The Ebay Dress

I've found myself saying "Maybe at some point I'll care, but for right now I just don't" about a lot of things wedding-related. Things like whether or not my 5 bridesmaids will all have identical dresses or identical shoes, or the fact that our reception space has an area where the floor tiles make up a shuffleboard game and it's a bit ugly. But while I may not be the girliest girl in the world, I DO care about my dress - of course!

I have had a dream wedding dress for much longer than I have been engaged (don't judge), thanks to the unhealthy amount of time my girlfriends and I used to spend browsing wedding websites and drooling over rings, centerpieces and dresses. Unfortunately, although the dress design is "SO yesterday" - or 5 years old to be exact - it still retails in the wonderful world of bridal fashion at around $700... which is, oh, about $500 above what I wanted to spend.

Regardless of it being too expensive, I jumped online just days after getting engaged to show my cousin the beauty. A quick little google search of the style number left me with pictures of every bride that's every worn the dress... and an Ebay listing for the dress, brand new, tags still on, in my size, returnable if necessary, for $200.

Um. What?

After emailing the seller to confirm the too good to be true posting and a few days of contemplating, I finally bit the bullet and placed a bid. Thanks to most brides wanting to buy their dress in a STORE, I was the only bidder and a few hours later the dream dress was mine for $200 flat plus shipping.

Cue squealing!!

Now, not wanting to completely miss out on the thrill of trying on wedding dresses, and knowing that I'd never actually seen the Ebay dress in person and therefore had no clue what it would look like ON me, I went dress shopping that weekend with my mom, grandma, sister and one bridesmaid to try on other styles.

Here's the rundown:

Exhibit A: I look ridiculous in a "princess" style dress.

Exhibit B: Cleavage was needed for this dress. Moving on.

Exhibit C: The first strapless item I've put on in my life and LOVED. If I hadn't had a dress in the mail on it's way to me I likely would have purchased this one. But, then I probably would have spent a lot of time regretting my super plain choice.

(There were other dresses, but I couldn't find pictures of the exact styles)

Just my luck, I was in the middle of battling a flu when the Ebay dress arrived... but I went to my grandma's to try it on right away anyways and let me tell you, if my fever hadn't already broke, it did right then the minute I put on that dress. It is perfect in every way and although I was in my grandma's bedroom and not on TV I felt just like the girls in "Say Yes to the Dress" when they put on THE dress and immediately know it's the one they're going to get married in.

Also just my luck, the top of the dress needs some serious altering to fit teeny tiny me, so my $200 steal will now be more like a $400-500 decent deal. But, I'll still walk away spending way less than most girls, and I'll be the proud owner of a "I bought my wedding dress on Ebay" story that I'm sure I'll be telling for years to come!