bride-foo

The Incredible Exploding Boobs

The whole dress-buying experience was hampered for me by one small detail -- at no salon I went to was there a bra in my size. I bought my dress wearing a longline bra with a cup one-third the size of my breast. Same problem at my fitting last week. I scheduled a second fitting for this Thursday to give me time to find The Bra and be fitted again wearing it, just to make sure there really were no adjustments needed to the dress.

So, after seeking advice from the Colorado message board on The Knot, Jason and I headed down to Le Soutien, an upscale lingerie store in Cherry Creek, the chic shopping area in Denver. The boutique was one of those that has the bras and panties pinned to wall-mounted frames that you can flip like the pages of a magazine to browse. The saleswoman took me into a dressing room, made me put on a robe, and started handing me things to try on. She decided I was a 38DDD; I had come in wearing an ill-fitting 40DD. But, as luck would have it, 38DDD seemed to be the only size of bustier that she didn't have in stock. She gave me the name and address of another store in town, Treva's, and told me if they didn't have it, Treva's would.

So, we headed out, got lost a couple times, and eventually found Treva's in a strip mall in a shadier area of town. The saleswoman was very helpful, but pulled no punches. She snapped my bra strap and told me if she was able to do that, the band size was too large. She took some measurements, eyeballed me up and down, and settled on a size -- 36FF. I was in shock, so I let the saleswoman guide me around the store, pulling longline bras off the rack for me to try on. And, just as before, there were no bustiers in the store that fit me. She offered to special order something, but I said I would take care of it. I bought a t-shirt bra, anxious to get out of the store, and I broke down in tears as Jason walked me back to the car.

I've always been self-conscious about my chest, but having someone verbalize the excessively large size to which they've ballooned has only forced me further into my cave. As soon as the size was out of the saleswoman's mouth, I began calculating how long it would take me to save up for a breast reduction. It felt completely humiliating to know that two numbers and two letters would forever prevent me from buying clothes off the rack.

In any event, I ordered a merry widow online, paid $20 extra for 2-day shipping, and should have the bra here tomorrow just in time for my dress fitting.

A Good Day, in Two Parts

Part One: The fitting took all of 10 minutes. I put the dress on, it fit perfectly down to the hem, and the only thing I need the seamstress to do is put in the single-loop overbustle. At the cost of a whopping $10. Woot!

Part Two: We *finallly* booked the honeymoon. I sat Jason down with the laptop and his credit card and made him look at travel web sites. We decided on Hotwire.com, and we got our airfare (round-trip out of Austin), a rental car for five days, and five nights in the W Hotel New Orleans for a whopping $1100. We made out like bandits. More money to spend on the jazz brunch at Court of Two Sisters and the Creole Queen jazz dinner cruise. Boo-yah!

Gowns!

My gown arrived on Tuesday, but I was only able to make it up to the store yesterday after work to pick it up. I was worried it wouldn't fit, as I packed on a few pounds over the holidays, but it fit just fine! (of course, it would fit better if I was 5-10 lbs. lighter, but we'll get there) As luck would have it, the bridsemaid dresses arrived yesterday as well, so I was able to pick those up too.

I had forgotten how pretty my gown is until I saw it again. I tried it on at the store asked Janet (my salesgal) if I could just wear it home. heh. I was so excited I tried it on AGAIN for my parents when I took it by their house. We decided it would be best to keep it there so no inquiring little doggie noses would find it.

Anyhow, I'm pretty excited - I may drag everyone I know over to my parent's house so I can wear it some more.

Nip/Tuck

When I got home from a scrapbooking class on Thursday -- on making your own wedding invitations, no less -- there was a message on the machine from David's Bridal. Actually, the scene went like this:

David's Bridal commercial plays in the background...
Julie: I should call David's tomorrow and see when my dress will be here.
Jason:Actually, no you shouldn't.
Bewildered, Julie looks at Jason with her mouth hanging open.
Jason: Check the machine.

So, the dress arrived safely. On Saturday morning I made Jason wander around CompUSA while I went in to pick up the dress (and try it on to make sure it fit). The store was a madhouse -- one girl brought all the 15 females (and all their various children) in her giant bridal party to pick dresses. Miraculously, I managed to get slipped into an empty changing room. And while the salesgirl was less than attentive -- she had about 20 other people to deal with -- she did manage to zip up my dress and compliment me in the appropriate places. The dress fits almost perfectly, with the exception of a little too much boob (not the dress' fault), so I've begun a hard-core regime of working out, eating right and firming up the upper arm and back flab -- the "cutlets." If I lost 20 pounds in six weeks in the Ukraine eating buckwheat and walking three hours a day, I can certainly firm up a bit in the 11 weeks until the wedding.

11 weeks! Egads!

Dress!

I ordered my dress yesterday from the Lewisville Bridal Boutique. Sounds swanky doesn't it? Ha! It is a hole in the wall. You'd drive right by it if you weren't looking for it. But inside this dirty, dusty storefront is a room packed full of designer gowns at reasonable prices. The service was great and the dresses simply stunning. Well worth the drive in my book.

Kristen (my sister) went with me and was kind enough to try on a few things for the bridesmaids. So I have at last made a Decision! Top and Skirt in claret satin. The store won't order them until they have all 4 bridesmaid's measurements so that we only pay one shipping fee AND the gals get 15% off since I bought my gown there. (Also, by ordering at the same time, we increase the odds of them all being from the same dye lot - woo!)

You can love your country, but please don't love your country. Please.

And in a similar vein, babies modeling wedding headpieces is slightly disturbing.

Going to a beachy locale for your honeymoon? Be sure to leave your mark. And leave it, and leave it, and leave it...

I am seriously struggling with a dress style. Mom and I are scheduled to go try dresses on the first weekend in October - there's an outlet just north of Denton and a resale shop in Dallas a friend told her about. I'll try to get the name, Lyn, if you're interested.

Generally, I'm leaning towards simple dresses, with clean lines. But not strapless. I am NOT as brave as Jules!

Here's the links to a few style I like -
High Neck - probably my favorite
Scoop neck, halter - probably too heavy to wear on the halter, but I like the fold of the neckline
High neck, striking back - don't think I could pull this off

Simple - I like this because it's SO clean

It's white. It counts.

Not wanting any sort of dress covered in lace or beading or silk flowers or whatever else they put on wedding dresses nowadays, I settled on a white bridesmaids dress from Aria early on. The bridesmaids will wear the short version in color #79, Sky Stripe. I'll wear the long version in white.

Dealing with Aria has been painless so far. It took about two days to get a set of swatches in the mail, and they have a try-on program for people who don't live in Boston or Los Angeles, where their two showrooms are. And, because it's a simple dress, I don't have to order it until late November and I'll still have plenty of time for alterations in case I invest in that liposuction I've been considering.