Saying YES To the Dress | Sophie's Gown Shoppe

I SAID YES TO THE DRESS!! Ohmygod that feels so good to say!
I was beginning to get a bit stressed that I hadn't yet said yes to a dress. While I won't be telling you which dress I said yes to (yet), I wanted to show you the final dresses I tried on before committing.

     Before I get to the really good dresses, I did want to mention the third shop I went to, Best for Brides. My SIL as well as a coworker got their dresses from this shop (two different locations) but it didn't have what I was looking for and I was not compromising. But I still wanted to show the 4 dresses I tried on. I was really trying to "beat" my potential yes-dress from Saratina and these dress silhouettes just weren't doing it for me. Just as with the previous shops there are bits and pieces I liked about each dress, but none of them were the full package. I also went to this shop spontaneously and solo, so the associate helping me was kind enough to get some back shots of the dresses, which I appreciated.

     Now for the dresses at Sophie's Gown Shoppe. First off, this was probably the largest shop I went to and I was very excited that they had dresses for a wide variety of budgets. If you remember, the potential yes-dress from Saratina was over my budget so I was hoping to find something I loved for less. The dresses here range from $600-$5k, so just about everyone can find something here! I will say make sure to watch this dress video because I tell the story about how fate was on my side.

     Given that the dress I couldn't shake was an off the shoulder moment by Stella York (#7012), I came into Sophie's looking for a dress with a similar style. So naturally, the first two dresses she put me in were similar. Both of these have the off the shoulder/Juliet sleeves, along with button details down the back and cascading detail. I'm not going to lie, when I am trying dresses on I very rarely catch the designer name and even less likely to see the style codes of them, but these two I caught the designers in some footage and did some sleuthing to find the styles. The top is Stella York 7332 and the bottom is Morilee 6968 known as "Dani." They both have the great a-line skirt with a varying amount of detailing along it. Both have a moderate train and I'm told they are easy to bustle. I found both to be flattering in the bodice and I really do like the sweetheart neckline combined with the sleeve.

     This dress had a lot of detail that does not really show up true in photos. The appliqués on this dress were crazy and way more sparkly than you'd ever see in this photo. I hadn't tried on a single dress with this square neckline and it was so different! I think this would look stunning with some sort of necklace or more statement earrings. Of course, I would line the bodice so it would blend seamlessly into the skirt. I love the way the straps tuck very closely to my arms and although this dress wasn't my size, I think my back would look great if it was! It has the button detailing and not too much going on along the skirt.

     This next dress is yet another with the more leafy style lace/appliqué (as opposed to full-on floral). This detailing is a bit more spread out around the skirt with a more natural placement, if that makes sense? They don't look like they were spaced out super symmetrically, there is still symmetry but because there are more pieces it just flows so nicely. You can see that at the front of the dress and at the back of the train there is a larger concentration of the design which help to ground it. I also really like the back of this bodice and find it very flattering. Like most dresses, it has a more nude lining, which I would switch for ivory. The bodice I found flattering, didn't make me look like a brick or cut me in half, sitting quite nicely on my waist.

    Finally, this dress makes me laugh because I sent a video panning the shop when I first arrived and sent it to the bestie. She almost immediately replied with a screenshot of the video & circled this dress with the caption, "WHO IS SHE" which cracked me up. So when the associate was pulling dresses, I asked if she could find this dress that was circled oh so brightly. She chuckled, told me it was brand new, knew exactly where it was and would get it for me. What you can't see in this photo is just how sparkly the dress was. The tulle was literally shimmering. It felt a little too flashy but I did it for the bestie!! Which is probably why I only have a front photo because I knew it wasn't really a contender. Don't forget to check out the video, you will see more of the shimmer details there and let me know...which dress do YOU think I said yes to?!