Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Wedding Dress Shopping

I knew wedding dresses were expensive, but I had no idea how expensive until we actually started shopping. If you are a size 10, for example, you can find a wide variety of dresses either used or floor samples for as little as $50. If, like The Daughter, you are between a size 0 and size 2, you are out of luck for less expensive choices. We had a wonderful time looking, and she found the dress of her dreams at Kay's Kreations in Tupelo, MS. The staff there treated her like royalty and helped her find plenty of suitable dresses to try on. She narrowed it down to two, and either one would've been perfect. As luck would have it, she preferred the less expensive of the two. That's my girl! The dress has been ordered, and they'll notify her when it comes in so we can go back for a fitting.

We were so surprised that the shops here in Memphis didn't have more varied styles available. The ones here were all sleeveless slinky things, or sleeveless tight-fitting dresses with mermaid flaring at the knees, but all were sleeveless. Odd. The dress she chose has a defined waistline, a full skirt, a lacy overlay to the neck, and little lacy cap sleeves. She looks like a Cinderella princess in it.

We can't bring ourselves to go anywhere without checking out what the community has to offer, and Tupelo does have some interesting sights I'll be writing up. On this day, we had lunch in downtown Tupelo at Cafe 212:


We sat on that patio you can see in the front. I had a chicken salad sandwich, fresh fruit and water:


We went back to Memphis, where we checked out another couple of bridal shops. We had an appointment at Ballew Bridal, but the young woman who greeted us didn't actually seem to care much. After the princess treatment The Daughter had been graced with at Kay's Kreations, this was a major change. The salesperson was open to selling us a dress, that's true, but the service didn't go beyond that to include a pleasant attitude. The salesperson told us to go home and look at their website and get back to them if we saw something we liked. I imagine they sell clothing suitable for the mother of the bride and for bridesmaids, but the saleswoman didn't mention it. We're done with them.

At David's we were greeted pleasantly. We didn't have an appointment, but the staff person said they could see us in an hour and that we were free to look at the dresses in the meantime. That was nice. The Daughter didn't see anything she wanted to try on, but the saleswoman invited us to look at their offerings for me (as mother of the bride) and for the bridesmaids. I want to wear pants, and they only had dresses; but we have been back there since then to check out bridesmaids' dresses. One of the bridesmaids will be nearing her due date at the time of the wedding, so The Daughter took her with us and let her pick the dress. It's a lovely style. We think it'll look good on all the ladies and will be wearable in the future either as-is or shortened. The Daughter ordered white, ballerina-style slippers for her to wear, and she'll be notified when they come in. She's going to let her bridesmaids wear black shoes of their own choosing.

The groom has chosen tuxes and accessories at Men's (formerly Gentlemen's) Warehouse. They have a working relationship with David's and can match the colors exactly.

We love success stories!

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17 comments:

  1. Congrats on having found the most you need for this wonderful event!
    Happy T-Day!
    oxo
    Susi

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  2. Glad your daughter was successful at getting a nice wedding dress. Chicken salad sandwich sounds good, too, but the bad service in one of the Memphis shops was not encouraging. Sounds like our book shop here, I asked them to search for a book for me, and she told me I should look at home in he computer - I did just that, and bought it online! Happy T Day, Valerie

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  3. Congratulations on finding the perfect dress! I've just looked at the website and I see what you mean about all the dresses being sleeveless. I have no idea what size 0 is that your daughter has (big or small?, zero sounds small) but I'm glad she found something she liked.
    Have a great Tuesday (and rest of the week),
    Thanks for visiting earlier,
    Lisca#5

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    1. 0 is tiny, and they don't carry much at all in her size. It's a real shame all the sale dresses are so much bigger.

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  4. I'm so glad your daughter was treated properly in Tupelo. I know dresses are expensive because back in the 90's I helped a friend (I was her maid of honor) pick out a dress. Of course her parents spared no expense and the dress was $6000.00. I can only imagine what it would cost today. It was a beautiful dress, but she lost a bit of weight before the final fitting and they had to take it in quite a bit TWICE before the big day. The shop didn't make much money on the deal since the fittings were included in the cost. I kept thinking though, how much they could have saved for their future if she had gone with a less expensive wedding. I think the final total was around $11,000.00, but thankfully that included the reception.

    The place you ate lunch looked like it was fun, but it would have been too hot to eat outside here in KS.

    Thanks for sharing your good, bad, and indifferent wedding dress experiences, as well as your lunch with us for T this Tuesday. I also look forward to your other Tupelo adventures, too.

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    1. Wow! That was an expensive dress! I don't think my daughter tried on anything that cost more that $1500, and I thought _that_ was outrageous. We're discovering that receptions cost a pretty penny, too.

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  5. Good customer service is beyond approach! I am so glad she got treated like royalty, it sure does add to the excitement of getting married. Can't wait to see her dress, your description sounds beautiful. I'm not one for all the "new" looks in wedding dresses...they don't compliment all the body shapes either.....call me old fashioned!!

    You lunch looks good, and fresh strawberries....yummmmmm!

    Happy T-day

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  6. Divers looks like you are having a fabulous time. Both times i was married in front of the justice of the peace and daughter was married in Vegas... So no big weddings for us.. I look forward to hearing more about your daughters as the time approaches. :) Happy happy Tday! Hugs! deb

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  7. Weddings can be a lot of work and endless preparation. Sounds like you have things in hand. I wouldn't want to deal with indifferent employees, either, for such a big event. When you are paying a lot you do expect decent service.
    Myself--I never wanted the big wedding. Don't regret not having one, but I know many young ladies have imagined and dreamt of it for years. I hope everything goes as she wants it to. Happy times!
    And happy T-Day! :)

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  8. Sounds like you are having fun with preparations to the wedding! I like your decision to wear pants - very elegant and sophisticated!

    You know, I didn´t realize that size 0 was actually a real thing - I thought it was just a retorical magazine expression that meant "impossible standards for supermodels and therefore young impressionable girls = eating disorders". What if one is smaller than a 0? Are there minus-sizes?

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    1. Sizes aren't what they used to be. I used to wear a 3/4 or a 5/6. Now I'm much thicker in the waist but still wear the same size, because they've changed the measurements so we won't feel bad about ourselves ;) That said, she has always been slender. 0 is the smallest size I know. I don't know any adults who would wear a smaller size, but if they did the clothes would have to be altered to fit.

      My new top for the wedding is a size small, but it didn't come in petite sizes, so it'll have to be shortened. Everybody's so tall! Or that's what it looks like from down here ;)

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    2. You know, you are right about the sizes having changed. When I find a nice 70´s dress at the secondhand shop in the size I wear, it is invariably too small, particularly in the waist. And young people are generally getting taller, at least here. I registered for school today, and some of those young women are so tall!

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    3. Very tall! Even petite sizes are way too long for me.

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  9. Planning a wedding is a lot of work and can get very costly very fast !!! Glad she found a wedding dress she likes ..it can be hard sometimes. It's great to find a place that knows how to treat it's clients well.

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  10. Congrats on finding the perfect dress.
    Happy T day

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  11. what an exciting time! doesn't seem to matter what size you are, there is a certain amount of frustration about The Dress! When my daughter was shopping, they were mostly strapless which did not appeal to her at all, but eventually we found just the right dress. You are so right about the service, and that makes a big difference in the final decision. Perhaps the sales girls don't quite realize that?! You seem to always find great little places to take us for lunch too....happy T day!

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  12. Oh exciting times and how wonderful to have the dress of her dreams on order!
    That is a big decision.
    With all of the competition out there treating customers royally seems prudent.
    Being the mother of sons and none of them married I felt happy when a very special "girl" in my life invited me to her wedding dress fitting which happened to be at a place in Wash DC called "Hitched". It was memorable and such fun.
    Keep enjoying the pre wedding bustle...time moves so quickly
    Happy T Day on Thursday oxo

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