They said my standards were too high. God proved them wrong.

This past week I made a long-overdue trip back to my hometown near Chicago. It had been almost a year and a half since I had seen my family and friends, so I was definitely excited to see them. Aside from visiting family and friends I also spent that week searching for a wedding dress. I was so thrilled and unprepared for it all. I never realized how overwhelming and stressful finding a dress would be. I definitely had an idea of what I wanted, mermaid fit, with lace and beaded detailing, but as my mother and I went to different stores my dream dress became a distant reality. I took the photo of my dream dress everywhere and showed it to each consultant, who tried their hardest to find a similar dress within my budget. Apparently dresses made with lace are usually in the higher price range, but despite that I was determined to find it. Many of the dresses I tried on were beautiful with lots of lace detail and beading, but seemed to be too thick or full, which was not what I wanted to wear for a Summer wedding. I know many of the dresses were many sizes too big and were clamped in the back to give me an idea of what it would look like after much tailoring but sadly I still wasn’t convinced.

My mother was a huge help, driving me around everywhere and giving me her opinion. I almost settled on a dress on my last day. It had a gorgeous long train, beautiful beading that sparkled and was fitted with a lot of flare. My biggest problem was the thick satin underneath the dress and the tightness of the bodice. Despite looking gorgeous I felt like I was drowning in fabric. It wasn’t vintage looking or light enough as I had imagined for myself. My mother felt like it was a good deal for such a beautiful dress and I almost said yes because I was tired of looking at dresses.

We decided to give one more bridal store a try before I made a final decision. I wasn’t particular about going to David’s Bridal and only because a lot of their dresses in my price range online didn’t wow me. I just wasn’t impressed. Upon entering the store I was handed their Bridal magazine and after flipping through the pages was surprised by the look of the dresses. Their website does not do as much justice for their dresses as the catalog. All of the lace dresses I tried on I really liked. Finally I found the dress that was perfect for me. It’s ivory, has lace, a little bit of sequin sparkle, is sleek and fitted and most of all it’s comfortable. I’m also getting the lace gloves to go with it to complete the look.

I’m so excited even though finding the wedding dress is only a fraction of what needs to be done. I’m building everything around the style of the dress. I’ve decided on an outdoor vintage themed wedding and will be incorporating lace decor where I can. I even finally picked out my bridesmaid dresses and the main color of the wedding which is malibu.

There is so much left to do but I am feeling a little accomplished and I believe that everything will fall together smoothly.

Our hands touched and it was electric.

Love is not self-seeking. If we could only wrap our minds around that.

If the Bible says that faith comes from hearing the Word of God then where do you think doubt comes from? When you are trying to build and maintain faith close your ears to the negative & doubting words of others.