wedding road trip

The (First) Dress

I have found the dress. Well, the first dress. My mother has made me promise not to wear my ceremony dress on the road. To ensure that I follow her orders, she has actually kidnapped my dress and driven it to Southern California, where it will remain in her custody until the day of the final ceremony.

This bothered me at first. After all, most of the friends and family that we visit on our road trip will not be attending our final ceremony. But… then it hit me… most of the people at our final ceremony live in California and therefore will not be part of our road trip.

Brilliant! Two dresses are officially mine!

Shopping for Dress #1, was quite possibly the easiest shopping experience in the history of all things bridal. Of course, this is only because I did my dress homework.

You see, I’m no fool. My mother is a woman of discriminating tastes and an ever-so-short short attention span. Taking her to twelve dress shops to try on fifty dresses in one weekend was just not going to work for her. Instead, I treated her to the best of the best- five dresses I loved at Haute Bride and two dresses I coveted at the Sak’s Fifth Avenue Bridal Salon Super Duper Sample Sale.

In the end, Carolina Herrera reigned supreme. The dress freaking rocks. If my dress were human, I’d totally be friends with her. I mean, if she’d have me.

My mom totally rocks too. There’s something awesome about knowing that I’ll be walking down the aisle in a dress that my mom bought for me. Spending the day with her was priceless… and that’s not just because there was free champagne involved.

Marina Morrison

I’ve found some of other reviews of Marina Morrison (especially on Yelp!) to be a bit cheesy. Exquisite lighting and beautiful dresses definitely make Marina Morrison stand out, but those features alone did not help me “cherish the experience.” In fact, I would say Marina Morrison loses one star for being a bit stodgy and formal. It also loses that same star for being IMPOSSIBLE to find. I was ten minutes late for my appointment because there was no obvious signage outside the entrance to the lobby.

That being said, the dresses are, as other people have noted, gorgeous. I met and fell in love with Carolina Herrera… a moment I’ll never forget. Oh wait… does that mean I actually “cherished the experience”? Hmm…. buy your dress here, but only if you have serious coin and no regrets about spending it on one day.

Haute Bride of San Francisco

No, I haven’t become excessively vain overnight. Haute Bride of San Francisco is a bridal salon down on Union Street that makes buying a wedding dress actually seem fun. I know, I know. Crazy, huh?

So, how do I love Meghan (my bridal consultant) and Haute Bride? Let me count the ways.

Meghan was THE nicest person that I met in all of the salons that I visited. Given that I spent a couple of hours in most of the salons in the City (hey, I’m a freelance writer, I’ve gotta fill the hours somehow), this is high praise. I had so much fun trying on dresses with her. Hell, I kind of wanted to be her. Not in a creepy Single White Female kind of way. I swear.

The salon is beautiful and simple. I was the only person trying on dresses during my appointment. At most, two people can try on dresses at the same time. Plus, on weekends, there is champagne (yum!) Trust me when I say that it is a super good move to make your mom ever-so-tipsy before she rates your wedding gown choices.

The dress prices are definitely reasonable. Friends had tried to tell me differently (saying that I wouldn’t find a dress for less than $3000- so not true!) but I found several options in a price range that felt comfortable for me.

In the end, I went with a dress from Sak’s, but it was only because of the super freaky cosmic coincidence that the bridal salon was going completely out of business.

Priscilla of Boston in (um) San Francisco

There is something so top secret about tapping in a code to be admitted to Priscilla’s second floor salon. Of course, all of that is diminished immediately when you step into the elevator, which is being remodeled and therefore is covered in blue tape and cardboard.

I had the pleasure of trying on dresses with Jessica, who has a fantastic personality and easy demeanor. We laughed as I struggled into dresses from the Platinum line- one was totally amazing, but unfortunately 10K. Say what?? Ladies, go on your juice fast before trying on dresses at Priscilla’s- all sample sizes are in 8, which is a street size 4.

I would say DEFINITELY ask for Jessica when you make your appointment.. but be prepared to spend 4K if you want a truly inspired dress. Hey… couture ain’t cheap.