Magnolia & Main

The Dress

Shopping for a wedding dress was not something that I was looking forward to. At all.

I was looking forward to a weekend down in Kiawah/Charleston, brunching, and spending time with my mom and with one of my bridesmaids. The actual shopping part? Eh. Wasn't that excited about trying on dozens of dresses and trying to make a decision about what dress I was going to wear to marry Patrick.

But apparently you need a dress so off we went!

Our first stop was to Hominy Grill for brunch. Tip: get there right as they open and there is absolutely no wait.

The first appointment was at Modern Trousseau on King Street in downtown Charleston. This shop was more of a boutique so it wasn't super overwhelming when it came to picking out dresses. We found about 9 or so for me to try on there.

Problem #1: I liked them all.

We narrowed it down to four, then to two, and then to one that I really liked. But since it was our first shop, we made our notes, and headed out to Southend Brewery for a drink.

... the Clemson game was on at noon and we had to watch some of it before walking over to the second bridal shop. I think Clemson must have known I only had about an hour to watch and they put the game away in the first quarter {21-0!} and by the time we were at dress shop #2, they were up 28-0 and by half? 42-0. Thank you, Clemson, for soundly beating Miami so that I could focus on the shopping!

The second appointment was at Fabulous Frocks. I'll be honest - I had low expectations for this place. I had already found a dress at the last shop that I liked and wasn't expecting much from out of this store.

& then I found a million dresses to try on. Do you want to know what the problem is with a million dresses to try on? I'm entirely too indecisive. I liked them all. Again.

But the girl that was helping us looked at all the dresses that I had tried on and said she'd be right back. She came back a minute later with another dress for me to try on. I looked at the dress and almost told her no because it was exactly what I didn't want. It was open mind Saturday though so I tried it on.

... and wouldn't take it off. It was absolutely not what I had wanted but it looked perfect once I put it on.

I did eventually take the dress off and we walked over to The Blind Tiger for some drinks, nachos, and dress decision conversations.

At the end of the day, this is what it came down to: I liked every dress that I tried on. Some more so than others. I could narrow down to a top 4, then top 2, then a favorite dress in each shop. If I went to another store, I'd find another favorite dress.

So we marched back into Fabulous Frocks and bought the dress that I wouldn't take off. Added in some accessories and called it a day.

No tears, no "omg this is my wedding dress!" exclamations, no theatrics. Just a simple peace in the fact that I had found the dress that I wanted to wear when I walk down the aisle to marry Patrick.