I Suppose I Should Come Up With Something To Say

I could go on and on about The Wit Hotel, or the way I can tell in my voice and pep in my step how much more excited I am about our reception (and others, who don't even know about the change can tell too). I'm going again this weekend with my MOH when she flies in from LA and then very likely again when my future mother-in-law and sister-in-law are in town for our shower.  It's one of those things I don't think I could get sick of. Like my fiance, or Taco Bell, or this version of Can't Help Falling In Love. But I have a voice beyond that, I'm forming opinions about this process that I'd love to share with others, especially Chicago brides, to either get advice, give advice - or better yet make some changes to the way this planning process works. So, if I want that voice to be heard, to become a part of a community that excitedly welcomes new members, I need to make people want to listen.

I'm surprised at how hard it is to find REAL pics of REAL girls in REAL dresses. No more of this waif chick in some sort of weird sucking-in-shrugging-with-your-hands-on-your-hips position! Show me someone who looks like they'd actually fit in the sample size (or, gasp, something BIGGER, like me)! Maybe that'll be my new hobby,  finding pics of girls of all sizes in all types of dresses dancing with their fathers or new spouses or walking down that aisle. In real settings, in real lighting, the real moments that make every bride, and her dress, so beautiful. 

Maybe I'm fixated on this because I'll probably end up wearing a used dress at my wedding, or maybe because I'm bigger than the sample size. Seeing the photo on the model or hanging from a closet door isn't really doing me much good. And I'm too darn busy during the hours that salons are open to go in and try on a boatload of dresses (that wouldn't come close to zipping up anyway). Every time I google a question about wedding etiquette or ideas, etc., I come up with a million forums or blogs of brides sharing tips about almost every aspect of their wedding, but when it comes to dresses, I don't find that many real pics or real reviews of the dresses fit, feel, flow, etc. Perhaps it's because it's such a special thing for a bride to have a unique dress, so whereas you're happy to share a cute DIY cupcake tower you made with the world, you want the dress to be sacred. 

So many people crop their photos (or put creepy white boxes where their faces should be) on used dress sites. Are they embarrassed to be selling their dress? Worried someone they know might see them? Both viable options, I suppose. But hey, I'm the poor sap shopping for a used dress - at least you had the money to pay full price for it new! For so many of us, we want to share everything we love about our weddings from the rooftop in order to help others, and in most cases, I've found that we're not too shy to be pretty darn proud of these things when we're discussing with people. I say, let's extend that pride to our dresses and share the info. The same way you would about a Restaurant on Yelp. The people want to know how awesome your dress was - and maybe even why sometimes it wasn't that great.