Where to start? Where to start?
My mom and I had been looking through magazine after magazine and it was very obvious that our styles were not exactly the same. I guess every mom envisions their sweet angel (yep, that's what she calls me) in the poofy, marshmallow, blingtastic dress. And, my mom, unfortunately, is no different. I will say that my mom has pretty good taste in style and I understand that she is in the bling phase, so I tried to keep that in mind while searching for THE dress.
We had been to a few places, shed some tears and laughed a whole lot...but, I still wasn't convinced that we had found IT. I felt like when I found IT the heavens would sing, my mom would ball and I'd say THIS IS MY DRESS!! Not an ounce of doubt would cross my mind...hadn't gotten there yet, but I knew we had to be close, as I had tried on what felt like a bazillion dresses at quite a few different places.
I was headed to Dallas for a shower and my mom offered to ride with me. So, she called her bestie and we all made a day trip to Dallas. I rode to the shower with my bestie and MOH, Jayme. So, after the shower we met up with my mom and Paula at Mockingbird Bridal. They were closing in 30 minutes, so I had no intention of trying dresses on, but I knew that my mom had been shopping for herself and I was excited to see what she had found. Well, I walked in and was greeted by a super sweet consultant that informed me that my mom had found THE ONE for her. Sure enough, she had! It was breathtaking on her, she glowed in it!
Much to my surprise, not really, they had pulled several dresses for me. So, I agreed to try a few on. I finally knew what it meant to feel like a Magazine Bride - I felt so stuffy in every single dress I tried on! After the 7th or 8th NO! I shared my feelings with the consultant. She took all of the "stuffy" dresses out of the room, left one or two that my mom and Paula had pulled and brought a few new ones in that she had pulled.
I tried the first one on that she had pulled and I'm pretty sure the angels in heaven started warming up their voices...this one felt a bit closer to being right. Next one, zipper zipped, clips clipped - turn and see myself - HUGE SMILE! This was it!! I had found it!
I walk out of the room to strut my stuff for the ladies, grinnin' like a possum, as they say it in Marquez. "I LOVE IT!" I proudly announce. SILENCE, not a word from anyone. Finally, Jayme speaks up...I don't like it. Paula chimes in, "Yeah, not so much." I look to my mom, feeling completely defeated..."I love it! It is so you!" Emotion overload at this point. Confusion takes over, so I quietly retreat back to the dressing room.
The sweet consultant says, "this is YOUR dress." Was she telling me this because she wanted the commission or because she really felt this way. She continued on as to why she felt like this was my dress, pretty convincing sales pitch or not, she made me feel better.
I tried on a few more, but I still have that tugging at my heart as I look at the ONE hanging on the hook. I put it back on without telling my panel what I am doing. Go back out to show them...and THE HEAVENS STARTED SINGING!! They all said, "YES, that is YOUR dress!!" Those emotions that I had imagined came over me, maybe not as intense as I'd imagined, but they were there.
Dress shopping was definitely an emotional roller-coaster, but definitely worth it! What a very special moment to share with such special people, especially my mom, as we both found our dresses on the same day in the same store. Oh, and did I mention my mom was the one that had picked out MY DRESS!!
