in my entire life.

Oh, and Cody really loved it too! ;)

| photo cred. - Ashley @ A Thousand Words |