A lot of brides focus on saying “yes” to the dress. But, saying “yes” to the dress means saying “no” to quite a few dresses. I said “yes” to my dress during Spring Break this year. You won’t be seeing her today because her shining moment will be this October. This post is to honor the dress shopping process and all that comes along with it. If you, like me, enjoy floral teas while thinking about weddings, brew a cup of rose or jasmine tea and let’s get started!

I started off my dress selection process by perusing the website. Being a plus-sized woman searching for a dress, I expected to only find one or two dresses that even fit me, let alone looked nice on me. There was a dress at Hello Beautiful in Kearney that I thought would be perfect. With my sister, future mother-in-law, grandma, and fearless bridesmaid by my side, I asked to try on the dress. The consultant said she had the dress and let me try it on. This was the first wedding dress I had ever worn.

This dress was beautiful, but seemed to wear me a little more than I wore it. I liked the sleeves and the color, but it just wasn’t my dress.

Then, I tried on these two dresses. the dress on the left was to satisfy my desire for sleeves. However, the fitted mermaid style didn’t just wow me. The back of this dress was pretty, however, I did not get a photo of it. I noticed I seemed to be liking dresses with fuller skirts, so I tried the dress on the right, but it was just a little too plain for me. The silhouette of this one was much closer to what I wanted.

Naturally, after realizing I wanted a dress with a fuller skirt, I tried on this dress – which does not have a full skirt at all – and fell in love with it. The lace detailing and beading were perfect for me and the back was gorgeous. I tried on a veil with this dress and immediately felt like a bride. If there was going to be a dress I would cry wearing, it would be this one. I didn’t cry, much to my chagrin, and I also did not ultimately choose this dress.

Next, we grabbed some Starbucks and headed to Loomis. Armed with my favorite white tea with peach infusion and lemonade from Starbucks, I was ready to try on more dresses. They even had this sweet sign to welcome me to the store.

This dress was on a mannequin when I came inside the store. The consultant asked us to pull some dresses. We did and she also pulled a few. This was the first dress I tried on at Bridal Isle. Now, this dress is pretty and made me feel like a bride, but didn’t make me feel like myself as a bride. My grandmother really liked this dress because of its simple elegance and the fact that she could see me in the dress as opposed to just seeing the dress. It’s true. This dress is gorgeous, just not my dress.

This is another dress that made my final three when I was choosing my dress. I initially did not want something strapless, but the consultant showed me how they could add a strap and draped some over my shoulders (you can see that in the photo on the left). I kept twirling and swishing the skirt because I felt like a princess and a little like a girl playing dress-up. The consultant added a petticoat to the dress to make it even more poofy. I loved it!

You can see by my face in this photo that I hated this dress. Every time I see this photo, I see Constance Hatchaway from the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney. It felt dated but not in a good, vintage way. The severe boat neck / off-the-shoulder style felt like something from the early ’90s. It just felt weird. Plus, the sample dress was way too small for me and I could barely movie.

At this point in the appointment, I was feeling very overwhelmed. Trying on wedding dresses is surprisingly exhausting. They all start to blend together. Macie put my hair in a bun and I tried on a veil to try and get some enthusiasm out of me. Again, I enjoyed twirling the skirt. The back of this dress also interacted with my tattoo really well, which I enjoyed.

My eyes were definitely glazed over here. To be honest, I wanted to leave. I was dizzy from staring at white tulle and probably inhaling too much glitter. I decided to try on one more dress and found this one. The hemline on this dress is exquisite. It’s really hard to see the actual fit of the dress because the sample was about three sizes too big, but this was another fit and flair or trumpet style dress. It has gorgeous lace and bead detailing and it seemed to frame my tattoo perfectly. Part of me actually likes the back of this dress better than the front. I almost chose this dress. She is our runner-up. If something happens to my dress and she cannot fulfill her duties as my wedding dress, I will probably try to find this one.

After taking this dress off, I was overwhelmed and ready to leave. Like I said earlier, being a plus – sized women, I didn’t expect so many dresses to look great on me. I am pleased to say designers are catering to the plus – sized bride more than ever. Only one dress looked bad on me (I’m looking at you, Constance Hatchaway dress). Any of the dresses besides that one would have been great. This was incredibly encouraging. Given these many choices, I decided to sleep on it and try to make a decision in the next week. Because my wedding is in October, I had to order my dress that week or it would not arrive in time to be altered before the wedding. As I looked back at the many photos, I saw a photo of a dress I barely recognized. It was one I had tried on and quickly said “no” to. However, I kept going back to the dress. Macie convinced me to go try it on the next day. I did and said “yes” to the dress.

I wish I could post a photo or two of my dress here because I love it so much. Unfortunately, they will have to stay tucked away until after the wedding.

I’d love to connect with you! Check out my Instagram and Twitter.