Maddie Gets Married: I Said Maybe to A Lot

But last week, I said “yes!” to the dress, and it wouldn’t have been possible without our very own Betsy Krug! No, she didn’t go shopping with me - although that would have been a blast! - but she did share an Instagram story with me about a local bridal shop in Winston that just so happened to be carrying exactly what I was looking for!

I’d started the process the week prior with my mom and younger sister (my older is due to have her third little one next month and couldn’t travel) before heading to Winston to gear up for our second Artful Wedding Production Workshop, and while the day was so sweet and fun, it unfortunately ended with me saying maybe to a lot.

I’d gone dress shopping with one of my closest friends (and future bridesmaid!) in Charlotte a few months back for her wedding this coming May, and we tend to have similar tastes. So when she tried on several dresses that I thought I might be interested in myself, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted going in. But when the day finally came, nothing was screaming “the one!”. None of the silhouettes were exactly what I had pictured, and I ended up loving the front of some dresses and the back of others - but never the whole shebang.

Honestly, I tend to experience FOMO (fear of missing out) in pretty much every area of my life and left that day wondering if I would ever really have that “this is the dress!” moment. The necklines I ended up liking were completely different than what I went in thinking I’d want, so that just threw me off a bit, and I spent the rest of the week pouring through Pinterest and Instagram to explore other styles and see if there was anything I was missing.

But I couldn’t get this one particular dress out of my head and knew I needed to try it on if I was ever going to have any hope of either knowing for sure or moving on. I called bridal shops around Raleigh and unfortunately none of them carried that designer. I knew there was a shop in Charlotte that did, so my mom, sister, and I scheduled an appointment.

A few days later, Betsy sent me an Instagram story by a local bridal shop in Winston, Bellissima, that was having a sample sale the Friday following the workshop. Since I was already in Winston, it made sense to check it out before heading to our appointment in Charlotte, and we planned on getting there as soon as it opened at noon. Not going to lie, I had visions of that scene from Friends when Monica, Rachel, and Phoebe go to the Kleinman’s sample sale for her dress:

Thankfully, my experience was far from it. My mom and sister beat me there by maybe five minutes and had already pulled the three dresses they thought looked most like me by time I walked in. There were only two other brides in the shop, and they were looking for different styles, which made the whole process stress-free - no whistles necessary!

Even though it wasn’t the same designer, the very first dress I tried on turned out to be the one! Cheesy as it sounds, I did actually start to cry, which was just as much a surprise to me as it was to my family, considering none of us ever thought I would ever be that sure about my decision! The ladies at the Bellissima were so sweet and celebrated right along with us! Since it was a sample, we were able to take it home that day, and I’ll be back in June for my first fitting!

I won’t be sharing what I chose until the day of, but I did think it would be fun to see what kind of dress y’all think I said yes to! Be sure to hop on the @rroseevents Instagram stories to place your vote!

XO,

Maddie

Want to read more of the Maddie Gets Married Series? Follow along:

Week 1: The Proposal

Week 2: Engaged, Now What?

Week 3: Preparing for Our Creative Session

Week 4: My Biggest Takeaway from Our Creative Session

Week 5: Why We Chose Our Photographer

Week 6: When Decisions Get Hard

Week 7: Nate’s First Visit to the Merrimon-Wynne House

Week 8: Save the Date!

Week 9: How to Handle Late RSVP’s & A Free Guide to Creating Your Guest List