Have I mentioned that my little brother is getting married on September 1st, and that I’m going to be a bridesmaid? Of course I have, probably like 500 times in the last year! I’m so excited about it that I manage to work it into just about every post! The day is almost here, and clueless person that I am, I decided to wait until TWO WEEKS before the wedding to START looking for a dress. We all get to pick our own dresses, as long as they’re silver or grey, and not longer than tea length. That sounded really easy! Just head out to the nearest bridal shop, try on a few, pay, and take my dress home with me that night. WRONG!!

The Great Bridesmaid Dress Hunt: Day One

It was a dark and stormy Wednesday when my mom, who needed a Mother of the Groom dress said “let’s just take a ride to the outlets (the Crossings Outlets in Tannersville) and see if they have dresses!” On the way, we stopped at Bridal Creations on Main Street in Stroudsburg. PA. If you like your stories shortened, the bottom line is I should have just stayed right there. I, however, like to do things the hard way, so we decided to look around “just a bit more.”

The Outlets did not have anything. I’ll spare you the boring details. They did have a Children’s Place, though, and I got Jacob’s outfit in under five minutes. Thank goodness something was easy! We decided to get Sal (aka the best boyfriend ever, and you’ll come to agree by the end) to drive us to Allentown (both mom and I are too scared to drive on the highway).  For those who aren’t familiar with the Poconos, Allentown is about a 45 minute drive without traffic. Unfortunately, there is never a day where there isn’t traffic, so it took us about 2 hours to get there. Thank goodness my friend took Jacob for me!

Once in Allentown, we hit the Lehigh Valley Mall. Not literally, Sal is a very safe driver. We shopped at Macy’s, Penneys, Boscovs, and every other store in between, you know, just in case Cold Stone Creamery happened to be hiding bridesmaid dresses in the freezer. Speaking of which, I had never eaten their ice-cream before, it was really freaking good! Best part of the night! The Mall didn’t have anything, so we went to David’s Bridal. We thought for sure they would have a dress! No such luck. We headed to Alfred Angelo near the mall. They don’t sell off the rack, but my goodness, their salespeople are like the nicest people on the planet! They took my measurements and wrote them down in case I had to end up ordering a dress off the internet. After that, we went back to the mall so my mom could try on dresses that I’m pretty sure she had already tried on, then we went home empty handed. Throughout the entire, oh, 6 hours of running from store to store with two frazzled women, my wonderful boyfriend never uttered so much as a peep in complaint.

The Great Bridesmaid Hunt: Day Two

The plan: wake up really early, head to Rockaway Mall in New Jersey, hit list of bridal shops in the area, find dress, come home and proclaim victory to the interwebs.

The reality: wake up late, head out at 3pm, get to mall at 4pm, find nothing. Try to find McDonalds to feed the child who was dragged along for the day. Find nothing. Fight with everyone in car. Scream “can everyone please stop yelling!” Remind boyfriend that he will be rewarded for driving us around yet another state and dealing with all this crap. Have nervous breakdown when the one bridal shop that we could actually find was closed due to an emergency. Ask directions three different times to find the only other store that is still open. Walk out after realizing dresses START at like $300. Finally feed the child.  Go back to mall, where Mom finally finds a dress…the same dress she tried on in Allentown. On the plus side, at least it was $20 cheaper! Head home. Pop Xanax and start crying that I’ll just wear a bathrobe! Go to bed early.

Day 3: Victory is Mine!

I woke up relatively early and we headed back to the store that we started with: Bridal Creations. There, I spent over an hour trying on dresses. I am, uh, well endowed in the chest department, and I’ve come to the conclusion that most bridesmaids are skinny and, well, not so well-endowed. I believe I may have had a bit of a breakdown in the dressing room, but thankfully the store was pretty empty at that point. The staff there spent the whole time tying to help me find a dress. They were really patient and easy to work with, even though I was the complete opposite of both. After an hour, they found a dress that would work, but I hated it. With a passion. Still, I was going to have to settle. Then my mom pulled out a dress from some random place that was not only the right color, but it actually fit and it looks good! The price was right too. It has to be cut because it’s too long, and the alterations are being done as you’re reading this, but it will be ready in time for the wedding. I’ll show you all a picture when I get it back.

Lesson learned: Buy your bridesmaid dress at least two months before the wedding. Or, at least start looking for one that early!