Blitzkrieg Bridal Dress Shopping

When I said I loved to shop for wedding dresses, I meant it. I went to a total of 10 places in NYC, San Francisco, and the Washington DC area.  I also spent hours online looking at preownedweddingdresses.com, hoping to find one of the dream dresses I had tried on for a discounted price. 

On all these trips, my mom was with me. I feel incredibly lucky that we shared the dress shopping experience.  After my sister's wedding 11 years ago, I think my mom was a little burnt out from the wedding planning process (yes, the trauma still lives on after a decade).  But looking for wedding dresses was something that she was still excited about, and that we could do together. 

Originally, I wanted something "understated," "simple," and like an "evening gown". However, one of the Vera Wang dresses my sister practically threw over my head (I was putting up a fight) totally captivated me:

Courtesy of my sister

I'm blinking. The dress is amazing, isn't it? Look at what it does for my figure! I'm actually boy-shaped and straight up and down with not much of a hip-waist differential, but this dress made me look vavoom! The rouched bodice, asymmetrical waistline, and halter strap made me feel sooo pweetty. 

However, I took issue with the poofiness of the skirt. It just felt like too much for the style of our wedding (despite my sister's protests of "who cares??").

I also found the dress below, at Amy Kuschel.  I can't say enough good things about Amy Kuschel--super friendly consultant, a low-key but spacious, airy and bright loft space, and they make the dress to your exact measurements. May I present the Dietrich:

Source

Our final stop was at Hannelore's, in Alexandria, Virginia. Coincidentally, it is the same salon where my sister bought her dress 11 years ago. I tried on a dress that had a rouched bodice, asymmetrical waistline, and could have a halter strap added. Ooh! Kind of sounds like the Vera, eh? Except that this dress was a Marisa, and the skirt was a gentle fit and flare and not a poof.

And guess what? I didn't take a freakin picture! And for a long time, I couldn't find it anywhere, I mean anywhere, online. I didn't have a style number, and the name the salon wrote down doesn't pop up on google searches (a name which I am not going to share because I don't want you to be unpleasantly surprised, like I was, when porn sites with the names of Marisa and the purported dress name kept popping up).

In the last few weeks, though, my dress has been popping up on "for sale" listings.  So here's a picture from preownedweddingdresses.com.

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You know what pushed me over the edge in buying this dress? My mom saying, "Oh just get it, I'm tired of looking for dresses." I would be, too, Mom--thanks for coming along for the long ride.

What finally made you choose the dress you ended up with?  Did you have a magic moment or just a grumpy mother?