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I finally, finally had the chance to retrieve my wedding dress from Lovely Bridal Shop. It arrived one month early & I was unprepared. I hadn't found my wedding shoes yet! Not to mention, I didn't have a spare moment for a trip to Manhattan. Lovely assured me that my dress was in good hands & good company so I let time fly by. Finally, the time came to claim my wedding dress.My Sister of Honor & I made our way to Lovely Bridal Shop on a beautiful Fall evening. Very, very unlike us, we arrived early. We ducked into Cafe Cluny, the adorable cafe across the street, to enjoy a glass of wine & share a cheese platter. An hour of good conversation later, we crossed the tree-lined street for my pick-up appointment at Lovely.At long last, I was in the dressing room with my wedding gown. The dress was better than I remembered, much more beautiful than the sample dress I'd fallen in love with months ago. It was surreal! My wedding dress was here, really here! Right. In. Front. Of. Me.Next thing I knew, I was staring at a Bride in the mirror. She was wearing a perfect, pretty wedding dress. I could hardly believe that Bride was me!
There are sweet touches everywhere you look,
including this Lovely banner on the second floor landing
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.
"You're So Lovely"
