A Very Special Trip to New York

If you follow me on Snapchat, you may have seen I went on a pretty special trip to New York over the early May Bank Holiday.  Mum and I flew over the pond to pick up my wedding dress.  I know I’ve kind of been bombarding you with wedding posts recently – but I can’t help it.  I’ve been at home for a few weeks and wedding planning has consumed me.  I am obsessed with checking The VIP Google Doc, I am madly pinning things to our (secret) shared Pinterest board and all I want to write about is the wedding!  So while I’m on a wedding roll, I thought I’d share my wedding dress story.  And if I may say so myself, it’s a good ‘un.

Browsing Instagram

I found my wedding dress last June.  That was a whole 14 months before the wedding (yes, I am doing that thing that new parents do where all time is tracked in months).  But I wasn’t really looking for it.  I just so happened to be in the USA with work and I was minding my own business, browsing Instagram, when I came across a picture of a beautiful wedding dress.  “Oooh that’s pretty, I thought.  Who is the designer?”

Click, click.  

“Oooh their flagship store is in New York.  Oooh I’m in New York this weekend, I wonder if they’ve got any appointments.”

Click, click, click.  

“There’s one left on Saturday at midday.  May as well book it, I can always cancel it”, was exactly how my thought process went.  I never for one MOMENT thought I would find the one.  In fact, the whole thing was super blasé, I just thought it might be quite a fun thing to do.

Nevermind the fact that I had not yet tried on a single dress in the UK and I had a weekend with the bridesmaids booked to look for THE DRESS in September.  But it kind of felt like fate, or blind luck, or serendipity – whatever you want to call it – that there was just the one appointment left and I had got it.

So the weekend rolled around and I started to get a bit panicky.  Having not been to a wedding dress appointment before, I had no idea what to expect or wear and it was pretty damn warm in good old NYC.  I didn’t have a strapless bra with me, or any heels.  Just some jeans and some blisters from my inappropriate footwear choice.  I took my colleague with me and rocked up at this totally unassuming city loft in Lower Manhattan.

The Appointment

As we got to chatting, the assistant asked me a few questions about the style of wedding, where I was getting married and when, what my personal style was like and whether there were any specific dresses I’d seen that I liked.  I answered all her questions and showed her the Instagram screenshot and, low and behold, that dress was from the 2016 collection.  “Do you know about the trunk show?”, she said.  Nope, but again my timing couldn’t have been better.  All the new season collection had 10% off and when you’re spending some serious cash on a dress, those are simply magical words.

The Try On

I let the assistant pick out some dresses (including the Insta-famous one) while I sipped champers out of a plastic cup (the glamour).  I was soon whisked into the changing room along with six dresses.  All six dresses were a little bit different, but very much in a recognisable style.  They were all absolutely stunning but the more I tried them on, the more I could see what I liked and didn’t like.  The assistant grabbed a few more dresses as I gave feedback on her choices and I felt more and more confident.  After I’d tried on eight dresses or so, I just felt an overwhelming urge to try on the first dress again.

And when I put it on, I just had this feeling.  Like a kind of tingly feeling.  I just wanted to smile and twirl around like a fairy princess prancing around on a cloud.  I looked in the mirror and I felt bubbly and light and pretty.  I felt like a bride.

And that was how I knew that dress was the one.  Yes, it might have been sat in a New York loft, meaning alterations and orderings were just a *little* bit more complicated.  Yes, neither my Mum nor my bridesmaids were there.  Yes, it was surely madness.  But I just wanted it to be mine.

So I did and now that beautiful dress I tried on almost a year ago is now hanging in the wardrobe at my Mum and Dad’s house.  And I can’t wait to wear it as I walk down the aisle.

How did you pick your wedding dress?  Did you just know it was The One or was it the hardest decision you’ve ever made?

♥ JH

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