THE DRESS!!!

Today, I took a personal day to go dress shopping with Mom and Ashley. I was so excited and had the ENTIRE day planned, from start to finish.
We had the first appointment at Country Bride and I cannot even begin to express how ECSTATIC I was that this day was finally here! The lady that helped us out, Mary, was so nice! She had me fill out a profile that included my wedding day and the bridal party. Then, we all walked around the store and browsed their gown selection. Anything that we saw that looked appealing, we set aside to be tried on. After the hook was just about bent from all of the gowns weighing it down...I headed off to the fitting rooms for the adventure of my life. Of course, Mary was right behind me. We started with her handing me a HUGE "slip" and telling me to put it on and take everything else off. After I maneuvered my way into this "slip" I was ready to put on the first wedding dress. When I tell you that this was a process...it is an understatement! You don't "put on" these dresses...you DIVE into them! Some of these dresses were SO big...I didn't know how I would even be able to move. THANK GOD for Mary! Clearly, she knew what she was doing. The first dress was a definite NO. I was shocked too, because I always thought I would fall in love with an all-lace, white dress. Not so much. It just didn't do it for anyone. I went through this for about 30 more minutes (which means I only tried on about 3 dresses) before I found one I liked. When I came out, my Mom had a huge smile on her face. I loved how it looked...but I wasn't completely sold. So...back into the small room I went, Mary right behind me, to dive in and out of several more dresses. The very last dress I had hanging on the hook was not very promising, in my opinion. But, I was having so much fun...I didn't want it to end. So, I tried on this dress too. This dress was A LOT of dress! Somehow, I managed to get myself out to the mirrors and when I looked at myself in this dress...I knew it was "the dress." It was perfect for how I had envisioned the day and I felt like a bride. It is a champagne dress with a very understated sweetheart neckline. The top is embroidered with pearls and crystals and the bottom is plain satin. The back of the dress is bustled up in several different sections and it has a cathedral-length train. It was just absolutely amazing and I did not want to take it off!
It's going to take 6 months to be ordered/made so I won't get to see it again until September.
How crazy that I now have my wedding dress!!! I can't believe things are finally starting to be solidified!