One really great part of visiting David’s Bridal was that we found the bridesmaid dress!

WOO!

I knew I wanted the girls to wear dark purple, preferably a-line, and not floor length. Other than that I didn’t really care. After I was finally freed from the the grip of the Wedding Industrial Complex, the mothers went off the look at mother of the bride dresses and the girls and I headed over to the bridesmaid dresses. I gave them my requirements and we started looking. After a bit I went to check on the moms. When I got back I was informed that they had voted that the dress would not be strapless. Fair enough.

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After putting it off for months, I called David’s Bridal and grilled them on a lot of things: plus size dress selection, average size of plus size samples, and most importantly, what was the least busiest day of the week and could I make my appointment then.

When the day finally rolled around, I was still pretty nervous. I ended up bring both moms and all the bridesmaids except for E since she’s two hours away (I cut you some slack this time ). My mom and I got there early and I got all checked in, and gave my consultant all the vital stats. One thing I’d like to say right up front is that the staff at David’s was really wonderful. Everyone was friendly and went out of their way to help us out. I know it’s kind of the red headed step child of bridal salons, but I have NO complaints about the service they provided!

The thing I had the hardest time with was just, well, I guess the Way It Is. The bridal salon setup. The Wedding Industrial Complex. Whatever you want to call it. I had an uneasy feeling during a lot of the visit. I was trapped in the giant dressing room box listening to my friends arrive and introduce themselves to each other, and FMIL. All the while I’m stuck standing in a giant box in a crinoline that doesn’t quite fit waiting to be stuffed into a dress.

I tried on a bunch of dresses, and it was pretty educational – I found some that looked nice, some that looked terrible, and some that were just ok. I just don’t think I can go back with a big group again. It’s probably me and NEPA Mom, or MOH M, from this point forward, if I go at all. It was too many opinions, and too many disapproving looks from the moms. My style is not their style, and I felt a lot of pressure to conform. I know they mean well, but it was disheartening at times. It’s hard enough trying to imagine how a dress that’s 2 sizes too small will really look without all the background noise.

Either way, I’ll share the results and see what you think!

NEPA GROOM: This one is for real. You don’t want to look. Pictures of me in a wedding dress dead ahead. Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200.

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Hi all,

This is just a quick note to let everyone know my posting has been, and will continue to be light for a little while. I’ve got a pinched nerve in my shoulder (so we think) and have been working with my doctor on a treatment. Right now, by the time work is done I’m only up for about 10-15 minutes of online time a night, so my blogging has been slowed down a lot. I’m working on a lot of great things, but I can’t seem to get far before the pain starts shooting down my arm. As I can post, I will, but I ask for patience while I heal up.

XOXO,

NEPA Bride

I just wanted to share this in case any of you wonderful NEPA brides out there were interested. There’s a bridal expo happening next weekend, on Sunday the 21st, down at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre. I won’t be attending since I’ve already had my fill of bridal expos, but brides early in the planning process might find it useful! They’re doing a big giveaway too, and that’s always fun.

If you attend, let me know how it went and what parts you loved. I also recommend creating a new email address just for signing up with vendors at the expo, because some of them can occasionally be pretty spammy. Better safe than sorry!

I don’t know exactly when it first happened, but after my initial bout of dress research, I happened upon it. The perfect wedding dress style. All the dresses I had been looking at and planning on trying on were really pretty, but even my favorites still didn’t really feel like me. NEPA Groom and I are pretty casual people, in general. I wanted to feel like myself on my wedding day, just a more dressy version of myself. So imagine my delight when I saw one of these:

(again, NEPA Groom, you might want to avoid what’s next if you want to be surprised)

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While dealing with all of my dress anxiety was (and still is) an ongoing process, I did start looking at dresses online a few months before we got engaged. My lack of wedding experience meant that I didn’t really speak the dress language and didn’t really know what I wanted. I tried to put the negative thoughts in the back of my mind and just started looking at the styles of dresses that were out there to see what appealed to me, regardless of how unhealthy and thin the model wearing the dress looked.

I wasn’t looking to find THE DRESS!!!! at the moment, because God knows I’d fall head over heels for the one dress that only came in sizes 0-6.  So, that being said, here are some of the images I began collecting on my dress hunt (NEPA GROOM: If you want to be totally surprised, don’t look. Just warning you ):

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I’m not a huge fan of the traditional guest book. Everyone signs it, maybe they write something nice, and then you read it and…. put it on a shelf? Stick it in the attic? Never see it again? Boo to that. The mister and I were discussing the guest book a while back and I remembered something I saw at a wedding a couple of years ago.

Our friends Ashley and Gerry had one of their engagement photos set out next to the place cards at their reception. The glass was taken out of the frame, and the extra wide matting was open for all of their guests to sign with cute gel pens in their wedding colors! I loved the idea of having everyone help decorate our new home, so I decided to make the idea mine.

We ordered an 8 x 10 of one of our pictures, and then I got to work looking for a frame. They had ready made frames for this purpose online, but most of them were $60+. Yikes! My next option was our dear friend Michaels. They do custom framing, so I thought maybe that would be the answer. However, some research online showed me that their custom framing prices can be insane, which is how they always manage to offer a 60% off custom framing coupon. 60% off $300 is still a load of cash.

Despite all of this, I headed up to Michaels to see what I could find. Maybe I could build it myself. I had picked up some matting and was walking around to check out the frames when I saw it:

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Ahhh, Boscov’s. If you’ve lived in NEPA, you’re undoubtedly familiar with it. The Wilkes-Barre Boscov’s is the most beat up of all the stores, and is often a dumping ground for unwanted merchandise from the rest of the chain. And, apparently, it’s also good for wedding planning. Yes,I said wedding planning and Boscov’s in the same sentence!

Reader Aly B. left me a comment last week about her recent Boscov’s discovery:

On a side note, have you been to Boscov’s basement? They have so many inexpensive vases and knick-knacks. I bought about 20 glass bar pitchers that I can use as table vases. At $1 a piece, they are awesome!

Wow! Who woulda thunk it?

But it makes perfect sense – a lot of the stuff being brought in to our Boscov’s is being marked down to sell, so it’s a perfect place to go to look for deals on vases and glassware. I’m going to try and get down there in the next couple of weeks to see if I can finish off my candy buffet glassware collection. Thank you Aly!

Has anyone else found wedding wares in unexpected places around NEPA? Share your finds here!