Which Came First… The Venue or The Dress?

This past weekend was a success! In a matter of 24 hours we managed to get a date, a dress (for me, not for Cheryl… although there have been some comments about putting her in a tiara), and a venue.

After a marathon shopping spree with my mom (in which I tried on numerous dresses made of enough fabric to clothe a small country) we ended up at a small boutique named “DeBorah’s Bridal.”  Pronounced de-BOR-ah.  Haha!  If you are a bride  in Charleston and in search of a dress, I highly recommend this store! I was allowed to select the dresses I tried on, with only one dress coming into the mirror-less fitting room at a time.  After my mother dissolved in laughter after seeing me in the first two dresses (think overweight mermaid in white saran-wrap),  Ms. DeBorah stepped in and chose two dresses… of course I fell in love with both of them!! In an attempt to help me decide, I was confronted with the questions of – what are you colors, what music will you have, where is the venue… I had no answers to any of these! Major Bride FAIL! So with both dresses in mind, we (Cheryl and I) picked up our marvelous friend Deb Guess (okay… another shameless plug… if you are a bride in search of some fabulous jewelry, go to Soul Whisper Arts) and went venue shopping.

As a side note… it’s pretty strange going shopping for a wedding dress as a lesbian bride. Since I’m the one that wears the skirts in this relationship, and has the dream of the big white wedding dress, we’re being traditional on that part. I didn’t feel comfortable coming out to everyone in the bridal stores – I have to admit I described Cheryl without using pronouns. Not that I’m embarrassed by being gay… I just didn’t want to make anyone else uncomfortable.

As Cheryl has already mentioned, there is an “it” factor involved. Since the first two places I loved (Tidewater Chapel and Old Santee Canal Park) were too expensive and booked (in that order), we started on the list Cheryl created. On that note, we each had a list, which contained pros and cons of each place we were looking at, dates, and prices (yes, she is that organized!). Needless to say, it was cloudy, cold, and pretty much the day you don’t want your wedding to fall on… at least we knew what these places looked like in the most depressing of environments. The first place we went, the Candlelight Pavilion at Miler Country Club, was the closest to the “it” factor we got. (Click on the link for pictures) It does come with tables, chairs, and little deck where the ceremony will be held… our colors (who knew we needed colors?) will be red, orange, and yellow.

Once we decided on the venue, picking the dress was easy. (I did drag Deb and Cheryl back into Deborah’s Bridal, although Cheryl protested… she doesn’t want to see me in the dress until the day of). During the return to the bridal store, Ms. Deborah asked Cheryl what she thought of my fiancee…she did state that she thought “he was a pretty cool guy,” with a straight face.   Cheryl has dubbed it the ultimate princess dress, which we know will delight one of our nephews (he’s in love with Disney Princesses). I have to admit, it’s not what I was looking for at all… I didn’t want a fluffy skirt or elaborate beading, or a train, and I wanted straps!!

This Is the Dress:

Advertisement