Wedding Dress Shopping

I'm flying to Utah to wedding dress shop and wedding plan with Britta! I'm so, so excited! A bit of a nightmare-my flight was cancelled! I was ready to jump in the car and start driving!! But Delwyn found me another flight, then I sat on the plane for almost 2 hours waiting for a pilot. But I finally made it at 8 pm. Denya picked me up and the three of us are staying at Denya's. I am so happy to be here!

 First we met Britta's friend Grace for breakfast (Kolaches--Yum!!) to talk about flowers for the wedding. Super nice girl who loves Britta, and she had some cute ideas. Britta wants fresh flowers and she chose dahlias (Yay! My favorite flower) incorporating star gazer lillies for Blake. That made me cry for the first time today, I ended up crying 3 times before the day was over. The little granddaughters are going to have greenery crowns with babies breath. Sounds so cute!!

Our first appointment was at Malmrose Bridal. This shop set a high bar with such personalized attention. They talked to Britta for several minutes to learn about her and what style of dress she would like. She had a huge dressing room and they gave her this silk robe to wear in between try ons.

They had a super nice sitting area for Denya and I to wait for Britta to come out when she had a dress on. They have a floor to ceiling mirror with a platform for Britta to stand on.

Britta had no idea what kind of dress she wanted. She's not a frilly, lacey kind of girl, maybe classic would be a good word to describe her style. This dress was too plain, Denya and I said it looked like a temple dress, not a wedding dress. They gave Britta gloves to wear so the oils on her hands wouldn't make any marks on the dress. This was the only store that did that.

A bit nicer, but still too plain.

None of us liked this mermaid style of dress.

Although the back was pretty, especially the buttons.

Britta didn't like the waist on this one.

Finally one that we loved! Britta especially liked the sleeves on this one. It has such intricate lace on the bodice and a high waist, which was another thing Britta decided she really liked.

At first Britta didn't think she wanted a long train, but she changed her mind. The ladies in the store reminded her that this is her day to shine, probably the only day that she will be the star, and whatever makes her feel pretty is what she should wear. This dress also has little buttons all the way down the back. She is beautiful!

The dress was too big, so they used clamps like Delwyn has to pull it up and clamp it tight. What an interesting way to do it!

She had her hair down straight, but pulled it into a low bun when she tried on the veil. It really accentuated her neck and shoulders and I cried because she was so beautiful. This is the dress she ended up choosing after we visited two more stores.

We had a little bit of time before the next appointment so we stopped at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple to look around since this is where they are getting married. 

My beautiful girls in front of the beautiful temple!

I think temples must have special soil because the flowers are always so pretty!

Look at all those Dahlias!

The fountain is really small, but it's still pretty.

Our next stop was a tiny, old, cluttered place that we prejudged to not be worth our time. Lesson learned! Don't judge a store by the way it looks, they had some beautiful dresses. They had binders arranged by size, we looked through the book and marked the dresses she wanted to try on, and then the lady brought them to Britta.

Not too bad, but Britta has decided she wants long sleeves and she prefers a higher waist.

The back was super pretty on this one.

Pretty, but Britta didn't particularly like the neckline.

All three of us thought the sleeves were weird on this one.

We loved this one! It has boning in the torso, and that makes it really flattering on Britta. It's quite a bit different from our other favorite. Short sleeves, dropped waist, totally covered in lace, two layers of lace on the train which isn't anywhere near as puffy.

Pretty train. This dress isn't a true white, it has a slight cream/tan undertone. 

Britta tried on a veil and then a beautiful crown type headpiece that made me cry for the third time today. It would be like incorporating a piece of her mission into her wedding because they wear those flower crowns in Sweden. This isn't real flowers, obviously, but it is made of metal flowers with some shiny stones on it. Britta now has two favorites and it's going to be SO HARD to decide which one she likes best.

Our third stop was a rental place and we had decided by this point that we would rather buy a dress than rent one. We went anyway because we had an appointment and it was a disaster! At the other two places the workers pulled dresses for Britta to try on and helped her get them on. They told us to pick out some dresses and it was so overwhelming to even know how to start choosing things. And it's hard to get into those big dresses and then zip them up yourself! When they saw the style of dresses we were choosing, they started bringing dresses to Britta. They were too small or way too big. Size 24?? Seriously!! We got stuck in here for longer than we wanted. Britta stuck her head out of the dressing room and mouthed the words, "Help me!" more than once. We finally managed to get out and called it a day. We had skipped lunch and were tired and hungry.

We went to sandwich place called Even Stevens. I had a french dip, one of my favorites, and some fresh fruit.

It was fun to relax and stop thinking about dresses for a bit. We went to a couple of shoe stores and to Target.

We went to a frozen yogurt shop for a treat. They had so many toppings and Britta chose some kind of little ball, I think it might have been a boba and it was so bitter! She made a terrible face and covered her mouth.

We were all laughing and Britta was trying to decide whether to swallow fast or spit it out.

 She finally got the taste out of her mouth and we enjoyed our yogurt.

My heart is full of love tonight. What a fun day! Weddings are so exciting, probably the biggest day of your life and it was so enjoyable to spend this time with my girls. So thankful for both of my daughters and the relationships we have. Having two daughters is one of my greatest blessings! Sons are pretty great too, but today I'm extra grateful for daughters.