Saturday, April 6, 2013

and gown award goes to....


a few blogs ago, i posted about the church wedding gown hunt..... like i did with our civil wedding, i'll also post about how i found my "this is it" wedding gown for our church wedding....



it happened when i was looking at pronovias gowns.... i have a friend, who used to live in Morocco, told me about how his wife and him were strolling in the streets of spain when they saw a pronovias store....they went in and the wife decided she wants a pronovias gown for her wedding in the Philippines.... that was the first time i heard about pronovias.... i don't think i have a boyfriend yet that time but i do remember i started devouring their website  and salivating over their wedding gowns....



the pronovias gown that got the
hubby too mesmerized
fast forward, i was looking for wedding gowns.... one for the beach wedding appropriate gown and one for the church wedding....now, there's just one store near where i live that's a pronovias premium distributor and that's van cleve wedding pavillion in paoli.... tip: you would want to get your branded gowns from "premium" distributor to make sure it's not a knock off..... it was still kinda far from where i live but the next pronovias store is in New York, which is 2 hours away..... so i went there, with the hubby, fiance then.....yes, i was with the hubby, here's why..... but that didn't last long, we got yelled at about him helping me find my wedding gown and so i fired him as my wedding fashion consultant and signed up my girl friends to help me with my gown hunt, lol.... anyway, i wasn't sure how much pronovias gown would cost because they don't post the price online but what i do know is i want to try on some of their gowns, even for just the experience of having worn one....

i tried on a lot of pronovias gowns in all silhouettes and there was one that the hubby particulary likes (see photo on right).... i didn't like it though because it looks more like a red carpet or black tie event kinda gown and not weddingy.... and see that belt on that gown? that's $400, that's almost the price of my civil wedding gown.... there's one though that when i tried it on i just fell in love with it, that's the eresma.... but i still want to try on more gowns.....


on one of my many visits at van cleve



the first time i tried on the eresma

after that first visit at van cleve (the last visit to a gown store with the hubby) i still tried on more wedding gowns from different wedding stores and different gown brands.... i was able to find other church-wedding-gown worthy that i like but somehow i'm just not feeling it..... i went back to van cleve wedding pavillion the second time and this time with my friend Jet and her mom.... i tried on more pronovias gown..... they have new ones that day and tried on the hubby's fave and the one i like - eresma, to show my friend Jet and tita Helen.... there's another one that looks like eresma, called pamela, but it's pricier ($2,300) than eresma and heavier and it doesn't shimmer like eresma (haha, i like a few blings, lol)..... my friend and her mom agreed that the eresma is the better choice so on that day i told the girl who's waiting on me that i'm ordering eresma.....



so they got my measurements, i told them i want to add a detachable one-shoulder strap and that i want to change the back from zipper to corset (so i won't worry too much about gaining weight or losing weight), then  paid for the deposit.... and the best thing? since i bought it in december (dec 18, 2011, on my birthday!) they were having their year-end sale so i got it for $1,000..... for a pronovias gown, that's a steal!


changed the back from zipper
to corset

that's me and my gown's side view



i didn't get to see my gown a year later....remember, i ordered it dec. 18, 2011 and my gown arrived some time in december 2012....i was supposed to have my first fitting in June but that didn't happen....so in short my wedding gown was late and it gave me too much stress but the important thing is it arrived before we left for the philippines (we left jan 11, 2013) so i'm good.....

now, now, i know what you're thinking..... that the hubby saw this already..... you're right but i was banking on the thought that he saw me wear too many wedding gowns and he heard me say "i like this gown" too many times that i was hoping he won't remember what eresma looks like.... and i did ask him after the church wedding and he said he vaguely remembered it so at least my wedding gown is still a surprise, lol.....


i customized it by adding the detachable lace shoulder

peach and yellow... with my female entourage