Le Dress

After the deposit was put down and the date was set it was time to move on to the next project. Which was just a mishmash of numerous projects. We started out guest list and started deciding if we were set on a caterer, doing the food ourselves, less than 100 people, more? Decorations...the list goes on.
But wait! The dress!! With not even 5 months until the wedding I was cutting it pretty close and it was pretty clear I wouldn't be buying a dress from a shop since they take too long to order. However, I definitely needed to try on some styles and see what worked right? Now I wouldn't advice going to a shop with the intent of deceiving them. I felt really guilty and of course ended up leaving with just the image of what worked in my mind. Don't do that. Ideally have enough time to order your dress or ready to buy a dress off the racks. Originally I wanted something like this:

(sans ridiculous look on the face)
I liked the deep neck line, I wanted to accent my bustiness and shoulders. Then I started wanting a lace sheath to go with my indoor garden weddings. Anything but a ballgown. At the shop though, the nice lady put me in a ballgown just to make sure I knew I didn't want that style:

 See that grin? Yea...that's the grin of a girl saying yes to that dress.
Problem was, 1- it was 1,200 dollars which, call me cheap, was way too out of my modest budget and 2- it would take 6-7 months to order which would mean me walking down the aisle in my robe.
After leaving the shop with a guilty feeling for wasting their time, I hopped online to see what I could find hopefully similar to this style and in my budget.
Thank you eBay!! I was able to find the exact same style, different designer, for less than half of the store price, in my size, never worn or altered. Not everyone will be so fortunate. If you are limited on your budget and time, I definitely recommend going on line. If you're not, a shop is the way to go.

Can you tell the difference? I can't. It even had the pockets. Now that's exciting.