After dreaming of dresses online, I went to David’s Bridal to look at the dresses on the hangers rather than just looking at them digitally and I wasn’t impressed. Not to say that they don’t have beautiful dresses there, just that the selection for the type of dress I was looking for was very limited in my size. And I definitely wasn’t interested in buying a dress without trying it on. And the alternates that the consultant was suggesting that I could potentially try on made me think of Marie Antoinette. So back to the computer I headed to be more thorough in my online searching.
Be on your way, Mr. PB…
Frustrated with the options at what I consider a store that should have dresses in plenty of sizes, I started to look online for stores or designers that have plus size bridal lines. Allure has beautiful plus size dresses as part of its Women line but it was Mori Lee’s Julietta collection that really caught my attention. One dress in particular had me sure it was the one for me.
Meet Julietta 3113 - she is chiffon, has beaded embroidery, bling but not too much and a corset back. // Source: Tom’s Bridal // Dress by Mori Lee
I texted this picture to bridesmaids and told them this was the one. I NEEDED to find it to try it on. The Mori Lee website gives information for local vendors that carry their lines but not specific dresses or samples. I called over 80 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Ohio and none of them had this specific sample in their store.
I ended up messaging Mori Lee on its Facebook page to find out about the closest sample. After a second post (they didn’t answer my first one), they let me know the location of the closest sample: Philadelphia aka six hours away. I somewhat jokingly mentioned a trip to Philadelphia to try the dress on to Mr. PB and he actually was on board. He suggested we bring Gee and Frack, that way I’d have a bridesmaid’s opinion and he could hang out with his brother while I was at the bridal shop.
While I loved the idea of Frack being with me in Philly, I wanted to make sure the local bridesmaids and the moms could participate in wedding dress shopping too, I knew it was something they were looking forward to. Before heading to the city of Brotherly Love, I decided to schedule a day and invite the five local bridesmaids and the moms and whoever could come could be there. Originally, I was concerned about finding a time that works for everyone but I figured I would drive myself batty doing that. Overall, I think the plan worked, the ladies all felt involved and they got to see me play dress up.
Did anyone else struggle to find dresses in their sizes in actual stores? Was I crazy to think of a six-hour trip to try on a dress?