Wedding dress Saga

I'm a girl who knows what she wants. I knew at the beginning there were a few things I wanted to do when it came shopping for my wedding dress. I wanted to order it at the beginning of the engagement (so I had a few months to get alterations), I wanted it to be lacy, and I wanted to keep my price down as much as possible. Like every other bride, I ripped out pictures in magazines and then did an analysis of what was similar that I loved so when I went to buy the dress, I'd only have to try on a few.

I also did a search on the web to see find prices and I stumbled onto a wedding salon based in a different state that sold the designers I wanted online. Prices were extremely reasonable and I figured I had so much time that I'd be okay ordering from them. I knew I was going to miss out on all the fuss but really, that fussy stuff isn't for me. Once I found the site where I was going to order, my last step was to try on the dresses. I found a little salon near my home town, tried on five dresses and was done with it. Next day I ordered my dress and my veil. Barely one month into the engagement and I was able to check off what most brides take months to do. I felt elated that it was easy and just had to play the waiting game for four months until my dress arrived on my doorstep.

Well... my dress arrived on my doorstep last night! Excited and bursting at the seams, I carefully ripped open the box and saw my dress in it's package and my little veil it's package. Though the presentation left something to be desired I told myself, 'this is why you didn't buy it at a salon, they would have charged more to make it look pretty for you.' Giggly and all smiles i picked up my dress and something was wrong... it felt lighter than I remembered. I peaked at the dress (it was inside out) and couldn't quite figure it out. I ran to the computer and pulled up the photo, studied it, then back to the dress. I did this a few times, when it hit me: THEY SENT THE WRONG DRESS. I called my mom about a million times... just needing to talk. I wanted to laugh but felt weird I wasn't sad about it. I mean, this was why I wanted to order it early, in case something happened to it. Well, something happened to it.

I gently placed the dress back in it's box and taped it up. I called the store and left a message and decided well, let's try on the veil just for kicks. I pulled it out and it wasn't what I imagined. Not saying I got the wrong veil, I just thought it would sit differently, and to my surprise I LOVED IT. I danced around my apartment filled with boxes, stealing glances of myself in the mirrored closet doors while my cat watched in bewilderment. And for the first time, I felt truly like a bride!

Today I'll be returning the dress to UPS to ship it back and will wait with delight when my dress will find it's way home to me. I could be mad and angry, but what's the point. People make mistakes. If this is the worst thing that can happen to me with my dress, I'll be relieved. Did you have any wedding dress horrors when you finally saw your dress for the first time?