This weekend was for wedding dress shopping. On Friday, my friend Kate and I did a test run appointment because I was sort of nervous and on Saturday, my mom came into town to do the whole shebang. We did traditional appointments, we went to a super fun off-the-rack couture gown place, did a spin through shoe stores on Oak St, had bubbly and lunch outside at Gibson’s and, in the end, returned to the place Kate and I went on Friday for the dress. It was a blast.
Someone told me a few weeks ago that finding a wedding dress is like dating- you know when you find The One and the whole process mirrors what it’s like to date.
No. No, it does not.
There was not a single time during my dating life where I felt bad identifying that there was no way in hell that a particular guy was right for me. I didn’t go “Oh but if I wanted to be with someone who has a serious drinking problem, this would be the guy for me!” or “Awww, this guy would go so well if I had a desire to live in a rural area” or “Shoot! My self respect is just going to rule this guy out.” Not once. Not for a minute. But that’s exactly how dress shopping was. Even if I didn’t love a dress or a certain dress wasn’t what I was looking for, I felt guilty for saying so and wanted to express all of the great qualities if the dress. I mean, I was trying on beautiful white dresses and I had to insult the pretty things just because one wasn’t my jam? It felt so wrong!
Instead, there was a lot of “If I were getting married on a Southern plantation, this dress would be perfect!” and “Please show this to your next client with a beach wedding” and “This dress is going to find a perfect home, I know it!”. So the moral of the story is that wedding dress shopping is not at all like dating but it is like being at the animal shelter. Only the right pet will do but you totally want the other puppies to find good homes too.
So either I was really bad at dating (likely) or really good at dress shopping or (most likely) really bad at analogies. But I won’t be naked while marrying the man I do know is right for me and I think that trumps everything.