Let's go shopping!*

* Must be said in Larry Emdur style voice as per Price Is Right

Oh God. I did it. I actually entered a bridal shop. One of the 'decisions' that needs to be made is what I'm going to do with dress options. Saying you aren't going to go all poofy and white, saying that you want to keep things more simple in style - taking away all the detail, beading, crystals, brooches and flounces - seems to mean that you end up with almost no options. Or at least that's how it feels looking at all the bridal magazines which have some how accumulated in our home as if they are actually going to provide guidance through this foreign maze of wedding haze.

Every picture I look at, each website I visit, I seem to find myself saying "yes, great... if you took away that bit and this bit". Which is fine, except that you can't buy a dress that way. Unless you get someone to make it for you. Which takes time. Don't get me wrong, I have time. Six months is about the time they recommend that it will take to tailor a gown from scratch. It's just that with this whole low-key approach Himself and I have been going for it feels so full-on to pay what I'm scared will be quite a great deal of money to get something so simple. On top of that (without going into whining girl mode), I'm so out of shape at the moment that I'm hoping (like most women I know!) to lose some weight before the wedding. In that case, how will they start to make a dress for me already? With all these adding up, I decided to use a quiet day after Christmas to do the walk up and down High St Armadale and pop in to a few stores if they were open.

Most of the stores were closed, but the few that were open confirmed my suspicions; what bridal magazines and websites portray is pretty much the full set of options you get in person. It was a funny experience, but not as intimidating as I expected. The women were Prue and Trude style for the most part, but mostly they left me alone. I was scared it was going to be a barrage of questions and unwanted advice about what would 'suit' me. Anyway, it was a good excersize to push me to do real research, rather than my usual internet kind. I have an idea of price comparisons for off-the-rack dresses, but I really need to ask some questions. How much can I alter a design? I don't want white, but can I choose the shade of 'champagne' (you'd be surprised how many canary yellow options are apparently champagne) if I alter colour? What's the cost of alteration? When does it all happen? I also need to ring a dressmaker and get an idea of how much that will cost in comparison.

Himself seems unfazed, but this is the easy part for him. Just offer a broad opinion and walk away. We shall see how it evolves when we go looking at potential venues tomorrow!

Not freakin, but small pressure building.

I knew it would come eventually. Not content with having a relaxed approach to this whole shenannigan, I have decided to start getting a few decisions made so I don't have to think about them anymore. And also out of pity for my mother, who I think is starting to get a little worried that we intend to leave this all until a month before we want to actually have the wedding.

I'm one of those people who, rather than stress, gets it in to their head that by looking far and wide on the internet you are doing 'research'. Once that 'research' is done, I feel content in knowing what my options are or a broad picture of the situation. Knowing all the options makes me feel more secure that I can, in fact, make decisions. Himself would rather not know much at all and take the first option that comes along which suits his taste and/or ideas. It's actually a good partnership as I just end up showing him what seems to suit where he's coming from. If we can't agree from that pool, I start showing him more of what I've found or go around doing more 'research'. We've had a really good run with agreeing on pretty much everything that we are both looking forward to without having to actually make a decision. Decision time is upon us though, so who knows how we will go from here?

He did it first. He called me the f word in public. Fiance. How rude.