A Bride's Story: Selecting a Wedding Dress

Written by . Posted in Marineh's Story

Immediately after setting the date and selecting my venue for the wedding and engagement, the next thing I focused on was the wedding dress. Since wedding dresses can take 6 months or more to be ready, I knew that I had to put in my order for my wedding dress ASAP. 

I decided to ask some of my close friends to come with me for my first dress shopping experience. I was thinking that it would take me a few weeks before I could narrow down and select my wedding dress. So I figured I would go with my friends the first few times and once I narrowed it down, I would then ask my mother and soon to be mother-in-law to join.

The first store I made an appointment with was Jobyna’s Bridal located in Glendale. I had already worked with Angie and Isabel during the Harsanik.com bridal show planning, so I already had a great relationship with them. Plus, I'd heard they have a very wide selection of gorgeous dresses, both from friends and according to their positive reviews on Harsanik.com.

My girlfriends and I met at the Jobyna’s Bridal store. The ladies at Jobyna’s were extremely helpful with the whole process. First they asked me if I had any specific styles that I preferred. I did but since Shant is also going to be reading this blog, I will not be revealing any details about my preferences!

For those who don’t already have a specific style in mind, here’s a quick breakdown of the most popular styles:

  • Ballgown – This is the classic "poofy" wedding dress. It's perfect for anyone who wants to feel like a princess on their big day.
  • A-Line – Just like its name, the dress starts narrow at the top and widens at the bottom.
  • Mermaid – This dress is tight all the way from the top to your hips, and then flares out.
  • Empire – This style has a high waist just below the bust.

While I did have one style in mind, the Jobyna’s team encouraged me to try on at least one dress from each style just so I could get a better sense of what the dress looked like on me. Next, my girlfriends and I started going through the store and picking out dresses that I liked. I ended up with over 10 dresses, and then went into a fitting room.

I tried on the first dress… and let’s just say everything felt soo right! I fell in love with the dress right away, and as soon as I walked out of the dressing room, all of my friends agreed that this was THE DRESS for me! They said the dress screamed my name! It was beautiful, it was fun, it was classy, and it just felt right! After admiring the dress for a few more minutes, I went back and tried on the rest of my dresses. Nothing else made me feel the same way as the first dress.

While the first dress seemed to be the one, I decided to still look at some more dresses. I ended up trying on another dozen dresses that day, but nothing else made me smile the way the first dress did. So I arranged to have my mom and my mother-in-law come down to Jobyna’s Bridal by Ines Di Santo at the Americana store the next day to try on a few more dresses and finalize my decision. Luckily, both my mom and my soon to be mother-in-law loved the first dress so it made my purchase decision very simple. I ended up buying the first dress that I ever tried on! I guess it was love at first try!

I'll post pictures of my dress on this blog after the wedding so you all can see what it looks it!

A Few Tips When Shopping for Your Wedding Dress: Make sure to make an appointment in advance.  Bridal shops are busy, especially on the weekends, and most of them are by appointment only. Plus you get a lot more attention if you have an appointment than if you just show up.

Wedding dresses are HEAVY! So make sure to be ready for some heavy lifting, especially when you pick out 3-4 dresses at a time from the rack.

When selecting your dress, make sure to consider how comfortable you feel and whether you can move and dance around easily.

Wear appropriate undergarments. Enough said.

Planning Status:

Next Up: Officially asking my bridesmaids...

UPDATE: Jobyna's Bridal is now operating under the business name Lovella Bridal.

Tags: bride's story , dress shopping

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