Before the Store

I started my search at two nearby boutiques, The Lovely Bride in Philadelphia and La Belle Mariee Bridal in Langhorne. I brought along my mom and two best friends for support and opinions. Prior to my appointment at The Lovely Bride, I was able to use their online catalog to “favorite” gowns that fit my style and budget. Upon arriving, we met stylist Kendall and had a few moments to look around the shop. I loved the aesthetic here and knew it was going to be a great time! While trying on dresses, we mostly stuck to the designs in which I had already shown interest, but Kendall added in a few that I may have overlooked as well. I had my friends take a ton of pictures so that I could go back and reference at a later time; this was a tip given to me by a close friend who suggested I may get caught up in the moment! We left the shop with some great contenders and headed over to La Belle Mariee Bridal next.

At La Belle Mariee, we met with Sarah who was a familiar face I know from the dance world! We browsed the racks and started a collection of gowns to try on. This boutique is gorgeous and I loved the large fitting room and pedestal that had mirrors from all angles that could really capture all the details of the dresses! At this fitting I felt like I really got a hold of exactly what it was that I wanted but was starting to feel it may be out of my budget. I didn’t find the winner at this shop but still had a great time playing dress up!

Do Your Homework

I took a few weeks off from shopping to dive deeper into different designers and dresses that fit the picture I had painted in my mind. I came across the designer Enzoani and found several gowns I could see myself in. I found the nearest boutique with this designer and my mom and I took a trip to Mari Mi Bridal in Philly, another gorgeous boutique! We met with owner and bridal stylist, Monet, who was a dancer and we hit it off right away! I immediately found the four styles that had brought me to the shop and was thrilled that they were even more beautiful in person. I added a few other dresses to the fitting room to try but knew in my heart it would come down to one of those four dresses. My mom and I knew when I had found the one and we were both so excited as our eyes started to well up with happy tears. We FaceTimed my best friend who I met through the Rockettes and exclaimed our excitement. Again, I had my mom take lots of pictures to remember exactly how I felt in the dress and even months later I can honestly stay I am still obsessed!

Sharing the Moment Makes for the Best Memories

It was so special to spend this moment with my mom who is truly my rock! She and I have spent many years shopping together but this was the best of all. Soon we’ll be shopping for her Mother of the Bride dress and I can’t wait to see what she picks out. She looks gorgeous in everything. Matt and I have been hard at work on our guest list and plan to send out our “Save the Dates” very soon! Many of our guests already know the date so we didn’t rush to send these out, it has been quite a busy summer and start to fall so we also may have forgotten… oops! We’ve been finalizing our website and adding more fun items to our registry, this way we can share a final version of it on our “Save the Dates”. We can’t wait for our big day and our next big decision is where we’ll go for our honeymoon. Stay Tuned!