Jess & Jill: JILL'S SHORT JOURNEY TO THE GOWN (AND OBSESSION WITH OSCAR DE LA RENTA)

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

JILL'S SHORT JOURNEY TO THE GOWN (AND OBSESSION WITH OSCAR DE LA RENTA)

Do I have a wedding venue? No. Do I have an official wedding date? No. Did that stop me from purchasing the wedding gown of my dreams? Nope.

This past week I was in Los Angeles when my parents and I strolled into a bridal shop for fun. I tried on dresses that I thought I would love and was disappointed with the way I felt. The consultant pulled a dress she thought I would love and voilà. It felt like me on a hanger (if I was made up of very pretty lace).

Being only the third wedding gown I've ever tried on, I was nervous that I didn't shop around enough. I made an appointment at another bridal shop, where I tried on very typical wedding gowns - which were beautiful, and made my shape look 10x more amazing than it is - but they weren't me. After all, my fiancé isn't marrying a Jessica Rabbit, blinged out version of myself. He's marrying me (lord help him).

The next day I went back to the original store and walked out with my gown. I am so excited and shocked at how easy the process was. Some people have called me crazy for getting a dress before I've booked a venue, but as my friend said to me, "you know yourself well enough." Plus it's totally me to do things backwards, so why should my wedding be any different?

My gown in its garment bag, via Instagram.

My gown is made by Oscar de la Renta and I am head over heels in love with it! Of course I'm not going to share it just yet (I've still got some cosmetic changes to make), but I am going to share my obsession with his gowns. Even looking at his earlier bridal collections, each dress is classic and timeless with a bit of an edge, which was the exact look I was going for. Here are a few of my favorites from the past few years!