Chicago Wedding and Bridal Blog

If i had not found my dress when I did, I would have bought this one. It looks almost as good and is only $500.

I started my search (journey) for my wedding gown like many Chicago brides do, online and in those glossy perfect bridal magazines. Chicago has many good bridal and wedding magazines written with this area in mind. The two I have are Chicago Bride and Chicago Weddings. I found the Chicago Wedding information very helpful in the southwest suburban wedding reception site listings and the local wedding vendor information. BUT, all the bridal magazines weren’t terribly helpful in the search for a wedding gown in Chicago. They had lots of ads from big name companies with really skinny models wearing coture dresses and all kinds of weird styles that were either way too expensive or not at all what would fit my body. Some of the local shops are Priscilla of Boston, House of Brides, Francia Bridal, A Joyful Occasion, Macy’s and David’s Bridal. I was interested in Watters and Watters and not sure where to find them since they are a cheaper but nice brand. It is impossible to see what the stores have from just one ad. Instead, you spend a lot of time making appointments and driving from bridal store to bridal store.

So, I really found myself not liking anything in the magazines because I couldn’t picture my size 12 body wearing any of these skin tight dresses when it isn’t smooth, perfect or thin. The problem is that is what the world thinks is pretty, while people like me are sedentary and need to get some exercise once in a while. My first bridal dress appointment was at Macy’s because I grew up thinking that Marshall Fields was the place to go for a fancy dress and I wanted to give them a chance. I am glad I did, the experience at the State Street store was fun but they have dresses that start at about $2,000 and I really needed to spend less than that.

I put off going shopping a while longer thinking I would loose more weight and well, it hasn’t happened. I need to seriously get back on the wagon with the wedding dress diet. I finally made 4 appointments last weekend at local bridal shops in the southwestern suburbs to start tackling this dress problem. I made the appointments for 11 am at Priscilla of Boston in Oak Brook, 1:30 at David’s Bridal in Lombard, 3 pm at Francia Bridal in Hinsdale and 5 pm at A Joful Occasion in Naperville. 

Long story short,I never made it to Francia Bridal or A Joyful Occasion. I wish I would have seen them earlier to at least be able to comment on them but all I know is that A Joyful Occasion in is a sample store where the owner buys sample dresses, never worn and worn once dresses from all over the country online for lower prices and then marks them up and sells them there. It is probably not a bad idea if you need a weddng dress in Chicago off the rack now and don’t have time to order one but you can only get what is there and no ordering new dresses in your size. It can be frustrating if they have a great dress that doesn’t fit and what fits you, isn’t your style. But I am guessing they are always buying more so they might get new wedding dresses all the time.

 I started my day at Priscilla of Boston because I worked there for a short time about 8 years ago. I needed a part time job on weekends to save some money and they were close by and paid well. It was something I enjoyed and wedding dress construction isn’t all that different than figure skating dress construction that I had experience with from 10 years of skating. I found a lot has changed at Priscilla Of Boston since I worked there last. They have multiple lines and even carried other designers for a while. They even give some discounts now that they never did before. Priscilla of Boston makes 2 kinds of dresses, the traditional hand made in Boston alencon lace kind (with or without beading) and the covered in beading princess kind from China. (most everybody’s dress comes from China these days)

I found that Priscilla Of Boston didn’t even have anything below $3,000 despite someone saying on Yelp that they carried Watters and Wattersdresses for around $1,000. The Samples also had a hard time fitting even though they were 10’s. It made it hard to try them on since they aren’t in my size. The salesperson Nancy was very nice and tried to accomodate my difficult needs of low price and lots of structure to support my bustline. The first 3 dresses were all very odd on me. None looked right. My cleaveage showed out the side of the halter top, the weird Jackie-O blouse top dress just made my boobs look bigger and the horizontal ribbons dress made me look as wide as a cow. (well, I am a cow so that was accurate). Then when I was about to leave from feeling like I was really in the wrong place she asked if I wanted to try on one last dress.

I was pretty logical through the whole process, evaluating how the dresses looked and not being emotional about it but after they rang up the sale and I saw the dress hung ready to go I started to get giddy. I realized I had found a great dress that made me look thinner than I am at an incredibly cheap price. Now my wedding dress just has to be cleaned, hemmed and bustled a few months before the wedding date. I also have to get some thick satin rbbon to use for a sash too.

The Watters and Watter dress I bought on sale at Priscilla of Boston last week

I did go to David’s Bridal anyway after this even though I already had my dress. I wanted to report that I thought they had a lot of very fancy dresses at very reasonable prices. (downright cheap compared to Priscilla’s) I liked David’s setup more than Priscilla and Macy’s. David’s was far more organized and there was more room to walk and see your dress. Priscilla’s is especially crowded and hard to find anyone or anything in that store. David’s bridal has also come a long way in their dress designs and make some dresses that rival the designers that are $5,000.00. If I had not gotten that dress at such a deep discount I would have spent a little more and gotten a $500 David’s Bridal Gown. I think they offer great solutions at very affordable prices. The alterations cost $250 wherever you goso don’t be a priss and complain when that happens, it is standard everywhere.

And you may be asking, what about House of Brides? The House of Brides has been in business forever and has the worst reputation for messing up orders, not delivering dresses as promised and generally being rude. I had no interest in going there and am glad I did not waste my time. Some of the stories of what has happened at House of Brides on Yelp were terrifying.