My Wedding Dress!

I love my wedding dress. It is so me. I got it at Kleinfeld in New York. Yes, the Say Yes to the Dress place. I even met Ronnie! But wait, let's go backward. B proposed to me in June, less than two months before we were slated to move from New York to New Orleans. I love Nola, but I'd be damned if I shopped for wedding dresses anywhere other than NYC. I went to a few places, including R&K Bridal. Long story short - I found my dress at both places and bartering ensued! I got my dress for $1800 instead of $2200, which was sweet.
This is a (illegal) picture my friend took of me in my dress at Kleinfeld. Check out that tan.

And this is my dress featured on another bride on Say Yes to the Dress, Season 5, Episode 8!

If I had to go back and do it all over again (with more time, geez - bear in mind I was also lifeguarding and trying to book my venue and caterer at the same time), I'd visit a couple more places, including Pronovias and other boutiques carrying just one designer. But alas - I think my dress was pretty awesome. I do have some tips from wedding dress shopping --

• Don't go with too many people. I took one trustworthy friend for every shopping trip. I love my mom, but she doesn't live in New York and let's just say she's very opinionated. I have a handful of New York friends scattered all over the city, but never had a core group of girls. So one good friend at a time worked out really well.
• With some exceptions, almost all dresses will look good on you. Even the most school-marmy dresses are cut in a way to flatter the body. That is why they are so expensive. You just have to decide on your style. I told my bridal consultants no lace, no sparkles, jewel-y things.
• Even though you know your style, be open! I ended up getting a layered chiffon dress, which could be interpreted as ruffles. If you had asked me if I wanted ruffles prior to shopping, of course I would say hell no. But be open to at least trying stuff on. Bridal consultants (especially at Kleinfeld) know what they are doing.
• On a related note, there are such thing as old lady dresses and cute young girl dresses - it's in your best interest to find the in-between.
• Take your time. Devote the whole day to dress shopping. And go several days, and with several months in advance if you can. A wedding dress isn't something you want to buy without a lot of thought first, especially with the pricetag
• Don't lose too much weight. I lost 10 lbs between my first and second fitting. There was some panic at the end regarding whether or not the thing would actually fit in the end. Ugh. Lose the weight evenly (if you plan to lose weight) throughout your engagement if you can. I did South Beach and I swear to you, 15 lbs melted off of me in a matter of a couple months.
• Don't try on anything you can't afford. Really - just don't.
• They say white looks good on dark skin...but they're wrong. Whitey-white was a little much for me. You will (hopefully) be the only one with a white dress on at your wedding, so if you're convinced you want white, slightly off-white will still look white. My dress was ivory.

That's all I got. If anyone has anything to add or object, please comment!