As mentioned in my earlier post, sh*t happens. I started out with a set idea of how much I could spend, and that all went to hell with the first disaster. But, that simply challenged me to make up for the unexpected costs by saving in other areas.
First, the dress.
It's the very first thing you get excited about, the prospect of trying on and twirling about in what you hope will be the most beautiful article of clothing you will ever wear. You proudly purchase your armful of bridal magazines, flashing the ring as proof that you are entitled to these magazines and not seeking a desperate escape within its glossy pages of duchess satin and peonies.You harness your inner fashion critic, looking with disdain at mermaid silhouettes and pondering fingertip veils.
Then, as you go to make your first dress appointment, you envision it transpiring like an episode of "Say Yes to the Dress," with a patient and understanding attendant, a gaggle of annoying, opinionated, yet well-meaning girlfriends, and a flamboyant floor manager who saves the day in the 11th hour with the perfect dress, and what the heck, here's a free veil, and the designer is here in the store and wants you to have the dress for free because he is so moved by your obvious bridal radiance. Tears are shed, complimentary champagne is poured, and you are transformed into the vision of perfection you never thought possible.
Ladies, it doesn't go down like that.
After a frightening, Black Friday-esque experience at a local bridal retailer, I turned to the internet. I realized I could have the exact dress I wanted on eBay for around $200. All I had to do was provide a litany of precise measurements, many of which perplexed me with their relevance to dressmaking, and select my preferred fabric swatch from a rainbow of shades like "Seafoam #52" or "Bone Ivory" or "Enchanted Twilight" (which, by the way, is dark purple). Then, as I read the detailed description of the whole ordering and shipping process, one detail became very prominent in every listing. Engrish. Yes, I want a "happy love lifetime" dress, and I understand that "no back send 30 day purchase after time," but thoughts of sweaty 8-year-olds huddled over bolts of Bone Ivory, steadily sewing seed pearls onto Vera Wang knock-offs for their sick mother's daily gruel, just didn't seem right.
So I went to the Barefoot Bride.
This delightful boutique is the frugal bride's dream. Rows and rows of dresses line the east Memphis shop, all full of an extraordinary selection of every style gown imaginable. This is a consignment shop, so while some gowns are "gently used," most are brand-new with tags. Thank goodness for fickle brides.
The Barefoot Bride is usually by appointment, but they will have open shopping days a few times a month. Just know that there is usually a wait for dressing rooms on open days. The best way to find out about open shopping days & new inventory is to follow them on Facebook.
I just happened to pop in on an open-shopping Saturday, with the intention of browsing their inventory and making an appointment if I found something I liked. I was by myself, and was looking for that aforementioned dream experience of finding the perfect gown, so I didn't want to try anything on without the thumbs-up or thumbs-down of my trusted besties. But the intoxicating effect of lace, silk and thousands of tiny little buttons were too much, and I gleefully added gown after gown to my growing dressing room queue.
Once I finally got in to a dressing area, it was a little awkward to be doing this alone... the shop owner - who was delightfully helpful - was tackling the day alone, and was busy wrangling a store full of eager brides and their entourages. It was hard to get into the dresses alone, and even harder to walk out for a twirl in front of the mirrors without the incredulous gasps of my own bridal posse. In the end, however, I found THE dress. It was a little hard to get into, and I only had onlookers with other brides to comment on its perfection, but that didn't change that feeling I had, that PERFECT feeling I had, as I saw myself for the first time as the bride that I wanted to be.
And better yet, the dress was only 400 bucks.
Go there:
The Barefoot Bride Boutique
4726 Poplar Ave #3
Memphis, TN 38117
901-481-6906
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