Hello and welcome back! In honor of the month we celebrate mom’s and the Royal Wedding, I thought it would be a good time to update you on how the wedding planning is coming along for my daughter’s wedding. We are officially five months away! Yikes…
People from all over the U.S. are excited to watch the Royal Wedding coming up. Part of the excitement includes seeing the Wedding Dress that Meghan Markle will wear. It has been a well kept secret and I can’t wait to see it.
Finding the perfect dress is something all brides look forward to when wedding dress shopping and I am sure Meghan was no exception.
I want to share my dress shopping experience with my daughter. Now, let me tell you, wedding dress shopping is fun, exciting and emotional, especially for us mom’s.
As I mentioned in my previous blog (Whose wedding is it anyway – March), moms have a vision for their daughter’s wedding and that includes the wedding dress. For me, the dress is not complete until the vail is put on.
My daughter made appointments at three bridal boutiques in the San Diego area. I was very excited to see her try on dresses, but what I looked forward to the most was seeing her in the vail! I love long cathedral vails, so I was secretly hoping my daughter would love a long vail too.
The bridal crew included; her maid of honor, my niece, my mom, my son and daughter in law and myself.
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Her first appointment was at The Bustle Bridal Boutique located in Del Mar. My daughter was greeted with a wonderful sign welcoming her. They had Champaign waiting for us, which was a nice surprise. What I loved about this boutique is they only book one appointment at a time, so it was just us.
It was a surreal moment for me. I imagined this moment since she was a little girl and now it was actually happening. I have to say, when I saw her come out in the first dress, she took my breath away.
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Our next stop was to The Dress Theory in San Diego. The shop is a beautifully restored cottage that I just fell in love with. Parking is a bit of a challenge, but if you find street parking close by, you’re good.
When we arrived we were greeted by her consultant who showed us to our own private area. I really like when bridal boutiques offer a private area for the bride and family to be in. It makes the experience so much better and more personal.
Again, all the dresses she tried on looked stunning on her. I knew this was going to be a hard decision for her. She loved so many of the dresses, but she still was not sold on one that made her feel like “this is the one”.
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After stopping for lunch at a great little Mexican restaurant in downtown San Diego, we were off to the last appointment of the day.
We arrived at Something Bleu Boutique in Oceanside. We were greeted right away and shown to the bridal area. They had strawberry’s and Champaign waiting for us, which everyone enjoyed.
We had a nice surprise when we arrived. One of the designers was there and he personally started dressing my daughter in a variety of his latest designs. I have to say, I loved all the dresses he put her in. After a very long day, she did not say yes to any of the dresses.
She was a little disappointed, because she was hoping to find a dress. She was feeling confused about the style she wanted and was little frustrated.
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About a month after we went wedding dress shopping, my daughter called to tell me she booked us a flight to New York and made an appointment at Kleinfeld’s. She loves watching the show “Say Yes to the Dress” and has always dreamed of shopping for her wedding dress Kleinfeld’s.
So, this last February we traveled to NY along with her Matron of Honor, my two nieces and my daughter in law.
We were very excited when we arrived, we could not believe we were actually there. Her consultant was Debbie and Cheyne, both are on the show regularly. This made her even more excited to be there and get the Kleinfeld experience.
We were taken back to the dressing room area and they started bringing in dresses. She tried on about 5 dresses but was still unsure on the style of dress she liked and she was starting to feel like she would not find a dress.
Debbie brought in a dress that was different from what she had been trying on. As soon as she put on the dress, the expression on her face was like none we saw before with any of the other dresses. Debbie added the vail and the water works started flowing on all of us…She found her dress.
When asked; “Serena, are you saying yes to the dress?”, she tearfully answered “Yes”. We all were crying and hugged her, it was a great moment.
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Wedding dress shopping with my daughter is an experience I will treasure forever. It was a special time I will remember and look back on with fond memories and I can’t wait to see her in her dress walking down the aisle on her wedding day .
And by the way, you have to wait to see the dress until after her wedding. You didn’t think I would actually show the dress did you? I value my life too much to do that…
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My advice to brides when it comes to wedding dress shopping is this:
- Invite people you are close with and know your style
- Try on different types of dresses, you may be surprised at what you like
- Have an open mind when you go
- You will find the perfect dress for You
- Have fun and enjoy the experience
So, what is your dress shopping experience? Tell me about it in the comments below, I would love to hear about it.
A huge shout out to the following Bridal Shops…
If you have any questions, feel free to email me directly at eventsbymaria@outlook.com.
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Until next time, Happy Planning…
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Events by Maria 