Homage to the dress I didn't have.

Well, this is not supposed to be a wedding blog. Though I must confess I have a little bit of an addiction to the wedding pretties. And I always wanted to tell the dress story (after all that is how I found Meg, Lauren and all of you other amazing girls). Because one thing I knew. I knew I did not want a strapless, A-line, taffeta, sparkly, puffy huge dress. And I wanted sleeves. And I wanted the dress to have a historic feel, from the Middle Ages or the Renaissance period. I am not gonna deny this probably came from watching the lovely dresses worn by Danielle de Barbarac (that is Drew Barrymore in Ever After):

or Eowyn from Lord of the Rings:

And then, before I even was engaged, my best friend, who happens to live across the ocean asked me to go and check for her the wedding dresses at a certain shop that we both loved since our tramway passed in front of it every time on our way to University. And there I went. My first experience trying wedding dresses. And wow. Little did I expect that I would be totally in love with the first dress I ever tried on. That it would be THE dress:

Except, 8 months forward, when the boy asked me to marry him :) I had moved countries, and now that my turn had finally come to choose a wedding dress (though in my heart I knew no dress would ever make me feel like that first one), said dress was nowhere to be found. Of course I knew the model. But in the shops that carried the brand, they did not have it. When I showed them similar dresses, they actually scolded me... as in: "Ummm no, you see those dresses in american and british catalogs, but they are in fact for pregnant girls". Yeah. Right, Exactly. This is what I thought  %!$"&*. So I went on and on, to different shops and all they had was puffy, shiny huge things. And no, I did not want to be a marshmallow. And no, not all of those dresses looked so bad, it's just that I felt in disguise. I realized if I wanted that one, THE dress, I would have to actually travel to get it. And even if I went by train it would still be expensive. (Train fares are so expensive in Europe these days). Not to mention I would have to go at least 3 times. I also tried to find it on sale second-hand, but I was not able at the time. Oh, so I had to give up on it. THE dress. In the end though, I found a shop, where finally the girls were nice and hepful and got the idea of what would suit me and my "particular" requirements. Though apparently, I am not the only one. Judging by the internet a lot of us girls want "different" dresses. That are either so hard to find or have a $$$$$$$$$$ tag on them. It took me a while, but I learned to love the dress I chose, and the boy told me a million times how beautiful I looked (Cause I am guilty, even after the wedding, I would still stress over it, still think back to that other dress, and then feel bad about being so superficial). But now, now that the dust has settled in and I finally finished our wedding album, I have come to love the dress I wore. Because I got married on it, because it made me feel myself, because hubby found me beautiful, and special, and unique. So if you are curious, here it is: 

Photos via:

http://drewbarrymore.biz/pix/displayimage.php?album=16&pos=9

http://malloriemiller.theworldrace.org/?filename=10-things-i-learned-at-training-part-2

http://forum.viva.nl/forum/Relaties/Trouwen_in_20102011_het_vervolg/list_messages/70725/116

and special thanks to Isis, my dear sister in law who took pictures at our wedding .