The Bride Wore White

Who knew shopping for wedding dresses could be so much fun?? Actually I did figure as much. Shopping is fun in general and shopping for your wedding dress is a million times better. My mom and I had an absolute blast this past weekend. It was so great to have her with me, as she’s the one person whose opinion I truly value.

Obviously every bride should be treated like a queen, but it doesn’t have to be restricted to your wedding day. Some dress shops I’ve been to with friends in the past were great – good service, good selection but the one thing that was lacking was that “royal treatment.”

I was looking for just that when deciding where to try on my very first wedding gown. And what better place to make you feel like a queen than La Jolla?

Our first stop was M Bride (www.mbridesalon.com) on Pearl St. This little boutique is very charming with bright green walls, light hardwood floors and one huge mirror. One wall was lined with gorgeous designer gowns in every style imaginable.

Speaking of styles, I thought I had mine pegged. Boy was I so, so wrong. That day my Mom and I learned that I was “closet girly.” I swore I would never, ever find myself in one of those “typical” bridal gowns. You know the one: strapless with a big, poofy skirt, lots of sparkles and lace.

But something happens to you when you put on one of those “typical” wedding dresses.

You turn into a bride. (Adding the veil helps, too).

Plus they just looked better on me; I don’t quite have the curves to pull off some of the other styles. I learned this from Michele who was helping me try on dresses. She was incredible! Michele was completely honest and very helpful. I felt very comfortable with her and couldn’t imagine anyone else helping me while trying on my first dress.

It was difficult to leave M Bride, I could have stayed and tried on dresses all day. But it made it easier knowing that I would get to try more dresses at Chez Bride Moderne (www.chezbridemoderne.com) after lunch.

Holly helped us out at Chez Bride Moderne, which is located on La Jolla Blvd. in the Bird Rock neighborhood. Holly was a sweetheart and let me try on a TON of dresses. We really put her to work. The best part was that Chez Bride and M Bride carry different designers so I wasn’t trying on all the same gowns.

Chez Bride was a gorgeous salon with 3 large mirrors to give you just about every angle imaginable. Holly even closed down the store allowing us to have it all to ourselves. Talk about service! The dresses were amazing and it was so difficult to decide. I definitely need to go back and retry on some dresses before I make a final decision.

So overall the day was a TOTAL success. My Mom and I were on cloud 9. Both salons gave us the impeccable service I was looking for and my only hang up is that there were too many fabulous dresses to decide on just one.

I don’t want to give away too much about the dresses I liked since Rich will most likely read this. So I’ll just let you know that some of my favorite wedding gown designers are Ines Di Santo, Judd Waddell, Alvina Valenta, Romona Keveza and Valena Valentina.

I’d love to hear about some of your experiences with trying on dresses and how you found “the one.” I keep hearing that “when you find it, you’ll just know.” That doesn’t work with me. I think too much and change my mind too often. This wedding planning is going to be exhausting!

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