I've got this choosing thing down! Let's go for dress number 2!

Macy's was a bust for a new dress, so we were off to our next destination...clear on the other side of the mall. Yes ladies, we went to Nordstrom. A little research led me to the Nordstrom bridal suite. What a sweet suite it was! Seriously ladies, if you have one in your immediate area, CHECK THEM OUT!

Before going to San Jose, I made an appointment by calling Nordstrom and speaking with the associate available in the Bridal Suite. I was told that I would get a call back from the associate I was scheduled to work with that day. Now, I'm a novice...I've never done this before and I don't plan on using my new found expertise again (unless of course I turn into a highly sought after wedding planner, then I'll go with the flow)...but I thought it was odd that I needed a phone call after I'd already made and confirmed my appointment, but whatever. Not too long after Eileen calls. Eileen had quite a few invasive questions for me. My bra size? How dare you! My dress size? Well I never...

Ok, so what did I think was going to happen at this appointment? I don't know. I just wasn't prepared for these questions, and to be honest the call came while I was at work...how do I spin those responses into anything other than what they are? Aisle 18B? (I wish!) Anyway, Eileen also asked me questions about my wedding...colors, location, etc etc.

When we arrived at the sweet suite I timidly entered while everyone around me was extremely excited. I mean, look at this place!

How fun does that look?!

Eileen jumped right up, "Are you Amelia?" Why yes, yes I am...and there we all went, into the dressing room...to the stars I assume. There was an area for the moms and an area for the girls trying on dresses, completely private and amazing. Eileen had pulled dresses in every shade of gray I could imagine. Not only for me, but for my girls.

Bridesmaids Dress Pull

Reception Dress Pull

Wait a second...why are my pulls the exact same as the bridesmaids pulls? Crap. That won't make me stand out! Time to become a white reception dress bride!

While the amazing Eileen pulled some white dresses (along with my mom and FMIL), my sister and I danced with excitement...

In our next adventure, we try on some reception dresses!

Did you work with anyone during your wedding planning process that took your day to a whole new special level?

I can't pick a candy bar, but a dress? No problem! (Part 3)

I am not a traditional bride. Or maybe I'm extremely traditional. What do you call it these days when a bride wants to wear her mothers wedding gown? Is that traditional or nontraditional? Maybe it's a nontraditional tradition?

Anyway, My mom and sister had finally shown up to the mall in San Jose. I had decided well in advance that since I'm not necessarily in store for the big dress that most girls are, that malls stores would suffice. I chose to start our day off at Macy's. I figured Macy's had a pretty large party dress area, and it'd be pretty low stress.

My main goals? Find a reception dress with a unique neckline and possibly in Gray. I wanted to stand out...for some reason I thought blending in with my wedding colors would help me to stand out.

Here's a couple shots of what we found at Macy's (all on the rack since they looked so...NOT special on me).

Here's me holding a contender and joking about another, obvious non-contender.


My future Mother in Law thinks I should wear white, that my gray idea is crazy. I don't think this helps the point though...


There's the unique neck line I want!

None of these were going to work. I can see why now, but I felt why then. When I tried these hanger-cuties on in the dressing room, I felt like I was going to a wedding...not my wedding. I felt like a guest, someone meant to be kept in the background so the spotlight could be on someone more important...like a bride.

I did try on a dress at Macy's though that did work and made my decision fast and simple. See, my title comes my complete lack of ability to choose things quickly. As a child I would go to the store and my mom or dad would say "ok, you can get one candy". Really? ONE?! But there are SOOOO many options! What if I make the wrong choice? Seriously, over a candy bar! I still do it too. UGH!

I had my mom bring her dress to the mall with her. When it was time to try on her dress, I got nervous that the sick feeling would come back. I had to do it. I had to try on the dress. We had the entire dressing room area to ourselves...so I suited up. Zip. Perfect. I felt happy, beautiful...like a bride. I knew it right away. My feelings were confirmed when my sister, future mother in law, and future sister in law walked in. My mom and FMIL (ok, I can't type it out anymore...) both had tears in their eyes. Why can't I get tears when I pick a candy bar? Life would be so much easier.

Here's the easiest decision of the day (or so I thought):

The stunning veil that perfectly matches all of the lace on the dress



It hits around my calves.

In our next adventure, we are off to the one single place I actually made an appointment.

Did the reactions of others help to solidify your choice?

I can't pick a candy bar, but I can pick a dress no problem (part 2)

So we last left off with me wanting to hurl all over the place after putting on my dream dress. In case you didn't read our last adventure, my dream dress has always been to wear my mothers dress for my wedding.

I took the dress off and put my sweats back on and didn't say anything. We all know that isn't going to fly around a mother and sister, so I was immediately thwarted with questions of "well, are you going to wear it?" "are you sure it's your style". My response? "Look, I think trying this on without a ring on my finger is just freaking me out right now. I'll make my decision when I need to". I came to the conclusion that my visceral reaction to the dress had nothing to do with my dude, and more to do with me getting so far ahead of myself that suddenly things were becoming real when they really shouldn't be.

Fast forward some time later (a little over a year)...

The dude and I get engaged in October (yaaaaaay!). Suddenly, everything feels so RIGHT! Everything feels like it's happening exactly when it's supposed to. Suddenly, the thought of dresses and honeymoons aren't freaking me out! We waited a while into our relationship to get engaged, but at the moment everything happened....it felt like we were supposed to wait that long. We both had complete comfort with each other.

Fast forward to December 26, 2010...wedding dress shopping. I chose to bring my mom, sister, future mother in law, and future sister in law for a day of dress shopping. Yes, the day after Christmas...and at the largest mall in San Jose. I felt like wedding planning was going far too smoothly, so why not throw in my own wrench of crowds and holiday stress?

Here's me shopping around looking at possible reception dresses while waiting for my mom and sister to show.



Everyone took pictures that day...everywhere. Here's me with Bridesmaid K outside of the restrooms. Classy!



Tune in next time for the great awakening....and how I can pick a dress faster than I've ever been able to pick a candy bar.

Are you a two dress bride? What led you down that path or did you always know you'd go there?

I can't pick a candy bar, but a dress? No problem

I knew from a very young age (ok...22 is young in my eyes) that I wanted to wear my mom's wedding dress....or at the very least something that LOOKED like my mom's wedding dress.

See, my mom's wedding dress looked classic. It is covered in lace and so elegant. It doesn't hurt that it's a designer gown picked out an exclusive boutique in Los Angeles at the hands of my mother and grandmother collectively. I feel it to be timeless. At the age I began thinking about it, I never thought it would happen...my mom was SO thin when she married my father! While I had some doubts, the thought never once left my mind.

Fast forward a couple years, and I'm still not engaged...but I know it's coming...I mention my plan to my mom. Well, next time I visited, there she was, the dress...sitting in the corner of what used to be my room at home. I let it sit there. I didn't look at it, I didn't take it out of the box. I was terrified! Finally on my last day home visiting I was cornered...I knew it was going to happen but I felt I was at the end. The light at the end of the tunnel was there and I was going to make it out without trying on the dress. But alas, she caught me. My mom and sister (who was home for summer break from school) forced me into the dress just so they could see.

Let me back up for a moment. After I left home for school, I lost a lot of weight. In fact, since high school I'm down a little more than 40 pounds. The dress fitting, while still a concern was no longer my biggest hurdle. The engagement was my biggest hurdle...more on that later.

So they cornered me. It was time...I knew I had to get in it and show them. So I did. I hadn't showered, my hair was...well, a complete disaster, but I tried it on. It fit like a glove. While I felt the dress looked absolutely gorgeous...looking at myself in the mirror with this gown on made me want to throw up. I didn't know if it was a case like Carrie Bradshaw in the episode of Sex and the City where she can't stomach the thought of marrying Aiden, or if I just wasn't there mentally yet.

So, did I end up choosing my mom's dress?

Did you try on dresses before you were ready and have an adverse response?

The day it all began...

Let's start this wedding blog off with...well, how I got to be here, the proposal!

The dude and I have been together for nearly 5 years at this point but had never had the time to take a vacation together. Between graduating from college, moving across the state (California is huge people, that's a big move in itself!), starting our careers, buying a house, selling that house, moving back across the state...we just hadn't mustered up the time to go on a vacation. That all changed in 2010. We made a pact...resolution...promise, whatever gets you going, that we would start taking a yearly "big trip". We want to see the world, so we figured with as much as we'd been through, it was time to go big or go home.

We chose Japan for our first adventure. In October 2010 we set off and spent 10 magnificent days visiting some of Japan's treasures and watching a LOT of baseball thanks to the typhoon. On our last night in Japan, in a wonderful little city called Osaka, we sought out a ferris wheel called the HEP5. The HEP5 is a ferris wheel that sits atop a mall and reaches a height of 106m above the ground.

The dude didn't say much, but I was so excited I couldn't stop taking pictures. Once we reached the top, the dude somehow got me to put down my camera for a second. He started talking, saying what, I really can't remember. Is that horrible? At that point I knew what was happening. He was nervous, shaking, and reaching into his pocket. He said something about trying to get us alone (out of the relentless crowds) on this trip and it was finally the perfect moment in his eyes...we were alone, 106m above the ground, and I finally put my camera down. I'm pretty sure I said yes before he asked me...but I made sure to double check that his question was what I thought it was. It was, just in case you were wondering.

Our respective reactions post proposal:

After that amazing ferris wheel ride, we traipsed around Osaka until it was nearly time for the World Series to start airing, then we grabbed some sparkling cider and way too many gyoza. We made it back completely soaked (did I mention there was a typhoon going on?), happy, and ready to watch the Giants dominate that 2010 World Series.

The amazing, engagement dinner Gyoza:



Robes worn post proposal, pre-Giants domination, during Gyoza fest:

The best part about getting engaged in Japan? No phones. Yes, Japan has phones...but we didn't touch them. We didn't have cellphones, email, morse code...NOTHING. We got to enjoy being engaged without anyone being the wiser. It was amazing to have those couple days together having a secret that no one knew.

Did you wait to tell your family whether it be on purpose or by coincidence?