Dress Shopping
How weddings begin.
This isn’t the “yes” dress it’s the beginning of a journey. Nothing feels so real as trying on the first dress.
No matter how many weddings you’ve attended or planned it’s different when its yours. The moment when it all becomes real, the quickening of the wedding. For many women that moment happens at wedding dress first looks.
So, how do you choose a wedding dress?
Simple as it sounds the bride-to-be must try them on. Make an initial appointment with a nearby bridal shop to try on a variety of styles. Looking at magazines and browsing online doesn’t compare to trying styles on.
(Don’t just drop in intending to browse racks. In many mass market discount stores walk in browsing is possible but better shops require appointments and for the first appointment it’s best to let them guide you through the possibilities.)
A wedding dress is about feel. The weight, the swish… looking at catalogue styles and imagining how fabric will train down the aisle doesn’t help much knowing how a wedding gown will hug your body.
This is time to open up to the possibilities.
A time to try on things you don’t expect to like.
The dress itself isn’t a symbol of what your marriage will be but the shopping experience is a good analogy to how marriage works.
The more you think you have things all figured out before you try on the first gowns the more you might be dissatisfied when its not as perfect as you image. If you go in with a open mind looking for the surprises are more likely to be wonderful.
Everyone has expectations that have to be satisfied within the budget and availability. Even the billionaire bride has some type of limitations. The same is true of marriage. Strong marriages work together with reality work. What we imagine is much less important than what we find together.
That moment, the quickening, is excitement and hesitation and heart racing and heart stopping all at once.
Even if that moment is pushing through your closet for a courthouse elopement it’s there.
Pause and enjoy it!
