Phew. Where to begin with this story.
It’s a doozy.
Also, I’m getting married tomorrow.
Literally. Actually. What?
But let’s just jump right into the story.
Okay, well, actually, let me squeeze in a TINY bit of boring stuff.
Let me just squeeze in some of the boring stuff! Ha! Check me out on Instagram here! I also started a Twitter account! Find that here!
ANYWHO, ON WITH THE STORY, LADY.
Yes, yes. I’m getting there.
Let’s rewind back to 2016, when Preston lived in a TERRIBLE apartment, I was off for the day, but he had to work. I decided I was going to sleep in a little bit and browse through my phone. I was clicking through all of my social media sites and I ended up on Pinterest.
And then I did the thing that about 90% ladies have done: I started Pinterest-ing things for my wedding to a person I was not even engaged to.
(Even more honest, I knew on our second date that we were going to get married.)
So I open my Pinterest app and type in the magical phrase: Plus Size Polka Dot Wedding Dress.
This dress is everything I ever dreamed and more.
It was retro, it was white with white polka dots, plenty of tulle, knee length, fifties AF, and the woman wearing it was my kind of plus sized. (as opposed to lots of plus sized wedding gowns that say they’re plus but only fit up to a size XL.)
My heart was so EXCITED.
I became determined to find this dress with all of my sleuthing skills. I sleuth-ed and sleuthed until I realized the obvious answer, which was to just click on the link of the picture.
It took me to a blog based on Rockabilly and Retro style, this particular post being based around a Retro Rockabilly wedding.
The top read Congrats Mary & Matt*
(*names changed for their privacy!)
No last names, important to note.
So I read the whole blog post, scanning each and every line, looking for a designer’s name or a shop link to pop up.
And then I read a phrase that broke my heart: the dress was custom made for the bride.
My hopes were dashed. I couldn’t buy one, I couldn’t get lucky and snag one on eBay, I couldn’t find one anywhere, because it simply didn’t exist.
This dress was the ONLY dress.
The article did not have the couples’ last name but I knew I had to find her.
In the article, I found something that said, the bride’s sister was her wedding planner and her name was listed as Sarah SoAndSo.
My brain said, if her sister’s name is SoAndSo – that’s probably her MAIDEN name!
So I went on Facebook and typed in Mary SoAndSo AND THERE SHE WAS. HER PROFILE PICTURE WAS HER IN THE DAMN DRESS.
I sent her message. And it said something like this:
“Hi, you don’t know me. I promise I’m not a creeper or trying to scam you in anyway, but I found you on Pinterest and I absolutely love your wedding dress and I’d love to buy it.”
A few days later, miraculously, she answered me.
She talked to her husband about it. She agreed. Shortly after, my grandmother passed away. Even shorter after that, her father fell very ill. More than a year later, we connected again. She said I could still buy the dress.
This was shortly before Preston proposed.
However, Mary lives in California.
And her neighborhood was evacuated because of the wildfires that had broken out there last year. Obviously, for their safety, my dress was left behind.
Mary’s family and house luckily were all safe in the fires. She contacted me again and told me there was some minimal damage to the dress from the fires.
I was sad all over again. I had already paid for it and she was still going to send it.
It arrived. It was beautiful, but it was definitely going to need some work.
Two days later, the AMAZING CEO of Bombshell Bridal, Amanda, reached out to me and said she wanted to give me the full bridal experience.
So I did! It seemed like the perfect sign. I was literally the saddest about the other dress needing work and here was this UNBELIEVABLE opportunity. I was going to fly to detroit, meet my fave blogger bestie duo, meet some AMAZING #GIRLBOSSES Amanda & Amy, and meet some of the kindest and most incredible women I have ever met.
They had plus dresses in a size range from 16-34 AND THEY ARE IN STORE! The Bombshells made my day literally perfect from having the best manager, some amazing friends, lots of laughs, and SO much good food – I was in bliss.
I had never been to a store where I could just try things on off the rack, have them fit, and have them available in a size up if I needed them. That kind of world just didn’t really exist for me. I had never met a sales staff that I felt TRULY understood my needs and wanted me to find the exact right thing. We had lots of laughs and coffee! It was everything in a bridal appointment that I didn’t know I could have.
You can check out my post from Bombshell Bridal here!
You can also check out all of their socials: Bombshell Bridal on their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, & YouTube for all of their ADORABLE updates!
I came home from that trip rejuvenated and unbelievably excited for our wedding day. I missed them all dearly.
Amanda, generously, sent me the dress with a few adjustments with me in mind.
It’s white. With white polka dots.
It’s gorgeous.
It’s comfortable and flattering and unique.
I was so excited to take it home.
And then fast forward to last month.
A friend had looked at my original Pinterest dress. And she had miraculously been able to fix it. She made every adjustment and correction and damage control look seamless (literally.)
Then I had TWO wedding dresses. Both equally gorgeous, and very totally me. They both have such fond memories and stories to tell with them. I debated what to do. I wanted to wear both.
I talked about it a lot and decided on a way that I could totally rock the Bombshell frock for our rehearsal dinner and still show off how unbelievably gorgeous it is.
I’ve decided to save the wedding dress until AFTER the big day, just so I could still keep a little magic to myself.
But I wanted to share the amazing stories, share the overwhelmingly positive Bombshell experience, and give you a sneak me.
Hey ya’ll, next time you hear from me, I’ll be Mrs. Darling.
Penny Darling 
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