wedding gown shopping.

the first weekend in february my mom and i went wedding gown shopping. i thought about making it a girls' day out with my bridesmaids, my mom, and travis's mom, but then i decided to just make it a day for my mom and me.

we started early in the morning at alfred angelo's where i had an appointment scheduled. there were several beautiful gowns, but i never found one that just screamed, "pick me!" i stood in front of the mirror for what felt like hours. the dresses only came in one or two sizes, so most of them had to be "clipped" in the back with huge clips. we decided to check out more stores and headed to david's bridal. i was determined to not get my gown from david's, but decided that checking it out was at least worth a shot. the girl that helped me was incredibly helpful however, and i really had a good time with her.

while waiting for the attendant to get a few dresses ready for me, my mom and i wandered the store looking at bridesmaids gowns. i looked up and realized my cousins mandi and kendra were standing in front of me and not far behind was my aunt berta. kendra is getting married this july, and she was in town getting her bridesmaids gowns. we didn't get to chat long, but it was fun seeing the girls. travis also called me while we were waiting for the fitting because he had left his keys with me the night before in muskogee when he left with eric to stay the night at eric's apartment. when i met him outside in the parking lot, it was the first time my stomach had been fluttery all morning. i think seeing him out in front of the bridal shop brought more excitement to the day and reminded what i was really doing. he and eric left to take a shower, and i headed back in to see mom.

the girl helping me was named sara, and she really was a doll. she has been working with brides for several years and was so helpful. [i would like to describe the experience a little more, but i don't want to give away any hints on the type of gown i'll be wearing as i want it to be a complete surprise for travis]. i eventually narrowed it down to two dresses that i really liked (one of which made my mom tear up when she saw it). the dresses were almost complete opposites of one another, so it was kind of unusual that they were the two i would narrow it down to. i still didn't have a gown that i considered "the one." we were there so long and had been looking at dresses since early in the morning, so mom asked travis if he and eric would mind to bring her a mocha. they were supposed to call before coming, but instead walked straight to the back where we were. i thought my mom was going to have a cornary! i wasn't wearing a gown [thankfully] but she was still a little wound up when she saw the guys walking through the shop.

after writing down details for the gown, jewelry, veil, and undergarments that i preferred, mom and i decided to take a break and grab some lunch. i was starting to get a bit of a headache and felt a little wound up myself. we grabbed lunch at senor tequila. i enjoyed a margarita to calm my nerves and relieve my headache. we headed to one final shop after lunch. alyssa's brial. the day was getting away from us. mom had to be back in muskogee by 6:00 or so to work the busy saturday evening. when we first walked in, i didn't think we would find a thing. then we came across two gorgeous vintage dresses. there were several changes that would need to be made to one of them, but it was incredible. i think we tried those two gowns on a million times. by this time in the day my mom and i were pretty tired and while trying to zip a gown with a very stubborn zipper, we dissolved into uncontrollable laughter and giggles. we would just finish laughing and one of us would start again. i remember thinking at that moment, "this is a moment i'll remember forever." i don't often get to see my mom, even though we go to muskogee so often. any time spent with her requires that i share most of her time and attention with customers, projects, or other family members. i was so grateful to spend the day with her.

as our day of shopping was drawing to a close, mom thought maybe it would be better if travis was with us so he could just pick one and we could be on our way! :)

we wrapped up at alyssa's and headed back to muskogee. dad looked at several of the gowns, but didn't seem to have a preference. he picked out several that he liked, and it was fun to see what he would have picked for me to try.

i set up an appointment to go back to david's bridal the following tuesday to try on the gowns again.