Oh my folks! All of your comments about my dress have just made me feel like a rockstar beauty! Thank you so much! Thank you thank you!
No. Really. Thank You!
On Sunday, literally half of our wedding partay is heading down to Houston for an adventure at David's Bridal. We will be loud, excited and have a great time! It is going to be a big day! We are picking final colors, bridesmates will be trying on dresses, we will be searching for a dress for D. Actually, D already has a dress she found that she lurves, but it is a little over our budget. Yes, we made that terrible mistake of trying things on we can't afford. BUT in our defense, we just forgot to look at the price tag. We didn't knowingly decide to try something on $300 more that we are willing to spend!
I've been reading a lot of blogs and it seems that David's Bridal gets a lot of flack, as do the brides that buy their dresses there. I saw on one indie blog, a person who apologized for getting their dress at David's. Why apologize? I mean, we all know it is the Wal-Mart of wedding dresses. And yes, there are other people who will have your dress. And yes, it is marketing on the whole 'wedding industry'. But their dresses are cheap as hell. I mean, it is ridiculous how cheap they are. And I say GOOD FOR YOU! <-- look I yelled it even. You got a dress you love, and one that you feel beautiful in for a hella cheap price. You don't need to apologize; you need to pat yourself of the back and give an Andre champagne toast to your budget savvy ways. It seems sometimes that brides try so hard to be unique or special that they go almost full circle and conform to non-conformity.
Any comments?
Remember, when it comes to commenting-- snark is welcome, but rude people aren't.
5 years ago
9 comments:
De-lurking to say: HERE HERE! :D
I've been having the same feeling with my wedding ring. My fiancee and I both have strong political beliefs and a strong aversion to the diamond industry as a whole, so when we decided to buy our rings, we both set out to get Indie Super Cool Cheap Non-Diamond Unique Rings That Say We Are Very Sensible And Green.
Well. We both walked away with diamonds. Granted, they're really more like diamond chips, so the cheap part worked out well. And we bought them from a store (a mainstream store) that only sells Green diamonds. Guaranteed not to be soaked in the blood of, well, anyone. But there's still this feeling of guilt and a need to explain or defend our choice of diamonds. See? Even now, I'm explaining.
But the rings are beautiful and they make us feel beautiful and they really feel PERFECT, you know? So who cares? Sometimes that Indie Super Conscious Unique Image needs to be re-evaluated to make sure you're not being unique for the sake of being edgy alone.
It's about so much more than that; it's about being true to yourself and feeling PERFECT and that the beautiful you feel is about more than just pretty. So sometimes, traditional and cheap and expected holds something special unexpected and priceless, and it's good to step back and be brave enough to look past the knee-jerk reaction of Wedding-Industry-Rebellion. :)
Thanks for the wonderful post!
First, that dress is so flattering! Love it!
Also, I'm really glad you brought this up. To me the point is being a thoughtful consumer. You have obviously weighed the pros and cons. And, price is a pretty important consideration, so I definitely don't demonize David's. I, personally, wouldn't buy my wedding dress there because I know me. I would get overwhelmed there. Too many dresses, too many people. I'd be bolting for the door before I found anything to try on. But I'm not going to go the custom made route on everything. Making paper stuff at home on the cheap probably would make some people crazy, but that's my cup of tea. To each their own. A friend of mine got the perfect dress at David's and looked completely stunning in it! I think it's totally cool to beat the WIC by not giving in to the huge price tags. Just like I think it's cool to beat the WIC by supporting local, indie businesses.
Wasabi-- exactly! As much as we would love to buy all of our stuff from local vendors or etsy artists-- we simply can't afford it. Will our invites be local or etsy? for sures. But David's isn't some evil empire set out to destroy all tiny wedding shops. As ms. winehouse would say-- no no no.
And danger jane-- thanks for de-lurking! D and I went through the same thing with our rings. To be honest, we just simply didn't know about 'conflict free' diamonds. We got our rings at an outlet mall from a major jewelry store! (hey cheap! hey awesome!) Imagine my guilt when I start reading these blogs talking about 'conflict free' and 'green' rings! But in the end, we love our rings. We got a heck of a deal, and I justify (we all do) by telling other almost-engaged friends about what we've learned. Don't get me wrong, I felt bad for a bit, but in the end-- what can you do? You can be happy and joyful and love what you have!
Okay, granted I'm not married and I'm not getting married anytime soon but it seems to me that one of the new trends (or movements?) in weddings is to rebel again "the wedding machine." That can be anything, from making your bouquet with flowers from your garden to using an iPod for the reception to writing your own vows to rejecting the big poofy white dress. And I think that it represents a good idea, namely that your wedding should be exactly what you and your "to-be" want, not what you think you should have and not what the wedding industry tries to tell you is perfect and special. But sometimes this new trend can be almost too extreme, like you're a bad person or a less unique individual if you truly want a seven tier cake or a DJ who will play YMCA and Kool and the Gang's celebration or you find your perfect dress and it's a big huge poofy dress or buy your dream dress at a store like David's Bridal. It's like the pendulum needs to stop swinging back and forth so violently and people need to just let everyone do what fits their taste, even if that involves buying a dress at David's Bridal or a ridiculously expensive boutique.
And besides there's a reason why David's Bridal is popular--they're everywhere, they're a good value (you're only going to wear the dress once! why spend thousands?? That makes no sense!) and they're a great option if your bridesmaids are all over the country. What's the problem with that?
Wow, what a rant :) Sorry! But really, love your dress and all your thoughts!
And by rebel again "the wedding machine" I mean rebel against the wedding machine. Durrr no proofreading!
A dress you love is a dress you love, regardless of where it comes from. I would get the DB backlash more if people had strong ethical objections to the company, but it seems like a snobbery thing, rather than a real issue. Being unique for the sake of being unique has always struck me as weird.
I've heard of Brides have bad experiences at David's. That, to me, is the only reason to dislike a place1 Not because it's cheap and churns out dresses by the thousands. I bought my wedding dress at a shop that is possibly our equivalent of a David's (with fewer options), and no one cared. I don't care! I've never seen anyone else in my dress and I wouldn't care if I did. So there. Have fun!
On your wedding day, people aren't going to be questioning political motives or looking at the label on your dress. The only thing they see is two people in love. If it matters to you to have eco-friendly rings (check out singleBbeautiful on etsy, awesome jewels!) or custom made, vintage dresses, it doesn't matter.
I loved my wedding, from the music, to the flowers to the reception...but what I love the most is that I am married to my best friend (as cliche as that sounds).
I think it's interesting that in a group of comments that is supposed to be about not judging someone for spending less and buying their dress at DB there are comments about how spending thousands on a dress doesn't make sense. Well, it makes sense for some people. I'm just saying....you can't win. That's the whole point. Do what you want and don't apologize.
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