Yes to the Lovely Dress!!

I'm at Lovely Bridal Shop to get my wedding gown!

There are sweet touches everywhere you look,
including this Lovely banner on the second floor landing

The lovely first floor at Lovely Bridal Shop

Every Bride has a unique story when it comes to finding their wedding gown. Many told me they tried on the first gown & purchased it. Some mentioned long & hard searches including several bridal salons & hundreds of dresses before they found their wedding gown. Others fall somewhere in between those two extremes.

Here is my story.

I was (somewhat) patiently waiting for my Mom to visit from California before I started looking for my wedding gown when I came across a new bridal shop opening in the West Village of New York City called Lovely Bridal Shop. Lovely is striving to do something different: offer romantic dresses, reasonable prices, sweet atmosphere & a lovely experience. I started following Lovely's blog & researching their designers, becoming more & more excited to shop for my wedding gown.

I lost any & all patience to wait for my Mom when Lovely hosted an Elizabeth Dye trunk show, a designer I liked. On the beautiful spring day of my appointment, RZ & I headed into the city together & he dropped me off at the doorstep of the renovated brownstone that is Lovely Bridal Shop. I was semi-nervous that the hype may be greater than the reality but as soon as I walked through the door, all my fears fell away. I breathed in the calm atmosphere & took in the gorgeous decor which is beyond beautiful. And those racks of gorgeous weddings gowns- incredible!

For the next 45 minutes, I had a ball playing dress up as a Bride. In some ways, after so many years as a wedding planner, I could hardly believe I was the Bride in the mirror! I told the owner Lanie about my wedding, my style & my budget & she pulled several dresses for me. She was great about styling the dresses with ribbon sashes, brooches & flower pins when appropriate. All of the gowns were stunning; a few were definite contenders. I was drawn to two gowns the most & I decided my Mom could help me decide when she came with me.

Fast forward to a beautiful summer day one month later. My Mom & I returned to Lovely for the final selection. The plan was to show her my favorite dresses & maybe try on a few more gowns to give her the Lovely shopping experience that I had adored so much the first time. This time, we were helped by the kind Victoria who pulled the two dresses I liked & my Mom found three dresses for me to try on. My Mom sat back & relaxed downstairs while I came down to model each dress for her. We had fun playing with accessories like veils & headpieces to complete each look. I nixed Dress #1 because I didn't like the long version & I pretty much thought Dress #2 was the winner. Dress #3 & Dress #4 were fabulous, just not winners for me. Then I tried on Dress #5 & I fell in love instantly. Romantic. Simple. Me. This wedding gown was everything I had wanted & more- it blew me away.

I bought the last dress I tried on at Lovely Bridal Shop. That is my story of finding my wedding gown.