Saying Yes to the Dress

My original approach to wedding dress shopping was pretty much the same as my approach to dessert buffets: I WANT TO TRY ALL THE THINGS! I made appointments at five - oh yes, five - bridal salons over the course of two weekends. It was the Mrs. M-to-be Wedding Dress Tryin' Jamboree 2012 - and everyone was invited! (Well, not Mr. M, of course.)

My mom came down to Brooklyn on Friday morning to begin the satin and taffeta-draped marathon. We met up with one of my bridesmaids, J, and started out at the White Gown in Brooklyn, a hip and sophisticated little bridal boutique in the Dumbo neighborhood. My experience there was lovely beyond words. As a solidly plus-sized bride, I was really nervous that I'd be relegated to either holding pretty dresses up to myself in the mirror or shimmying into a parade of dumpy, boring plus size dresses. I shouldn't have been so pessimistic - the White Gown had zillions of gorgeous sample dresses in my size! (Or at least very close to my size.) I was able to try on at least seven or eight dresses in the style that I wanted, and at least three of them were very serious contenders. My consultant Erin was amazing - intuitive and friendly and welcoming - and the salon itself was really comfortable and pretty. My only tiny, tiny complaint was the size of their robes - guys, if you carry a sample size 22, invest in some XL robes for the size 22 ladies! But other than that, the experience couldn't have been better.

The Enzoani Fabi - is this dreamy or what?

I fell in luuuurve with the Enzoani Fabi dress -  especially after Erin showed me how much more flattering it was with a sparkly sash at the waist - but I still had four more appointments to get to, so I left the salon with Erin's card, pretty positive that Fabi would be my gown!

Our next stop was Kleinfeld's. I wasn't optimistic when we walked in - at four o'clock on a Friday afternoon, the place was a madhouse. We stood around waiting for a seat in the lobby to open up - and waiting for my other bridesmaid, N, to join us - and finally snagged a sofa just moments before my consultant, Antonella, appeared. I recognized Antonella from the show, Say Yes to the Dress, and was totally excited to see her! She was working with a newer consultant that day, showing her the ropes, and it was really cool to see the interaction between the more seasoned Kleinfeld's veteran and the super enthusiastic and sweet newbie.

We went into a dressing room and went over budget and style. I had printed out some dresses from the website but, like a doofus, totally forgot to bring them. I tried to describe the things I liked - dropped waists, full skirts, lots of drama - but also told them that I was totally open to suggestions. After a couple of minutes, everyone left - the consultants to the stock room, my entourage to a couch - and I slipped into my (perfectly sized) silver robe to wait.

The first few dresses were beautiful, but not really an improvement over the Fabi. I tried on the pretty Sophia Moncelli ballgown from the opening credits to SYTTD: Big Bliss and a Bliss by Monique Lhullier dress that was covered in organza roses. Both were lovely, but.... they just didn't quite top the Enzoani from the White Gown.

And then they brought it in - THE DRESS. It didn't look like much on the hanger, but I figured they knew better than me and I might as well try it on. You never know, right?

I stood on the pedestal as Antonella tugged the corset lacing tighter and tighter. And what was that in the mirror...? I had a waist! And boobs! A flat stomach and curvy hips! I looked taller... and elegant... and, oh my God.... beautiful!

As soon as I stepped out to show the crew, I knew we had a winner on our hands. The ladies, who had mostly been giving lukewarm nods and forced smiles to the giant, froofy ballgowns I loved, all lit up and started nodding. And when I turned around to show them the dramatic train? It was a chorus of "Yes! YES!"

We walked out to the pedestal in front of the full length mirror. I stepped up on the pedestal and dropped my armfuls of skirt. The silky fabric cascaded to the floor as my mom straightened out the beautiful train behind me. Another consultant came up and slipped a stunning beaded cathedral veil in my hair. Oh man. I melted.

I quizzed the folks I was with - do you love it? Do you think this is it? Do you really really love it? They all said yes. And so, after a few emotional moments in the fitting room alone with my mom, with tears of happiness in my eyes, I said yes, too.

And the celebrating started! "Are you saying yes to the dress?!" Antonella asked, laughing. "I am saying yes to the dress!" I replied. And we all laughed and took pictures and I took one last long glance in the mirror before I took it off, picturing myself walking down the aisle on our wedding day, Mr. M standing at the altar. I could really, really see it. And oh man, I really can't wait.

Om Nom Nom... the Tasting Party!

As soon as we signed the contract and put down the deposit for the Botanic Garden, we got an email from the Palm House's wedding coordinator inviting us to a tasting party! The Palm House has an in-house caterer, Charles Sally Charles, and instead of individual tastings for couples getting married there, they have a big party a few times a year. Even though it was a little bit early - since our wedding won't be for another year - both Mr. M and I never say no to a party. So we went, and brought Mr. M's mother along with us to enjoy the festivities!

The caterers had set up a full bar outside of the Palm House on the patio near the fountains, so Mr. M's mom and I picked up a few glasses of celebratory champagne - yum! Mr. M opted for a cocktail instead, and was very pleased - those bartenders know their stuff. We sipped our drinks and admired the scenery for a bit, then headed inside to begin the feast.

The caterers had arranged the room with food stations lining the walls - a Tuscan table with antipasti and yummy little vegetable tarts, a pasta station with some salads and different kinds of pasta, an artisanal cheese table, a crudite display and - be still my beating heart! - a fully stocked raw bar with different kinds of raw oysters and clams, huge jumbo shrimp, cracked crab legs and delectable chilled lobster tails. Heaven! We claimed a cocktail table near the kitchen and made sure to snag each one of the passed appetizers as they came by - a miniature Reuben sandwich, a chilled butternut squash soup in a shotglass, a teeny tiny crabcake. Yum to everything! Later in the evening, the waiters brought out miniature samples of a few entree selections. We tried the duck, which was really good, but missed out on the other entree.

The only slight disappointment of the evening was the cake selection - the catering package includes a cake, and Mr. M and I agreed that we would go with the venue's bakers rather than spend the extra money to hire one of our own. Though there were seven or eight flavor combinations available, we were only allowed to try three each - and the ones we tried were not as amazingly delicious as all of the other food we'd had that evening. The vanilla flavors were on the dry side, and the chocolate ones - while still pretty good - were underwhelming. Oh well... no one really eats cake at a wedding anyway, right?

We left a little bit tipsy and totally full of oysters and lobster, confident that we'd made the right choice in booking the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. It's going to be a really beautiful - and really delicious - day!

Flower... Tweens?

My mom is one of eight brothers and sisters. No, seriously... eight! (Ah, Irish Catholics!) And while she's towards the beginning of the birth order, her youngest sister was born while my mom was away at college - which is how I turned out to be a thirty-one year old bride with two eight year old cousins.

Not just any eight year old cousins, of course, but the cutest, smartest, funniest, awesome-est twin eight year olds ever! The girls are both great, and as soon as Mr. M and I started thinking about our bridal party, I knew that I wanted the twins to be a part of it. They were flower girls at my brother's wedding a few years back, and at another cousin's wedding a little while before that, so I figured they should be professionals by now! And since both of the ladies are so cute and smart and funny and awesome, I wanted to make sure I asked them to be my flower girls in a really special way.

 

So I found these teeny little pale pink letterpress cards in a stationery store in Philadelphia and I Googled around for a cute little girly poem to write inside of them and I mailed them off, all proud of myself for being the totally cool older cousin who was clearly going to treat these girls like the little princesses they are!

Then we all got together for a family gathering a few weeks ago, and I was all, "Sooooo.... are you guys excited to be my flower girls?! You can wear fluffy pink dresses and cute little shoes and flower crowns just like a fairy princess!!!!"  The twins, to their credit, managed to smile and nod politely.  Then my mother walked into the room and said, "Flower girls?! Why not junior bridesmaids?"

"Would you guys rather be junior bridesmaids?" I asked. Their eyes lit up. "Yeah!"

"Oh... okay!" I said, "And would you rather wear pink poofy dresses, or more sophisticated ones like the bridesmaids?" They were definitely in agreement - "Sophisticated!" 

"Okay!" I said, "Junior bridesmaids it is!" 

Not having kids myself, I think I must have just been totally out of touch with the sensibilities of an eight year old girl - but now that I think back, I would have been happier as an eight year old junior bridesmaid myself. Plus, the girls will be pushing ten by the time our wedding rolls around - and clearly, one ages out of flower girl territory well before hitting double digits in age! 

The twins' mother pulled me aside that afternoon and said, "Honestly, they'll be flower girls if you would rather they be flower girls. You get the be the boss on your wedding day!" But at the end of the day, I don't really care what we call them in the program and whether they wear sleek navy dresses or froofy pink ones - I'm just glad they're a part of the wedding party. And if making them junior bridesmaids makes them feel special and grownup and cool, then I am totally happy to have two junior bridesmaids! 

Besides, all is not lost in the flower girl department... I've got the sweetest little baby niece who will be just perfect for the job!