Dress Shopping Part 2

After our trip to Macy's (and a quick bite to eat) Allie, my mom and I walked over to Nordstrom.

I was looking forward to this appointment, I'd had a long phone consultation with the wedding stylist about what I was looking for in dresses. I was confident that they would have a dressing room full of lace waiting for me when I arrived!


And when I got there - I was disappointed! Many of the dresses were very plain, a few lace dresses, but mostly silk and satin and chiffon (not what I was looking for at all!)

But, I decided to try on the dresses anyway, so that I could compare these different styles to all of the lovely lace I'd worn at Macy's! And after trying on a few non lace dresses, I knew I wanted lace. So I asked her to pull more lace dresses, and my mom and Allie went out onto the floor to pull more too!

Before I show the pictures. I want to say something, in case a future bride is reading - I found Nordstrom to be a little unprofessional. This was the experience I'd feared by shopping at a department store. The bridal salon was right next to the jeans, it didn't feel special at all.

Dresses were stained. Badly. I'll point out where you can see coffee spilled down the front of a dress I tried on. I was told to "imagine that isn't there". Some of the dresses (especially a few not pictured here) were so dirty they looked gray! I understand samples do have some wear and tear, but they shouldn't be so badly beaten up that you can tell hundreds of girls have tried these dresses on before you!

My consultant wasn't great at clipping the dresses back so that they fit. On some dresses, she didn't clip at all (although they needed it). The consultant kept telling me to "imagine" that they fit my bust line/waist/whatever correctly. At one point, Allie was holding the dresses back herself so I could see what they would look like.  Now, to be fair, my consultant at Nordstrom might have been newer, but the woman at Macy's worked wonders with those clips! She made every single dress look like it was made for my body! And I know from shopping with other girls and watching Say Yes to the Dress that the Macy's clip experience is the norm. Maybe this isn't a Nordstrom issue, but it was an issue for me.

Last, but not least, they committed my biggest pet peeve - she kept putting me in dresses well above my budget. Like, double my budget. I really resent that. I feel that they do that so you will "fall in love" with a dress and have to have it, then you will push the budget and spend more than you wanted. I don't think that is respectful to the bride or her parents or whoever is paying at all!

Okay, rant out of the way. On to the pictures! Now, I only took pictures of dresses that I thought were interesting or were approaching the look I wanted for my wedding, but I tried on lots and lots of dresses here!

"The Snow White Dress" This wasn't exactly what I'd been looking for, but it was very romantic. I felt like I belonged in a fairy tale with the pearl sleeves. But, there was no train here...

"Lace and a Train - View 1" After a few satin dresses, which were lovely, I'd confirmed, I wanted lace. And lace I got!

"Lace and a Train - View 2" And there was a train! But I did not like how this dress made me look or feel. That hem in the center was not flattering at all!

"Vintage Lace - View 1" This dress had very interesting lace detailing. Now check out the lace right in the center of my chest, coming down from the lowest point of the sweetheart neckline. Apparently, someone was drinking coffee while trying on the dress and splashed it down there!

 "Vintage Lace - View 2" The train was very intricate. A lot of detail was included in this dress.

 "Vintage Lace - View 3" We thought it warranted a veil try out. But I'm not loving how I look in this view! In this picture, I'm looking at a mirror, and telling my mom, this dress just didn't have the drama I was looking for in a wedding gown!

"Blingy Lace" This dress had bling! Lots of bling! You can't really see it in the picture, but it shimmered when I moved. However, that bling hurt! I'd only had the dress on for a few minutes when I started getting irritated where my arms touched the top of the dress from all of the pearls and bling on there! I also didn't love where the hem line hit me, it elongated my torso, but it made my legs seem very short. At 5'2", short wasn't a look I was going for in a wedding gown! Lastly, the train was so heavy that it kept catching the veil and pulling it off my head (or maybe it was catching in the bling, but either way, the dress and the veil weren't getting along!) But, it was the only one at Nordstrom that came close to the Macy's favorite.

In the end, the one at Macy's won hands down!

Now...any guesses on which dress from yesterday's post was "the one"?!