When I got engaged, I had a MILLION ideas on what I wanted for a wedding dress. There was ONE dress that I had been lusting after since seeing online, but I never thought it would look good on me. That being said, my mom and I headed to Mockingbird Bridal to check it out and start looking at gowns. (My mom’s not-so-secret plan was that we would go to Kleinfeld’s until I moved my date up…)
Being a former pageant girl, it was a dream come true to try on a Stephen Yearick wedding dress. (He made the most gorgeous pageant gowns when I was in high school! I was OBSESSED with his work.) Mockingbird Bridal was the only store anywhere near us that carried Stephen Yearick wedding dresses, so that was our first stop. I only took my mom because I didn’t want to be overwhelmed with opinions and my sweet bridesmaids were too far way.
My Wedding Dress Search – One and Done
I tried on three gowns.
THREE.
One “princess dress” my mom liked. A simple one that we both liked. And my dream dress (Stephen Yearick 13068).
I saved the dream dress for last because my mom didn’t think it would look good on me. (I didn’t want to crush my dreams from the get-go.) The “princess dress” was just – TOO MUCH. The second dress was too simple. And my dream dress? It was princess-y without making me feel ridiculous like my mom’s favorite. (My mom refuses to concede that it is princess-y at all. She continues to refer to it as the “Queen Sara” dress. The other dress is “Princess Sara”. IDK.) My dream dress was slimming on my hips, which we didn’t expect. It was elegant. And, it was perfect. (It was a fairly good compromise between my mom and me!)
I loved the neckline of it, I loved the scalloped details, and I loved the beading. This dress (like my bouquet, lol) was amazingly heavy but the detail was incredible. I definitely knew it was my dress. (My mom’s not very good with the iPhone, so these pictures aren’t the best, you get the idea.)
Overall, my experience at Mockingbird Bridal was good-ish. Ordering my dress, veil, and tiara was perfect. When I had to go back for a petticoat, to check the color of my shoes, and to pick up my dress (and when we had the bridesmaid dress crisis) – I really felt like I was bothering them. The petticoat they recommended ended up being all wrong and I had to buy another one at another salon. They didn’t offer to let me try on my dress when it came in but my mom insisted on it before we left the store. It was a little underwhelming; I loved my dress so much though that I didn’t care.
As far as my other accessories, I found my shoes at Bloomingdale’s (Badgley Mischka peep toes in the exact shade of apricot/vanilla as my dress!!). My jewelry was given to me by my great-grandparents on my 21st birthday. It was really special to be able to incorporate it into my wedding attire because I wear it almost every day as it is.
Wedding Dress Alterations
I cannot say enough about how much I adore Becky Fowler. She helped me find the right slip/petticoat for my dress, took in the shoulders, and put in the bustle at my first fitting. You couldn’t tell that she had touched the dress except that it fit perfectly. After my bridal portraits, we noticed I had lost more weight, so we took it in for another set of alterations. Becky fixed it again and told me to have a milkshake or two.
The week before my wedding, I had dropped even more weight, and it needed SEVERAL inches taken in throughout the waist and hips. Becky did it in a matter of days, and it turned out PERFECT. I gave it to her on Saturday, and she had it ready for pick up on Tuesday. She even taught us about the many uses of toupee tape to keep my dress on my shoulders. She didn’t gouge us on pricing or rush fees – and she does absolutely beautiful work.
My mom had her remake a dress for her and she altered my rehearsal dinner dress. Becky’s work was flawless – she really knows her stuff.
CALL HER.
WORD TO THE WISE:
If you lose weight, have your seamstress check your bustle again. We assumed it would be fine. My dress ended up being longer than expected. This proved to be an issue with my dad’s mad dancing skills. (LOL)
(There aren’t any great pictures of the detail on my dress… so I’m going picture heavy to really explain how intricate my dress was… and show how much I loved it… because I totally did. It was beyond perfect.)
Gorgeous!!
PS – Wanted to reply to your comment on my blog, but you’re no reply! Feel free to email me and I can show you how to fix 🙂
beautiful! i loved my dress as well and it worked out great but my bustle was a bit long when i switched from heels to flats during the reception. oh well 🙂
Girl, I totally ditched my shoes too!! 😉
So beautiful! I had the same problem with my dress being too long…it is off getting cleaned now so hopefully no worse for the wear!!
I still need to do that. Whoops!
Your dress was perfect! I love your send off picture looks like something out of a magazine!
Thanks love!!! It might be one of my favorite things!! I was SO excited about the sparklers!!
I LOVE how classic you look on your photos, yet your looks is very vintage. These are photos that will always be classic because of the style you went with.
Aww thank you so much. I’ve struggled with my photos big time, so I appreciate your sweet words about them!!
hello gorgeous dress!!!! it really was the most perfect dress EVER!!
Still obsessed.
Gorgeous! I love the dress and all the photos, especially the last one with the sparklers!
Tried to reply to you on my blog but there’s no email address associated with you!
Ugh!!! I’ve been trying to fix it!! I suck!!