I knew I wanted to find my dress in Florida, mostly because of the prices, but also because the selection is better, and since we were gonna get married there I wouldn’t have to drag it all the way from Norway.

So when Endre and I were there during the summer last year to look at locations, I took a few trips to bridal stores to try on dresses. No, Endre didn’t come with me, I went with my mom’s cousin.

So first we went to David’s Bridal, and Alfred Angelo. I tried on many pretty dresses, and there was a couple that I really considered. Like these:

But even though I thought they were really pretty, none of them gave me that “this is the one” feeling. So I decided to keep looking. But just a couple of days before we were headed back home, we had just found our wedding location, when one of the ladies who worked there asked me if I had been to Miracle Mile in Coral Gables yet. I hadn’t even heard of it before, but she told me that there was an entire street of bridal stores. It was about 3 pm already, and she said that they closed at 6. We didn’t have any specific plans for the rest of the day, so we just thought, what the hell, let’s check it out. So we got in a cab an went straight there. The first bridal store we got to was called Alegria’s Brides. I went in and tried on a few dresses, while Endre waited outside, and there was two dresses that I fell in love with. But this was just the first store I’d been in, so I thought that I couldn’t buy a dress without having looked in any of the other stores. So we went to a few more, and I tried on loads of dresses. I even went back to a David’s Bridal and tried the Vera Wang dress one more time, but the dresses at the first store kept coming to mind. So at 6 pm I ran back to the first store. And even though they had just closed, they opened the doors for me and let me try the dresses on one more time. I was kinda torn between the two, but when the lady helping me dimmed the lights in the fitting room, there was no doubt in my mind, I had found the dress!

So I paid for it, and had them measure me so they could order the dress in my size. Then in November I went back with my mom to have my first fitting, and as it turns out, I had lost a little weight..!

But the seamtress worked her magic, and just a few days later I had my second fitting, and it fit perfectly!

I left the dress in the store, so I could just pick it up there before the wedding in february, and luckily, I didn’t loose or gain any weight in the meantime.

It was difficult to make such a big decision without asking Endre for his opinion, but he loved the dress! It was perfect for our wedding day, because I was able to dance around, walk in the sand, and it wasn’t heavy or sliding down. It stayed in place the entire day. The dress is Private Label By G STYLE 1431.

The best thing is, I get to wear it again! We are having a party here in Norway, to celebrate, and we’re gonna recreate as much as possible from the wedding so that those who couldn’t come to Miami get a taste of what it was like. Hopefully it’ll still be intact after having been to the cleaners..