I Said "YES!"life episodes online

I said "YES!" to THE DRESS one year ago today! Crazy how times flies!

One year ago today I was at home working on some homework for the week ahead. I was not planning to go shopping for a wedding gown this exact day. Actually, my Baton Rouge bridesmaids, my Mom and Memaw were planning to go with me on December 10, 2011, for a fitting.

At the time, my sister was sick and had been in Tulsa, Oklahoma, receiving treatment for an eating disorder at an in-house hospital since early October. My parents had actually spent the week visiting her and were on their way home over the weekend. I needed a break from school work and I knew that my mom needed a break, so I asked her if she wanted to go to the Mall. We did not have the first thing we wanted to look for, but I figured we both could benefit a bit by getting out of the house for a few hours. Surprisingly, we found ourselves at David's Bridal looking at Bridesmaid dresses. Go figure, right?

While in the store, I ventured over to the bridal side and was scoping out the sale racks. Since it was the last Sunday and the month of November was about to end the employees were revamping the store for the spring collection of gowns to go on display, while stowing away the fall collection. I happened to see a brand new gown going on a manikin that was in the White by Vera Wang section of the store. This gown was absolutely nothing like what I thought I had wanted and I figured it would have a price tag that would make me puck. However, I stood there looking at this particular gown for about five minutes and then decided to just try it on for fun. Also, I had grabbed two other gowns from the sale racks that I just knew that I would love. Each of them were the trumpet style gowns with capped sleeves and had beautiful beading work and pearls. These two were exactly what I thought I had wanted, so of course I tried them on first! Little did I know...

Needless to say, I went with the Vera Wang gown from the White collection for spring 2012! Third time is always the charm! After trying on the first two gowns I realized that I really wanted to be comfortable since I would be wearing the dress all day. Neither of the first two gowns were comfortable. They both looked good on, but were itchy and very tight fitting. Also, the first two gowns were extremely heavy because of the beading. Having a June wedding, I knew it would be hot so fitted and itchy was booted out.

Once I tried on the third gown, I knew it was the one! I noticed that what I thought I wanted was not actually something that flattered my figured, but I felt comfortable and classy wearing. Considering the bigger picture of our wedding and the theme of decor I was planning to have instilled my decision on gown #3 even more. I was going for the classic, simple decor full of champagnes, silvers, golds... So, all in all gown #3 ended up being the perfect mix.

The Vera Wang gown was Grecian goddess gorgeous. It was not the typical bridal gown, though. It had something going on in every direction, the ivory material was light weight, and everything flowed beautifully. It was a different type of gown, but it was simple and very much my style. I could walk in it well and I could use the bathroom by myself. Plus, it was brand new so I knew that no one else had tried it on, which was a huge deal to me. I actually had the belt added, which is also from the Vera Wang White collection.

Also, I my bought shoes, ceremony and reception veils, and a hairpiece from the same Vera Wang collection this same day. I added rhinestones to the hairpiece to give it a little something more. Since I was a walk-in Bride I thought I would have to come back for fittings, but because it was Sunday the store was not very busy and there was an open appointment slot. I actually was able to have everything accomplished in about an hour and my gown was ready to be pick up the week before Christmas.

Now, let me say this-- The whole being engaged process is very exciting and overwhelming all at once. It is so surreal every step of the way. I kept having to remind myself that I was getting married to the love of my life just about every other week because it was very easy to get caught up in all the planning hoopla and overlook the joy of the moment during our journey. I will admit that I knew I was engaged because I had a new ring on an important finger, but I just had a moment standing at the cash register paying for my gown. It was almost like everything hit me all at once and I realized, this is it. This is the gown I will wear walking down the aisle to get married. I am actually buying my wedding gown. I am getting married. It was a crazy moment, but it was a very rewarding moment. Definitely one that I will never forget.

I will admit that I was not a picky Bride when considering most things pertaining to my wardrobe for the day. I knew that I did not want a satin or strapless gown, but I did not know what all exactly I did want. To me, strapless is not appropriate for most women and satin has consistent wrinkles no matter how many times the material is pressed. Also, I noticed that this look was very overused in all the magazines I refereed to while planning our wedding. I did not want my gown to be the center of attention during the ceremony. Looking back, I do not feel as though I settled, but I think buying everything at once made the process so much easier for me since I was doing all of the planning, preparation, and decorating myself. It may sound weird coming from a Bride, but I was not all that gaga about finding a gown and making sure it was perfect. I think I had other planning priorities that I held at a higher level of being absolute perfection.

In the end, my husband loved my gown which is the ultimate goal of every Bride to-be. I truly just wanted the day to be a happy day. I wanted everyone to enjoy the day, and overall I think it turned out successful. Tony has asked me on numerous occasions if I would ever change anything about our wedding day if I could and I have thought it over many, many times. I have come to the conclusion that I certainly would not change a thing even though a few things did not go as planned. I am sure I could pin point things that happened that were not on the itinerary, but I would not go back and change those little missteps because they are what made the day so unique. It was the very best day of my life thus far. It was a day full of so much love, sweat and tears. :)

A tip for anyone reading who may be doing bridal gown shopping in the near future- Try on something that you think you may not like and just have fun with it! It may turn out to be "the one!"

I had a beyond amazing photography team and stylist team! If you would like to check out the photographers information and work click here to access their blog. If you would like to check out one of the stylists who did my make-up for the wedding/hair and make-up for bridals click here.

Writing a post like this makes me happy. I get to relive so many of the moments of our engagement journey! I am thinking of doing more wedding posts about decor, crafts, DIY, tips, ect. Readers- If you would be interested in these topics or something specific pertaining to wedding/honeymoon planning please let me know. I would love feedback since I enjoy discussing these topics!

If you would like... I love sharing this type of information with others simply because I found all of my ideas for our wedding from reading other couples stories and seeing their pictures. I have listed below many options for more items to view or read about if you are interested.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about something that you may see and like.

This post has been linked up with Mary over at A Happy Wife in New Orleans. Follow the link to her blog to learn more about a link up and visit other blogs for wedding planning tips and tricks!

Here is to love, laughter, and happily ever after :)