a dress from my dreams - Part 1

The only thing having to do with weddings that I ever thought about growing up besides the venue was my dress. My dream dress. Realistically, I think I just got so hung up on the perfect dress that I never got the chance to imaginary-plan my future wedding. Kind of like an endless loop, with no end in sight!

When I was about 5, my mom came home at night after work shocked to see her daughter (me) playing with her barbies in bed. I didn't see a problem at the time - I was just playing dress-up, and tonight it was dress-up weddings edition. I had a little white dress - that worked good enough for my imagination. I just didn't have a veil for my little barbie. So I cut up a white blanket that I found in my room to make the veil. The white blanket my mom brought me home from the hospital in. She was a little ticked I had cut up this blanket - for her it was imbued with such strong memories of the day I was born! Needless to say, the next day she brought home a box called "Barbie Bridal Dress" - veil included.

In middle school, every opportunity I got I sketched dresses. Long dresses, short dresses, velvet dresses, pique dresses, applique dresses - all wedding dresses. I was convinced (for some insane reason) I could sketch my dream wedding dress. Most of these dresses looked a lot like Monique L'huillier's Scarlet.

Monique L'huillier Scarlet

Ms. L'huillier and I hadn't met yet (in the bridal magazine sense), so I never knew something like what I sketched might exist one day! I also realized at some point that you'd have to be insanely lucky to make it as a wedding dress designer, so my sketches fell by the way-side.

I didn't really think very seriously about my wedding dress again until I thought I needed to. This was a few relationships back, so obviously I was wrong (about the needing to find a dress, and the guy), but skimming bridal magazines in your early 20s isn't so unheard of ;)

About this time, my matron of honor got engaged (she's getting married about a month before me this year). I helped her look through the bridal magazines, and this dress kept fetching my eye -

Priscilla of Boston 2902

I obviously didn't have any reason to try it on at the time, so I kept the dress folded away for later.

Well, later came last May! I was engaged! All engines full blast! What was the first thing I did? I looked up that dress.

Honestly, though, since Mr. Cubbie and I knew before the "engagement" that we were getting married, I was on full-throttle hunt for my dream dress for the entire months of March and April! Grad classes? What grad classes? There's a dream dress to be found!

About a week after we had "the talk", I filled up on bridal magazines to do research. I researched, and I researched. All I cared about researching was dresses. After probably 4 different magazines (tomes, really), I was convinced the Priscilla of Boston style 2902 was the only dress for me.

I think the reason I felt so strongly about my dress decision was this - why should I wear an ivory/white/champagne/pickacolor dress unless I absolutely love it? Why should I spend so much money on a one-night-stand dress unless I wanted to give it breakfast the next morning? Why should I wear a wedding dress unless I feel wonderful and like a bride in it?

I thought at the time that the POB 2902 was the only dress in the world that could possibly fulfill these requirements. There were a few problems, though. This dress retails for something like $5k, and I hadn't yet even tried it on.

Did you fall madly in love with one dress when you were looking?