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The wedding dress hunt

June 15, 2012

Hi everyone! Thought I’d pop in again with some more wedding details. I FINALLY found my dress! It was a long process and I think I tried on about 30 dresses, no joke. I can’t complain though, I had a fabulous time shimmying into glamorous gown after gown…surrounded by tulle, delicate fabrics, beading, sequins, rhinestones, poufs of pink, and even tried on the daring black wedding dress.

My search started at Monique Lhuiller (of course). I scurried up there with some of my best gals to try on their embellished fairy tale-like gowns. Their store is gorgeous (but no photos allowed inside, aye!) and is where I first felt the excitement of putting on a wedding gown and strutting around for my friends to ooo and ahh. Quite an exhilarating experience, I must say.

Vera Wang was next on the list..I love her construction and the fabric choices were just delicious, plus they serve champagne to your party in lovely crystal flutes. I also popped by Saks in Beverly Hills to see what that experience might be like. Um, wow. Once I stepped off the elevator to the bridal floor, I felt like I was in a dress heaven. The space was glowing, serene, and had a glamorously retro vibe to it. The dresses were displayed in perfect groupings all over the spacious store. And the nice lady who assisted us had been doing so for what seemed like 40 years.

A few weeks later, I flew to NYC to visit one of my ‘maids and decided to take advantage of the NY wedding dress scene. Trips to Gabriella Bridal and Mark Ingram were in store. Both were lovely, but seemed a bit smaller than the LA stores I had visited. At Mark Ingram, they interview you about the type of dress you’re looking for, and then they go and find dresses in the back for you that fit that criteria…you don’t really get to browse dresses on your own, which is great if you know exactly what you want, not so great if you don’t. I *almost* bought a Peter Langner dress there.

wedding dresses Mon Amie was also on my list. I’d always heard about it, so decided to make the trek to their Costa Mesa store.. great selection, knowledgable staff. But my search ended at The White Dress in Corona del Mar. It’s not huge, but the selection was exquisite. And Brielle, who assisted me, was quite helpful and insightful. The staff told me they ask brides what their favorite wedding blog is, and 100 Layer Cake is always their top pick.. so fun to hear! I can’t wait to show you the dress I picked!

Stay tuned for more wedding tidbits. Right now I’m in the midst of searching for the perfect stole/capelet/shrug. I’m thinking I might want something feathery or sequin-y. Any suggestions on where to look?

xxAmanda