Lady in red...

A bit more about Sunday (cause I get my days all mixed up):
Went shopping for wedding stuff with my friends, J. & N.. J is my maid of honor and we've been friends since we were around 7. N. has been an off and on friend...not cause of anything bad, but more just losing touch. We've gotten closer in the past few years. J lives in Colorado and N lives in NEPA, so it's always fun to get us together.

We went to try to find accessories for the ceremony and reception. It's always fun to see what you can find. We tried out Michael's (craft shop), Bed Bath & Beyond, and some home furnishing store that I can't remember at this time (darn getting old). I had seen someone on a wedding website do something a bit different for the wedding guests to sign other than a guest book...they had the guests sign matting (the stuff inside the frame) which has a picture of the couple in the middle. That way guests could both sign their name and also write a little note. So I went and bought a HUGE mat with a cut-out for a pic. R & I will pick out the frame after the wedding. I also found a rug/throw to use under the mandap which is a multitude of different colours. I think it'll look cool (especially since we may be making this thing ourselves!).

We had a great time, ate a fun lunch...yeah, it's great to have time to bond with old friends.

Now on to other days....

Tuesday:
It's the big day. The day that I find my Indian outfit. I'm both excited and nervous...what if I don't find anything I like? What if nothing looks good? What if I love something and it's too expensive? I guess all the things that normally go through most brides minds.

We (step-mom & me) headed to the Little India of New Jersey...about a 2-1/2 hour drive away. This is a big commitment ya know! We spent some time just walking around to get a lay of the land and discovered that there was basically one road where the main shops were located. We went into the first store. A woman comes up to us and I tell her what I'm looking for. I know there were some very nice looking things that she didn't bother to pull out. Just a few things that looked and fitted horribly. She wasn't very responsive and seemed to want to serve the Asian customers instead. I tried on two things and just left. I felt like I had been in the Dress Nazi's store and she told me "No dress for you!".

We then went into store number two. A bit more promising. Once again she kept pulling out the lesser dresses. I swear I could see more expensive ones that were more like what I wanted, but at least the dresses she pulled out where pretty. I tried on one lehnga choli that was a dusty pink with a creamy gold embroidery on it. Very lovely. I could see that it was something I'd like. So I had option number one. I think she was disappointed when we left.

Then we got to store number three. It looked like a very high end store. The woman greeted me and I let her know what I was looking for. She then asked me what my budget was...which I took as a good sign. I wish I had taken a picture of all the lehngas that she had on the shelves. It was amazing. And then she started pulling out dress after dress. And they were gorgeous. Reds, pinks, oranges...stunning colours and beadwork. But it was the first one that she pulled out that stuck with me. It was a bright lipstick red (Chanel red), a blue-red red. There was an amazing amount of beadwork. Now the lady told me that I could not afford that dress. (which was true...it was almost twice my budget). But as they were designers, she could get me a lehnga in that style or colour or whatnot for my budget. So I tried it on. And it was stunning. Knocked my socks off. Step-mom almost began to cry. Yup, this was the one. There was no more need to go shopping. This was it. So we began the compromising...and it meant that the dress I'd have would have less beadwork (which was fine as I found the original beadwork a touch overdone), the choli (top part) would be longer (I didn't want to show off my tummy thank you very much) and it would be A-line. Yippee! I had my dress.

As we drove back home, Ev asked me about the white dress. What were my thoughts on it now. And ya know what? I don't even want to wear the white one. This red dress will blow it away. There's no need for the white dress. Not a bit. So it's gonna go back on Ebay. I only spent $35 so who cares! While it's a pretty dress (worth much more than $35 I'll tell you), it can't compare to my new lehnga choli in red. I'm gonna look good!

More later!