The Dress

Here's the story of how I found my dress:

Early in the summer I decided I was done being frustrated at Bobby not asking the question yet. I knew it was going to happen at some point - we had gone ring shopping, and I knew neither of us wanted anything except for being together. So, instead of focusing on when he was going to ask me, I started thinking of wedding ideas instead. (I really hope this isn't that uncommon...)

Anyways - multiple google searches later for any combination of "Gainesville" "Wedding" and "Florida", I found a few awesome websites and blogs, including Gator Bride. From there, I found another awesome blog, Kee to Your Heart. Both of the Gainesville authors were sharing their wedding planning experiences, and I was quickly hooked on checking every day for updates! Kari (from Kee to Your Heart) posted her wedding recap a few months ago, and while admiring her pictures, I noticed someone familiar in her bridal party. Sure enough, it was my friend, Ilana! (I never knew Gainesville was such a small town!) I confessed to Ilana that I was a facebook stalker (since the wedding pics also popped up in my news feed) and a blog follower, and she shared the story with Kari. Kari is actually a consultant with Solutions Bridal, and offered to help me find a dress!

Only maybe a week went by after I told Kari a little bit about what I was looking for and explained my pretty limiting budget when she told me about this awesome dress! A Mikaella sample was being sold at a price that couldn't be beat, but I had to go try it on ASAP. So, I made plans with Ilana and we went to Solutions the very next day. The dress was the first I tried on, and I knew right way that it was The One. And the awesome sale made it even better (if that's even possible....). To make the day even more fun, Kari was so much help, and is a total sweetheart! All of the other ladies at Solutions were so sweet and full of positive energy. I guess it would be hard to not by happy when your job is to help a bride find her dream dress!

Here's a badly photoshopped picture from the day - not the best one that was taken, but I don't want there to be any chance for Bobby to see pictures. Not that he couldn't just go look in the extra bedroom closet if he wanted to.... but the less temptation the better!

Ilana and I are sharing the bottle of champagne to celebrate the dress, and there's Kari's reflection in the mirror!

Maybe I can work on some better editing of the better photos and you all can see the big smile that wouldn't leave my face after I tried that dress on :-)