Reflections on a dress

When Fiance and I were first talking about getting married, my wedding visions were pretty simple. Barbecue in the back yard, $200 cotton dress from J Crew or something (though they do have darling flower girl dresses. more on that later). The wedding day didn't matter so much as the marriage. Then I got engaged. And things changed. 6 months ago, spending $1250 on a dress would have been completely out of the question...

But you know what? I've spent most of my life buying clothes just because they fit or just because "it'll do." I don't feel beautiful from day to day once I get dressed. Sure when I do my hair and makeup, I look great, but my clothes are always woefully lacking and I've never felt I was thin enough to pull off the things I really think are cute. It's not easy being just heavy enough to buy clothing specifically and only as a cover-up for cellulite and fat, but not heavy enough to where it doesn't matter what I wear, if that makes sense without being insulting. So for one day, ONE DAY, I want to wear something I feel and look beautiful in. Not just cute, not just adorable, not just good. I want to be stunning, not just for the guests and Fiance, but for myself. I owe it to myself to know that I am beautiful. For the rest of the wedding I'm skimping and making things myself to save money and I'm happy to do it. But I'm not shortchanging myself on my dress.

Today, I contacted the owner of Bellina Bridal regarding the Sophie dress on her Etsy site. We began to email back and forth when I mentioned I was debating between the Sophie and Maggie Sottero's Rasharna dress. The Rasharna is my first love. It just makes my heart melt to see it. But the retail price is something like $1250, and while I would spend that money in a heartbeat for it if I had it, darling Karen of Bellina Bridal is going to get back to me with a quote to do a similar but custom-made dress, just for me! She said she should probably be able to do it for under $1000, and since it will be custom to my measurements, I won't have to spend an additional $200 in alterations, so really folks, I'm potentially saving upwards of $450. Lol, see what I did there? Haha.