Saying "Yes" to the Dress!

Like most girls, I spent a good chunk of my childhood dreaming about being a bride, one year I even was one for Halloween! (Still trying to dig up that photo.) There is so much pressure to find "THE DRESS", there are even shows completely dedicated to it!

Speaking of wedding dress shows, I actually applied to be on one before my dress hunt began. If you know me or have been reading my blog for awhile, you know that a little less than a year and a half ago, I lost my grandmother. She was such an integral part of my life and I never imagined I'd be planning a wedding without her. In fact, my engagement itself had its bittersweet moments realizing I wouldn't be able to call her and tell her the good news. One of my first thoughts in the wedding planning process was, that I needed to try on her wedding gown. Not only did my grandmother wear it, my mother wore it as well! (Talk about a Throwback Thursday!)

My Beautiful Grandmother in the dress in 1954

And my Mother in the dress in 1985!

After trying it on, I realized that, it needed a lot of work. While it looked stunning on both of them, it was definitely not my style and needed an update. So, that's when I contacted Something Borrowed, Something New. I figured, if there was anyone who could turn this dress into something absolutely perfect, it would be them, so I applied.

I thought that maybe they could put a modern take on the gorgeous lace gown, perhaps something like this dress that I found while looking at all the lovely wedding dresses on Lover.ly.

Much to my surprise, shortly after applying, they scheduled me an on camera interview! Before we had even left the building after our interview, we were already told we made it to the next round of casting! This might actually be happening! The next step was to make an at home video with your whole "entourage". My mom, Sam's mom and Danica were all there. We filmed a great video and then, it disappeared. Half way through the video, it just cuts out. We had to re-do it. Unfortunately the second one was nowhere near as good as the first and, to this day, I still am fairly certain that is why we weren't cast for the show. After what felt like an eternity of waiting to hear back I received this e-mail:

"Hi Shea, we finally have our cast set and unfortunately you didn't end up making the final cut.  I know this generally doesn't make anyone feel much better, but you ended up just outside our final group and were in the conversation up til the very end.  We wish you all the best with your wedding and hope you're able to find your dream wedding dress!  It was a pleasure working with you, thank you for being on top of it!

Sincerely,

SBSN Casting"

To be honest, I was somewhat relieved. I had a terrible fear that maybe they would turn the dress into something I didn't love and a family heirloom would be destroyed for nothing. However, not gunna lie, the rejection e-mail did sting a little, but, it was the first step in my dress finding journey! After not making it on the show, I took that as a sign to leave well enough alone and to find a dress of my own, despite my feelings of sentiment towards my grandmothers gown. Although I'm sure my grandma would have loved for me to be in her dress, I think she also knows how much of an individual I am (after all, I get that from her) and she would have also adored the idea of me being in something that was uniquely me.

The days leading up to my first (and only!) bridal salon appointment were nerve wracking. There is so much pressure to find THE dress. And years of watching TV shows puts in your mind that it is going to be impossible to please everybody. I chose a core group of women to come along to my appointment, my mom, my grandma, my best friend (and Maid of Honor) Danica, my cousin and Sams mom.

As I perused the racks I got more and more nervous. Was I going to find one? I started picking out a handful of ones I'd like to try, figuring out what I liked and didn't like. And then... as if out of a movie, (though we didn't realize it at the time) something amazing happened... The hanger of one of the dresses we were looking at broke and completely fell into our arms. Danica held onto it while I continued looking. We decided it would go in the "try on" group. When I got in the fitting room, the only dress that I could remember was the one that fell off the hanger, even though it was nothing like what I had imagined getting. So I tried it on first. Everyone thought it was beautiful but were quick to send me back to the dressing room, it was the first dress after all. I tried on dress after dress and none really compared to the first one. I ended up finding a couple others that I liked but just kept wanting to put that first one back on. Once I did, I think that a unanimous decision had been made. We all loved the dress, its uniqueness, but most of all, the way that it made me feel. Once I got home and was reliving the day I realized, I didn't chose that dress, that dress chose me! Of all the dresses in the store, it jumped right off it's hanger and said "Choose me!". I can't help but think that my grandma played a role in that. It still gets me emotional just thinking about it.

With the wedding just over a month away, I can't share photos of the dress just yet but I can't wait to have my guests and most of all, Sam, see it knowing that it is the most special dress I could have ever imagined.