My original plan was to make my own wedding dress. Then I fell hard for the BCBG dress and decided it was just perfect, and found one more easily than expected so that worked out like it was meant to be. My original vision for the dress I was going to make was for a separate bodice with a portrait, just off the shoulder neckline and an a-line tea length skirt. I found a plenty of examples of the neckline I wanted:

(From left to right: Cicada Bridal (Karina), Allison Blake (Tess), Candy Anthony, Alfred Angelo (1148), The Cotton Bride (B1021))

It didn’t take me too long to figure out that, basically, I was drawn to the 1950/60s style prom dresses. Pathetically enough it really only occurred to me after we watched Back To the Future and I wanted to pause the movie during the scene at the dance so I could sketch ideas.

During a wedding blog frenzy I came across a picture of a dress I liked a lot, which turned out to be from here in Seattle from Cicada, a very popular gown boutique here in Seattle. (It is pictured on the far left in the image above.) I went in for a sneak wedding dress try on session with a friend well after I’d already decided on the BCBG dress. I’m glad I did, the shop was very kind and the dresses are designed with real women in mind. I eagerly picked out the portrait collar one and tried it on and… it looked wrong. Not bad, but it just didn’t match me somehow. It didn’t excite me at all. Which made me feel a bit better about abandoning my plans to make my own dress, it would have been terrible to put a lot of work into a dress I ultimately wouldn’t have been that excited about.

While at Cicada I did try on a gown that I liked a lot, the Jessie. It was sweet and fun and suited me far better than the one I went in to try on, which is interesting because it is not a dress I would have picked out for myself. When I started the dress finding process I never would have predicted that my top two favorites for myself would be strapless gowns. The image above doesn’t do the dress justice, the pleated ruffles were charming and and the curve of the dress was a lot of fun. If you’re shopping for gowns I can recommend a trip to Cicada.