YIPPEE!!!!

My dress is in!!!! I picked it up last Wednesday and took it with me to Houston to my best friend (and MOH) A's house this past weekend. I am wanting to make a shrug out of lace to cover the arms a bit and A is a bit of a lace freak. She has been buying up all kinds of old lace for herself the last few years. She even scored some amazing old wedding dresses from the 60's that looked like they were custom made by hand just because she loved the lace on them!
Now, I have this flaw....I consider it a major flaw so I will just put it out there.....I HAVE FAT ARMS. I inherited them from my Dad's side of the family and I absolutely HATE them...but not enough to really do anything about them I guess because I still have them.

Anyway, after ordering this beautiful strapless dress I panicked over the whole arm issue. A thinks I'm nuts but she is willing to make me a shrug that will downplay my least favorite assets. She found some really cool pleated lace to make a stand up collar for the shrug. It helped having the dress there because some of the lace that looked like it would be a perfect match in the photos was WAY TOO DARK when we put it near the dress. We made a good start on it but it was nowhere near completed when I had to leave on Sunday. I DID, however, have to try it on with my dress a few times while we worked on it....darn it all!!!!

And so it begins...

Yippee!!! I bought my dress!!! I can't tell you what an ordeal that was!!!

I saw it months ago at a bridal show in Houston and fell in love with it on the spot even though the closest I could get to trying it on was to have the shop owner hold it up to me as we stood in front of a mirror.

I won't tell you how big a fool I made of myself but suffice it to say that my face was red and blotchy (I can't cry pretty), people were pointing and staring, and my oldest and dearest friend in the world made me sit down and eat something while she fanned my face. I guess that is one way to know you found the right dress.

Fast forward a few months and NOW I'm officially engaged and can buy my dress. Since I knew exactly what I wanted I thought this part would be a cinch. NOPE!

I found a store in Snootyville DFW that actually carried the dress and had one in stock that I could try on. Now I must confess. I'm a plus size gal (size 16) so I know that to try on the dress (size 10) will include lots of clips and a fake back tucked in the back so I don't flash folks. I'm fine with that. I just wanted my Sister and The Niece to see the dress before I gave the store my hard earned cash.

The dress shop owner, hereafter known as Snarky Ol' Bitty, was less than excited to help us. We were early for our appointment, she was late and not terribly concerned about it. She did everything in her power to make me feel like a fat loser and when SHE asked me about the price on the dress (when I called to make the appointment I asked what the price was and told her what the one in Houston was priced at. She assured me it was very close to that price. When we got to the shop it was easily $100 higher) I said well, since you mentioned it...it IS a lot higher than you lead me to believe it would be. Then I asked if there was a discount for paying cash because I had $900 crisp new bills in my wallet and I've always heard it NEVER HURTS TO ASK for a discount when you are paying cash!!!

Apparently Snarky Ol' Bitty has never had someone want to pay cash or ask if there were any discounts. She informed me that she doesn't take cash. (I'm thinking to myself WHO TURNS DOWN CASH!?!?!?) THEN said, well OBVIOUSLY you don't want to do business with MY shop!!! She snatched the dress up and high-tailed it out of the dressing room before my sister or I could bat an eye.

So there we stood. My Sister, The Niece and me (in my underwear still) with our jaws on the floor. The Niece in her wisest 10 year old voice piped up..."well she was kind of rude!" We busted out laughing gathered our stuff up and hit the door. I wasn't about to give my business to someone that was going to treat me like that. Even if they WERE the only store that I had found in my area that carried the dress.

A couple of weeks later I found an AMAZING little gem of a shop in Arlington called Lang's http://www.langsbridal.com/ that carried my dress as well. This time I didn't have ANY problems ordering my dress. Theresa was extremely helpful. She has a huge selection of wedding and bridesmaid dresses. She also carries flower girl dresses that won't break the bank and look as nice as the expensive ones do. YIPPEE!!!!!! FINALLY a shop that made me feel as special as a BRIDE is supposed to feel!!!!

My best friend Ms. A always tells me that if I find myself running into roadblocks then that isn't the path I'm supposed to be on. She is sooo right!!!