Dresses, Dresses, Everywhere...

Alright, I chose the dress for the rehearsal dinner but it wasn't the one you guys liked the best, for several reasons. Number one, even though I had given myself a generous budget for this dress, the Carmen Marc Valvo one far exceeded said budget.  I just couldn't pull the trigger.

I ended up with the Anthropologie dress that was a sleeper hit.  I grabbed it at the last second off the sale rack, not expecting to give it real consideration.  But I fell in love with it when I tried it on and the price was right.

I had to get it altered so I brought it along to my second dress fitting this past Saturday at Ellen's Couture on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The front of the shop is so pleasant and comfortable, which made it perfect to bring Trail Mix Mom and FMIL Trail Mix along.  

Here's a somewhat better picture of the dress (although I look like I need some make-up and diet coke stat. We were there relatively early in the morning for a Saturday :)

It's more a champagne color in real life and has a pretty flattering shape.  I don't usually go for the type of dress with a big bow on it but for once, this one just felt right...Plus, I got to order more JCrew shoes to go with it (it's a genuine addiction, that makes 5 pairs from the Crew alone this past 8 months!Shhhhh....)

Oh, and since you asked (ok, fine, you didn't but Ima show you guys anyways) here's a few sneak peaks of my dress perfection. 

This fitting was the first time I've gotten to try on pieces of my dress that actually fit.  Ellen had to take the entire dress apart and then fit it to me piece by piece.  It was a little scary to show up and just see the skeleton lining of my dress hanging there but once she had pinned on the lace overlay and flower embellishments, I was in love all over again.

I can't wait to show it to you all but I really want to wait for the finished product, hopefully I'll get a chance to before the wedding...If not, you'll just have to sit back, dying of anticipation, and settle for a cute photo of Day One of my bridal weekend (Day Two was my shower, more on that tomorrow!) with the Mama's (and FMIL Trail Mix's sister) after the fitting at Ellen's shop...

Thanks for coming!!!

We spent the rest of the day after the fitting wandering down Madison Avenue, admiring jewelry store windows and trying on Italian silk shirts.  FMIL Trail Mix popped into Cole Haan on a whim and emerged with shoes for our wedding, which she'd been on the hunt for for a while now (and while there, I spotted the adorable shoe choice of Miss Hamster, over which my mom pretty much DIED when she saw them and tried to convince me to get them too!)

It was a complete and total girly, luxurious day and I loved every second of it.

Anyone else have some fun, bridal weekend experiences?