I just got my DRESS!!

Hi Everybody - I can't believe it! I said yes to my dress today!

I just came home from shopping with my mom and my two sisters and I feel great.

I did a lot of research before shopping. I created a pinterest board and every time I saw something I liked I pinned it to the board. I then started weeding out dresses and made a top board list with the dress shops that carried the designers I liked best.

First Stop:
David's Bridal at Massapequa - I wasn't impressed. I had to wait about 20 minutes even though I had an appointment. The girl that came to help me did not listen to my thoughts and she was not very attentive. I was just trying to figure out which kind of dress style would look good on me and once she learned that she literally abandoned me. I found two dresses that were a 'maybe' there.

Second stop:
Princess Bridal of Farmingdale - The shop is not impressive or high end looking, but the staff were terrific! You will not have a ton of privacy here and you are literally changing near the dress racks. I would have loved to buy my dress at this shop because they were so accommodating and really tried to help me. I went back to this shop twice. I just could not find a dress that was for me there. I found one 'maybe'.

Third Stop
Renate's Bridal Salon, Lindenhurst. Decided to brave it alone and went in by myself. This is a beautiful salon and they had good staff. I had someone who was very attentive and I think she would have worked harder to please me if I had a family member with me. I had the sense that she knew I was not going to say 'yes' to anything by myself. I also did not have a ton of options to try on, because I need at least a size 12 or 14 and I was not happy about 'pinning a dress' to me. I found one dress there that was a little more than a maybe. I kept it in mind a long time.

Fourth Stop
Macy's Demetrios Salon at Smithhaven Mall
LOVED the service here and the quality of the store. I was following a trunk show and tried on the most amazing dresses. The service in this salon blew me away. This girl did everything to make me happy. I found my dress here, but did not buy it at this Macy's. I wasn't ready. I would highly recommend this shop!

Fifth stop
Village Bridal Boutique of Babylon. Very beautiful high end shop. The service was not overly attentive. I felt they did not have a large selection of dresses for me to try (like I said I need at least a 12). But they did attempt to accommodate me. I couldn't find anything here. I was also on my own at this shop and again had that feeling that the girls knew I wasn't saying 'yes' today so there was no need to keep me there.

Sixth Stop
Bridal Reflections, Massapequa. Beautiful high end shop. They had amazing staff that worked VERY hard to accommodate me. These ladies wanted me to have a good experience. I couldn't find my dress at their shop, but I would have been very happy to, because they were terrific.

Seventh Stop
Klienfeld's Manhattan. BAH!! I had all my bridesmaids, my mom, my sister take the day and go top Manhattan. I waited over 6 weeks for this appointment and I was let down. They had about 5 dresses for me to try on - it was a huge issue being that I needed a size 12 or 14 in this store. There was one little room of dresses for me to choose from, all incredibly overpriced. Between my size and my price point, I started having a melt down. The woman that was working with me did not take me serious and had me parading around the store in a robe, looking for my own dresses with the cameras rolling for the tv show (say yes to the dress). I only could show my girls a few dresses because there was so little to try. I convinced her to allow me to try a dress on that was $4000 more than I wanted to spend, just so I could see something I would like. I was okay, but not as good as the dress I wound up getting. Ladies, I recommend that you go here if you have at least 4k to spend on your dress, you are a size 2 and you want to be on the show.

Eighth Stop
Macy's Demetrios Bridal Salon Herald Square. Amazing service, really helpful. They had several dresses that I loved, but I was chasing this one dress from a trunk show they didn't have. The staff gave you the real say yes to the dress experience. I walked in without an appointment and got incredible service.

Final Stop
9th Stop
Macy's Demetrios Bridal Salon, Manhasset. AMAZING!! They were so good, they didn't have to try very hard because I figured out already what dresses I loved and wanted to try on. I'm thrilled to have purchased my dress here today and can't wait till the fittings!


That about sums it up!