Gowns galore

So on the 26th of February 2010, together with Maine and Lee (who are such sweethearts!), we thronged the streets of SS2 Pj to find a wedding gown for the reception. Honestly, I didn't really have high hopes at first, because I quite consider myself picky in what I wear daily, so what more for my WEDDING, right? I suppose I mentally set myself up for disappointment from the get go right till the moment before we stepped into the first shop.

Okay, so I didn't know what to expect when it came to Chinese bridal shops, but Malay shops can get a bit iffy about trying on their outfits. One particular bridal shop at Semua House has a policy where you have to pay RM50 just to try on their outfits, forgodsakes. True story. Anyway, I was looking to rent a dress - the budget conscious side of me screamed to RENT seeing as I'll probably only be wearing a white wedding gown once in my life (INSYA-ALLAH.. plus, parading around in my gown at home while I do the vacuuming won't really count), so I've decided rent it is. Back to the whole 'trying on' issue - these people are actually really lenient when it comes to trying on their gowns! You can literally try on 20 gowns and I don't think they would kick up a fuss. Was very happy about that. I mean, that's the way you should run a wedding gown business - customers obviously have to try on a couple of gowns before actually finding one they really like. TAKE NOTE MALAY BRIDAL SHOPS.

So, the first shop we went to wasn't really promising...a bit kodi la. There was one gown which was okay, but was backless (to tell you the truth, that was my fav part about it) but oh well, obviously backless is a no-no with mama. And of course 99.9% of the gowns are sleeveless which posed a daunting challenge seeing as I needed something with sleeves. And the shop assistant tried to make me wear a..you guessed it...bolero at one point. *Shriek* and I swear I couldn't breathe when I tried one on, not in a good take-my-breath-away kind of way. Shudder.

I'm really bad with details, so I can't remember the name of the shops in order (thank god for Maine jotting down everything in her Blackberry) but the first shop was a bit of a let down. On to the next. And as soon as I walked in, my eyes spotted this vintage looking, lacey champagne coloured gown with a brown sash at the waist. Now this is more like it, I thought to myself while hundreds of images of wedding dresses from months of flipping through Martha Stewart Weddings flashed through my mind. Veryyyy nice. I undressed myself and slipped into the dress before the shop assistant could say anything and melted a little. Maine and Lee's oohs and aaahs confirmed that it was indeed a nice dress. Very sweet. And I'm a sucker for lace. One thing though - it was strapless. But I battled with the assistant about adding detachable lace sleeves and she caved in. BUT the dress didn't fit my theme. It was champagne coloured, while my theme is black and white. I asked if I could change the sash to black, but the sash was sewn into the dress, so that wasn't an option. Damn. So we KIV-ed the dress and moved on to the next shop.

I remember the name of the next shop, funnily enough - Bridal Concept. I posed my dilemma of needing a gown with sleeves to the shop assistant, and she whipped out this dream of a gown..but it's an off-shoulder dress. It's a bit hard to describe it in detail, but it has a bit of detailing - which adds to the glam factor - around the upper hip and has a skirt which isn't full, but flares out a little, which complemented the off shoulder design. Maine said the dress was a 'wow' dress and chose it has her number one dress. I agreed. And I loved it. But how was I supposed to convince mama to let me wear an off shoulder dress? Crap la. Maine suggested pulling the "But I'd be married then!" card, but I don't think that will fly with mama. Sigh. Am still going to try and talk her into it next week when I bring her to the shop anyway. Then the shop assistant pulled out another dress with one detachable lace sleeve because she couldn't find the other one haha. Can't remember it in detail, but all I know is that it looks vintage and has detailing on the bodice, with an A-line skirt... which is always a good thing. Tried it on and it was also a winner. It wasn't as glamorous as the off shoulder dress, but Lee says that at least I wouldn't look weird sitting on the pelamin wearing it, unlike the other dress. Figured she had a point. That dress was Lee's number one dress on her list.

I'm not going to list down every single shop we went to because this entry will go on and on if I did, but we basically found at least one gown in every shop, which was great. Except for this one shop which shall not be named - they refused to accomodate to detachable sleeves and I swear, I almost puked looking at this horrible, lace bolero with flared out sleeves which they suggested I wear. Not if it was the last bolero on earth, man. Anyway, the last shop we went to before we called it a day had a dress which was quite lovely. Again, lace detachable sleeves went with it because it's strapless, but I thought it actually looked better WITH the sleeves anyway :) It had detailing on the bust area and a little ruching at the skirt. I thought it would have looked better if the skirt was mermaid cut and asked if the skirt could be tightened a little at the hips instead of flared out, and was pleased when she said yes. Am definitely KIV-ing the dress.

So we started our hunt around 1.30pm and finished at 7.30pm. All in all, it was a successful and productive day. Tiring too. I may still think about tailoring a dress, IF the price isn't too costly though. Will speak to a designer soon-ish about this. Next week, I'll be bringing in reinforcements aka my cousins to go over the shortlisted dresses and pick THE one. Am very nervous.

sloppy bridezilla kisses.

p/s: Adele's Make You Feel My Love is a good song to have on your blackberry when you're out trying on wedding gowns and are in need of that 'warm and fuzzy' ambience. It really helps. Thanks Maine ;)