The Dress that Started it All

In case you missed it, I let it slip that I tried my first dress on while attending a Bridal Expo with my bridesmaids. Towards the end of the event, we attended a bridal fashion show where beautiful wedding dresses came out on rather disconsolate looking models (why is that?). Dress after dress went by, but nothing that stood out to me. And then, this gorgeous, lacy number came down the runway:

(source)

Ignoring the multitude of people around me, I pointed with conviction at the poor model and proceeded to squeak with vigor. Seeing my excitement, The Tartlettes walked me back to the model's changing area and asked if I could try the dress on. I was too nervous about being a bother to take action (yet another reason to bring super-fab friends who will advocate for you). Girls, this is the very first wedding dress I tried on:

There were no magical clips or glamorous accessories on hand, and I had to strip down to my skivvies in front of total strangers. Despite this chaos, I was overwhelmed with a sense of quiet: Wow. I'm a bride. While I didn't walk away with this dress (they did offer to sell it to me), this experience left me with a clear idea of features I wanted for my wedding dress:

• Lace. Lots of it.
• A train, because it really turned up the princess factor!
• Off-white color (it's hard to tell from these pictures but the dress had peachy undertones that were just delicious).
• A sash. I hadn't considered this as a "bridal" accessory up till now, but loved how it defined the waistline.

I'm a bride-to-be on a mission! Did you always know what you wanted for your dress? Or, did you stumble upon it like I did?