The Dress

I was VERY picky in finding my dress - I went to over a dozen dress appointments. There’s a few reasons I finally fell in love with this Essence of Australia dress. First, the appliqué is so sweet. It’s not too much but just enough to give it that very feminine, romantic feel. I saw so many appliqués that were very heavily “leaf” designed and this is more flowery with bigger scale flowers (rather than a lot of little ones). I love how the appliqué pattern starts to go down the dress skirt but it doesn’t cover the entire bottom. The appliqué has some small pearlescent white beading in a few places as well (but not ALL over) and that gives it the perfect little glisten. I also love this dress because it has an almond/cream/slightly pink undertone from the lining underneath. I love how that makes the white details on the top stand out. I also was really picky when looking for a dress because I saw SO many fit & flare choices (which no hate, I think is a beautiful style! I came very close to buying a few of those options). But ultimately, I really wanted a cut and style that was going to feel more classic and timeless. The tulle fabric that runs up the entire chest area and makes the shoulder straps is so feminine in a really subtle and classic way. I love that it has cut out V shapes on the sides (under your arm area) and I love the way it dips in the front and back. Lastly, I fell in love with this dress because it felt like the perfect “amount” of wedding dress to me. What I mean by that is, I wanted something that had the punch and drama of a WEDDING dress but I didn’t want to feel like a cupcake or feel like I wasn’t myself. This dress truly ended up being the perfect blend. When I look at the pictures, I really feel like I stood out in this beautiful gown, but all the while when I was wearing it, I felt very comfortable. I love the way that it has a full skirt but it hangs very naturally from the waist down, without poufing out or again, making you feel like a cupcake. My husband and I had a completely dry wedding (no alchohol) and we got married on a bright, sunny, cold day in NH. I changed for the reception so in total I only wore this dress for a few hours. It’s very clean (no stains, spillage, sweat) and was well taken care of. It’s honestly so hard for me to part with it but it feels like the economical thing to do!

Alterations

The salon had be order a size 10 but I had it altered pretty dramatically. I am a size 36B bust and size 6 overall. I’m also 5’11, so very little length was taken off. I was very particular about how the bust was altered to make sure that it didn’t pucker or stick out in any particular way.