Wednesday, July 7, 2010

She Said Yes to the Dress Already!

As of this time, we did have the date set, for Saturday May 21st of 2011.  Amanda and Ian got the church and pastor lined up.  It was to be in the church they attended as college students in the Waco area.

The reception venue was still a bit up in the air.  There just aren't that many places in Waco, Texas that hold upwards of 200 people. As of this time, we favored the Hilton Hotel. We considered having the reception at the church, but it is a Baptist church, and my daughter wants a dance with a DJ, so...you get the drift.

Amanda went ahead and purchased the dress from the bridal shop in Denton. We figured that way, it was closer for me to go with her for the fittings when the dress came in. It was to arrive months before the wedding, anyway, so there would be plenty of time to transport it to Waco before the wedding. And little sister Krista (who was asked to be the Maid of Honor) finally got to see the dress to put her seal of approval on it when we drove up to purchase it, so that made both sisters happy.

The dress Amanda  chose is the Maggie Sottero Monalisa Royale; a perfect princess ballgown if I ever saw one. She wanted strapless, a little bling on top, full ballgown skirt with pick ups, and a hem and train with some beading detail - and the Monalisa Royale delivers all of that. She chose ivory, because she feels white would wash her out too much. I was a little iffy about the ivory simply because of the old "virgin white" wedding tradition and wondering what some of the relatives will think. But evidently that idea is passe now; lots of brides are choosing to wear ivory and it has nothing to do with their purity status! Besides, we took a look at some photos of the Monalisa Royale online in white, and it is almost too glaring a white for our taste. The ivory looks a lot softer and more romantic. We put a chapel train on for effect, and it looked OK, but when we put the full-length veil on her, it really looked stunning! The dress just has enough drama to it that it needs the longer train.

Amanda seemed totally thrilled, although I must say, the bridal store people put a more form-fitting Maggie Sottero on her when they were trying to size her, and it looked awesome, too. I think her sister may have actually preferred that one, and I could tell even my bride was going, "Hmmmm.." But she's had her heart set on a ballgown forever, (both her prom dresses were ballgowns) so I knew there was no going back.  I loved it, too!