THE dress....

Tuesday, armed with my mom, future mother-in-law, sister-in-law (& Hudson, who was very helpful and SOOOO great waiting and playing with his puzzles Noni gave him to bribe him in to silence :), and future sister-in-law, I tackled my first ever wedding appointment.

The. Wedding. Dress.

I wanted to find THE dress...As an avid watcher of Say Yes To the Dress, I know how difficult and arduous this can be. I have seen hundreds of brides go to Kleinfield (aka the world's largest wedding dress store) and leave empty handed. This left me a little nervous. I also had zero clue of what I wanted. Straps? Sleeves? Sweetheart? A-Line? Fit-N-Flare (whatever that is)? and the list of specifications just goes on.
and on.
and on.
and on.

Thankfully, I brought experts along with me to help me decide. 

As we were walking down the racks and racks of dresses, it struck me: I had never thought of what color wedding dress I wanted. I always pictured myself in white. Not only because of the symbolism white brings but more importantly because I happen to look great in white. If you have never gone wedding dress shopping before, I'm sure you are thinking...there are 2 possible colors: white. or ivory. Right?


you are wrong my friend.


There is white. true white. off white. ivory. custard. OH. MY. GOSH.

I never thought I would arrive at a conclusion...



So I get in all of the undergarments necessary for trying on wedding dresses & dive (literally) in to the world of dresses for the next hour or so. 

The first dress, a true white (very very white), strapless, sweetheart necked, gathered waisted, satin gown. Pretty. Not Carley. 

Second up: A gorgeous gorgeous off white (not ivory) strapless gown, straight across, gathered on the side with a little jewely guy and it tapered off, layer by layer of a tool-ish material. very pretty. a definite runner up. (Karrie picked this one out)

Third up: An even more gorgeous ivory strapless dress. knocked the previously first place dress down confidently to second place. but it was a very empire waisted dress, that made me look a little too bit squatty. but I still loved it. First place. For sure. 

Fourth up:  A hilarious ivory/custard colored satin dress that had off-the-shoulder straps that were in a fashion that made me look like I might be wearing a shawl? but we're not sure. strike one.

Fifth up: A very pretty twisted strapped, plunging neckline (i mean the ladies were OUT...haha) satin dress that was empire wasted and very beautiful. Fear not. I would have put material so the girls were not that visible. 

Then...

Katelyn pointed out a dress that was on a mannequin  in front of the dressing room that I had overlooked. She requested I try it on. 

And I did...


and I purchased it.

and you will just have to have patience and wait. and see..... 


For now, here is a picture of the gang I love oh-so-much, and could not have done this without

 I'm not quite sure what Hudson is saying in this picture, but I am almost positive this was when we had him saying my dress was "beautiful" :) ...which it is...