A Tale of Two Dresses

I am not the typical bride. There is much evidence for this statement, but suffice it to say that, three months to the wedding, I still had nothing to wear. And I wasn't all that worried about it.

But some people were. First, there was my mom, telling me she wouldn't have time to make my headband or my bouquet if I didn't pick out my dress soon. Then there was a coworker who reminded me a few days ago that, “You're getting married in three months!” I was thinking, “That's a full 90 days to figure it out,” but apparently, I had not left enough time for dress shopping.

Then again, I'm not looking for the typical dress. That big, poofy, gem-studded, Cinderella-style thing is just not me. Plus, we're getting married on a beach. How could I justify spending hundreds of dollars on a dress I'm about to drag through the sand? No, I just need a simple white sundress. And, since I had a free weekend (and all these people on my case), I figured I'd go see what I could find.

Let me just stop here to fill in one detail: I hate shopping. Did you get that? I hate – yes, hate – shopping. I can think of a million things I'd rather do than undress and redress myself a thousand times in one day. There are truly very few things I dread more than a day at the mall.

However, for the sake of my mom, my coworker, and everyone else who thinks the bride should have figured out what she's wearing by this point in the planning process, I went to the mall on Friday. And as luck would have it, I found something almost perfect – a very simple, but stylish white sundress made by Calvin Klein and being sold at Marshall's for $50. Now that's my kind of wedding gown!

The only problem – it was a size too big.

Now, certainly this can be fixed without too much trouble. But I figured I had nothing to lose by checking other stores to see if I could simply find this dress in my size, before going through all that. So I went to just about every Marshall's and TJ Maxx (they are owned by the same parent company and therefore have many of the same styles) in South Florida, looking for this almost-perfect dress in the perfect size.

I didn't find it.

However, I did find another dress. I wasn't sure about it at first, but, as it was my size, I decided to give it a try. I liked it well enough, so I figured I'd better buy it, take it home, and make a more thorough comparison. Like Dress #1, this is a simple, but stylish white sundress made by Calvin Klein. Dress #2 was being sold at TJ Maxx for $60. Again – my kind of wedding gown!

But the problem is that pesky “again,” because what does one do with two wedding dresses? After all, I only plan on having one wedding. And while on paper, the two dresses are extremely similar, on me, they couldn't be more different. And I don't know how to choose which one to wear on my wedding day. There's Dress #1, which I feel slightly attached to because, well, it's Dress #1. But then there's Dress #2, which, regardless of size issues, is clearly more flattering (or so I've been told). And what bride doesn't want a wedding dress that's flattering - whether it's a big, poofy, gem-studded, Cinderella-style gown or a simple white sundress that she's going to wear on the beach? I never expected myself to care this deeply, but I guess I have a bit of a bride gene in me somewhere. And this bride really does not know what to do with two wedding dresses.

So the only option is to take a poll. Dress #1 or Dress #2? I simply can't say. So the choice is now yours. Stay tuned for photos and a chance to vote for your favorite...