Yes, you read that right: I have finally found the dress (and no, that's not it in the photograph above). What surprised me most about finding my dress was how quick, easy and painless the whole process was... once I started looking, that is. About two or three months into planning for our wedding, we were thrown a BIG curve ball (a very good, welcome one!) when I discovered that I was pregnant. Suddenly, our wedding budget went from very small to teeny, and all the ideas I had for possible wedding dresses (think figure hugging, vintage lace and you're on the right track) went out the window. In fact, the entire wedding took a backseat. Yes, I was still excited at the prospect of marrying my love and yes, we still wanted to share this special day with our friends and family in some meaningful way, but all the fancy baubles, flower arrangements, potential hair styles, and table settings didn't seem to matter anymore. What mattered most now was preparing for our new life together and for the little being that would make us our own little family.
So I ticked off as many things on my bridal 'to-do' list as possible, all the while ignoring the inevitable 'and THE dress?' questions that came my way. I figured that my body would change and evolve and grow so much between then and our wedding date, that it didn't make sense to start looking then. Fellow pregnant brides-to-be, listen up: make an appointment with your dress maker as soon as you can, whether you've begun to show or not. As I started approaching various dress makers and designers a mere two months before our wedding date, I realised that in order for the dress maker or designer to allocate time to designing your dress, you actually have to consult with them and book in advance - particularly if your wedding is happening smack-bang in the middle of wedding season!
However, I wasn't too concerned because the plan was never to wear a traditional wedding-y dress, if you know what I mean. All I wanted was a pretty dress, either long or short, that wasn't white and would be comfortable and cool enough to wear at my garden party themed wedding in the middle of summer - at 33 weeks pregnant. Oh, and it must be pretty. And reasonably priced. I know the dress is of huge importance to all brides and most would happily spend upwards of R10 000 on a dress, but it just isn't that important to me.
The movies and those OTT wedding shows on TLC always depict the moment when a bride slips into the dress as such: bride is surrounded by her gushing bridesmaids, music begins to soar, a tear glistens at the inner corner of the bride's eye... you know the drill. We all know the drill, which is why I somehow expected my moment to go a little something like that, and I was left wondering whether I had, in fact, bought the right dress when my moment didn't resemble that Hallmark moment at all! Rather, my moment was much calmer and quieter. After a particularly exhausting day spent sourcing, I decided to pop into Lunar on Loop Street and tried on a few of their dresses. There were plenty of beauties, but none did much for my growing baby bump - and then I saw the dress. It was everything I wanted: beautiful, flowing, elegant, and not white. I tried it on and immediately fell in love with the dress. That was it: I bought the dress on the spot, and made arrangements to pop in closer to the time to make any necessary adjustments. (Pregnant brides-to-be, another tip: Bon Bon. A wondrous fabric that stretches and stretches. Google it.)
It felt a bit surreal to walk into the house with a surprisingly compact, inconspicuous white package and I'd spent the entire drive home wondering whether I had made the right decision. It just didn't feel big enough. I hadn't planned on buying my wedding dress that day; I hadn't even planned on looking for one! But as I snuck upstairs and tried on my wedding dress again, this time in the comfort of my own bedroom (with the bedroom door locked so that hubby-to-be couldn't steal a peek), I just knew it: this was definitely The One. It's perfect in so many ways, and I can't wait to wear it on the 16th of December!
And that, dear readers, is how I went from sourcing for props on Kloof
street one minute to hauling out the credit card and buying my wedding
dress on a whim the next. Just. like. that.
image: Pinterest
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