Saying 'Yes!' to the Dress

Today it dawned on me that I have my first official, real-life appointment to try on dresses next weekend. I'm sure with most normal brides, this elicits a great sense of excitement, but not me. I'm actually dreading it. 

For the better part of my adult life, hell, for the better part of my entire life, I've battled the bulge. I've never quite been able to exist at a weight where I've been comfortable, but rather, I've gone up and down 30-50lbs every couple of years. This has taken both a physical and emotional toll on me, especially when it has come to dressing my ever-changing body.

To offset the potential trauma of dress shopping, I've spent most of the last year of our engagement joking that I'm going to sport a nice white pantsuit as I trot down the isle.

See, I could walk down the isle in that, right? But as I sit here typing this, I know that the window of time for dress shopping is quickly closing, and that if I want the most options, I need to pick something soon while we still have 6 months before the wedding.

To prep myself for this anxiety-filled excursion, I've been indulging in extra episodes of 'Say Yes to the Dress.' Mostly to get a feel for the style of dress that I'm most drawn to and to learn the lingo a bit. I have to say that watching so many women with different body shapes find dresses that look stunning on them has been very encouraging! So, without further adieu, I present to you my dress inspiration:

What do you think? When I actually allowed myself to browse bridal gowns, I found that I was instantly drawn to these sexy little numbers...and to lace! I'm actually kind of excited to go shopping and am hoping that it's the positive experience I so desperately want it to be.

Was dress shopping everything you thought it would be? Did you choose a style of dress that you thought you would, or did you end up choosing something completely different?