Mr. PB and I hopped on a plane and headed to the Cheese State at the end of June for Packers and Cheese’s wedding. We had an AMAZING time and Cheese put so much time and effort in to the wedding that I was insanely impressed and completely inspired. Packers and Cheese may have became a Mr. and Mrs. that weekend and I became Miss. Inspired.
Mr. PB, Cheese, Packers and Me // Source: Personal Photo
A couple of days later on a break at work, I checked Facebook. A local bridal salon, Blushing Bride, posted that it was having a 75 percent off sample sale.
Como say what? // Source: Blushing Bride’s Facebook
I hadn’t taken my lunch yet so I decided I would use my lunch to head to the bridal salon up the road. I didn’t expect to find anything seeing the way my luck had been but at 75 percent off, it was worth a trip.
The sale was only on sample dresses so if I found a dress I liked and in my size, I could leave with it the same day. I started looking around the store, I was the only customer there. I saw a couple of dresses that I might maybe get if I really wanted to force myself but I wasn’t head over heels for them. I decided that it wasn’t meant to be and started to go towards the exit. As I did, the consultant approached me and we started talking. I felt awkward so I was just looking around and noticed a dress on a form in the window. It piqued my interest so I asked the consultant to check the size. It was one size smaller than what I am right now but I wanted to see it nonetheless.
As I began to look at it, it looked remarkably familiar. I quickly grabbed the tag on the dress and my suspicions were confirmed: this dress, a sample at a boutique that I could purchase for 75 percent off, was made by the same designer as the dress I kept dreaming of. It had the same fabric, very similar details and would end up costing $200. Yes, you read that right correctly: TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS! FOR A WEDDING DRESS! Sure it was a sample and had signs of being worn around a bridal salon (minimal dirt on the bottom edges, tiny spots on one of the fabrics and a 1″ black mark on the back of the train) but those things could easily be taken care of with a dry cleaning.
I put the dress on and immediately had a panic moment – can I really buy this dress without a second opinion (not counting the consultant)? It was during a weekday so most of my girls and the moms were at work but Sharpie was still on maternity leave so I frantically called her. She scurried over to the boutique and confirmed that I had to buy the dress. Minutes later, I was walking out of a bridal shop with my wedding dress. I kept telling myself that I just bought my wedding dress and it seemed so crazy, I couldn’t believe it. But there she was, resting in my trunk.
Did you take a chance and buy a sample dress? Were you having a hard time processing that your dress shopping was in fact over and the dress was purchased?