Wedding hiccup #2

As I mentioned, I tried on my first wedding gowns yesterday. It was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life.

I want to make it clear that the dresses were beautiful, the service was wonderful and I might end up having my dress made by Hilde Heim.

We had an appointment and we were the only ones in the store when we arrived. The first thing we noticed was that every gown was size 10. Now, I am not (yet) back to a size 10, I'm still a 12, but some size 10 tops fit me again. However, even if I was a size 10, these gowns would still not have fit me.

So what did I have to do? I had to put them on as best I could and imagine what they would look like if they fit me. After first having to strip down to nothing but my underwear (no bra) the assistant helped me into each dress - about 6 in all - and would squat down, grab the dress and tug to get it down over my obviously obese size 12 hips. She would then hold the back (because the zip wouldn't go up) while I looked in the mirror outside the change room.

I am not sure I have ever felt so humiliated and upset about my size. My day started so well - my jeans did up so easily and I clearly noticed how much baggier they were than last weekend when I last wore them. I knew that I wasn't going to look great in these gowns, but hey, I thought there might be some in my size. Do you know what size 14 and above people would have to do? Just hold the dress up in front of them and decide if they want to order it to be made in their size. It does make sense, they're made on site and so there is no point having one in every size, I was just surprised that this is how it's done. It would be nice if they also had a size 14 that we could just pin tighter for the more average sized girls.

I shouldn't be too down on it. J was so lovely and reassuring - we really narrowed down the styles. We didn't end up trying on some of the ones I wanted to - that will have to wait for another day - because a bride and her mother/grandmother/bridesmaid came in and she tried on the gown she was picking up that day. She was so thin and attractive and HER DRESS DID UP. I felt so silly standing there in a dress that clung to all the wrong places that I thought we'd call it a day.

We have it narrowed down to two so far, both very different. Like I said, there are more that I would still like to try, from both Hilde Heim and other designers. These are the two so far:

 Heritage

Sofi - I knew I would love it!

I just have to decide whether I want a more structured gown - like the Sofi, which sits quite wide at the bottom - or something more flowy.

Note that I won't be posting my decision - I'll shortlist them all on here, but I don't want EA to know which one I decide on.

So where to from here? First, I continue on the treadmill and with my healthy eating. Because I know that I'll get back to how I used to be, but I just need to work hard and be patient.

Today we're going to the Bridal Expo at the Convention Centre. Then we'll probably go and try on a couple of Lisa Ho gowns. At least I know they carry my size!