Stop. Cactus time.
So, a couple weeks before I found out that Saja bridal had come to Los Angeles, I made plans to tag along with the beau’s rugby team the weekend they played Las Vegas.*
That was this past weekend.
Vegas has a, how should I put this. A reputation.** Mention you’re going to Vegas and people regard you with a knowing grin. Yeah, Vegas. Sleaze and excess. I know where you’re going to be at 7:00am this Saturday, and it’s not going to be pretty.
This was not one of those weekends.
To be fair, we did visit the strip. We did stay out a little late on Friday night (1:30 a.m.-ish?). I did, technically, gamble (one dollar lost to the slot machines!). But we only stayed one night. At a Hampton Inn south of the airport. The Vegas “experience” it was not.
Which is fine with me, because I was happy just to wander around with my cameras taking pictures. I was equally delighted to be reminded of what I like most about Vegas:
- You can walk down the street while drinking booze.
- The booze. You can drink it in the street.
The booze. I has it.
So in the midst of the walking around and drinking and watching rugby, I had an appointment to try on dresses. Now, I don’t know about you guys, but to me, it seems like driving six hours just to check out a particular line of dresses should pretty much guarantee your absolute failure. Especially since I’d already tried on some light and airy Saja-esque dresses at Jenny Yoo, and they’d hated me. I was fully expecting to walk out of this store disappointed.
Turns out I was pleasantly surprised.
By the end of the first round, I had narrowed my favorites*** down to a mix of five Saja and Alix & Kelly dresses. By the end of the second round, I’d narrowed it down to two.
I wasn’t allowed to take pictures of myself wearing the two dresses in question. This wasn’t so much a store policy as it was a Saja policy. Which: Dear Saja, boooooo. So instead, here are some pictures from the Saja Wedding website of a dewy, stick-thin, Precious-Moments-eyes chick who does not remotely look like me wearing the dresses:
This was the one I’d liked the best before I even got inside the store. Love the v-shaped front and back. Can’t believe it actually worked on me.
Proof positive of why you should try on anything and everything: I pretty much ignored this dress online, thinking that the front was too boring and the back was too weird. Then I put it on, and it was awesome.
I really liked these dresses. I actually walked around the store looking in each mirror. And smiling. No, it wasn’t love, or a teary recognition of my dress destiny. But these are the first dresses I could actually see myself wearing. Here’s the thing, though. They are each $790. Which makes them:
- That much harder to choose between.
- Expensive as shit.
However! I love it when there’s a however. The first dress up there? Is available in a bridesmaid version. For about half the cost, and in way more color options. Now, since the Las Vegas store doesn’t currently carry Saja bridesmaid dresses, I couldn’t try it on. So here’s what I need to figure out:
- What kind of material the bridesmaid dresses are made of (it’s gotta be made out of a heavier, scratchier stuff than the chiffon of the bridal line).
- Whether that material is a dealbreaker.
- What drink I should have next.
- Whether I am relying on lists for humorous effect entirely too much in this post.
The part of me that’s tempted to throw money at problems to make them go away wants to just buy one of these dresses and be done with it. But the part of me that’s like AUGH BUDGET is busy tying the other part to a chair and duct-taping her mouth. Since it takes only four weeks for a Saja order to be fulfilled, time is on my side. I’m going to take that time and poke around some more. See how I really feel about it all.
Regardless of what happens, I feel a happy ending coming on.
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* Before Saja came to the Bella Bridesmaid in L.A., the closest stores that carried it were in the Bay Area and Las Vegas. Which… awesome. I get to choose between a five hour drive and a six hour drive!
** I understand this news will come as a surprise, but just hear me out.
*** I never even had favorites before! How exciting!
Awesome! Congrats! Those dresses are gorgeous, particularly the first one. Checking out the bridesmaid version is smart-smart, but if it doesn’t work this could definitely be a through money at the problem situation. Wish I’d tried the Sajas and Jenny Yoos myself before deciding I wanted to be done dress shopping and buying something less delightfully airy . . .
And both dresses look like they’d be inexpensive to alter, so you’d definitely be able to keep total costs under $1k, which is both insane and “totally reasonable” by wedding / full length non-sale silk gown standards. Plus they’d be easily resellable afterward — if you’re up for that– given how popular Saja has gotten recently and how “wedding inexpensive” a half-price used version would look posted on Oncewed.
Agreed. I’m totally with you on the “resell after wedding” page. It’s good to hear how popular it’s gotten.
Fiance hates vegas. He says that there’s no need to spend all that money just to inhale second hand smoke and be handed hooker ads. I think it’s fun for the cocktails and shows. So it will remain a girls weekend location! I love that picture, with the blurred lights.
pretty dresses! I love the first one as well, hopefully they don’t skimp the bridesmaid version too much!
I’m going to be a totally bad influence and I’m sorry for that – but buy one of those dresses!! doooo it! I absolutely adore the first one and the back on the second one is glorious (not weird at all). With both, just seeing the material makes me want to float around dancing. Of course, check out the bridesmaid version but I really think that material should be a dealbreaker. I think 60% of my own dress-love is due to material alone. Possibly 70%. And yay for finding dresses you love!
We are also fighting a mental budget battle right now – with respect to John’s wedding band. Mine was already made by a local goldsmith. He could get his made there too – or buy a nearly identical band from this mall jewelry store for way less. So how much is that craftsmanship worth to us? And having our rings from the same place and the same hands? I’m happy to go either way and this decision is mostly his to make – but this frequent battle of practical versus meaningful is tough to balance. I suppose you just have to trust yourself in knowing what will truly give you joy and what will not matter.
P.S. drinking in the streets just made Vegas sound slightly more fun than I thought it might be
Both of those dresses are gorgeous. I love how simple and chic they are. I wish I could see you in them because that is really the best way to see if a dress is right, but I’m sure they looked great (and better than on that stickly model in any case).
Oooo la la! Are you considering a dress in A COLOR. Like not white or off white?!
Oh man, come to the dark side, sistah! Stillwater = so gorg.
I wanted to get married in a pantsuit and then I tried on this dress and bought it on the spot – even though if you told me 2 months I’d get a fairy fucking princess dress I’d have laughed in your face. So YES, try on everything and you very well find yourself surprised.
http://www.sotteroandmidgley.com/dress.aspx?style=SSM5162
Ha! I AM considering a dress in another color. Because I love color. If it ends up being offwhite, though, I won’t be heartbroken.
Your dress is awesome! Can’t believe you did a 180 like that. Sometimes we surprise ourselves.
weird. I tried on Saja dresses at the bella bridesmaid in Las Vegas and she let me take photos. The 1st dress is the one I wanted to try on but she didn’t have it there. 🙁 All the others looked very strange on my freakishly tall body. I’m glad they worked for you!
That IS weird to hear. I wonder if it’s a new policy they implemented? She said I could take pictures of anything but the Sajas.
Last time I was in Vegas, we stayed at Caesar’s, and it took me two days to realize we hadn’t left the hotel in, well, two days. I love that place – you can do everything, or you can do nothing. Gotta pencil a trip in this summer.
At any rate, call whatever number they have online and ask them what material the dresses are made of, if you haven’t already. $790 is GREAT for a wedding dress these days, especially new, but if you can get what you want cheaper than that, even? SCORE! Good luck, can’t wait to hear more.
Judging by your favorites, this shop may not be your thing, but I just had to post:
http://ariadress.com/
They have a shop in LA and their prices, oh how I love their prices.
Thanks! Any tips are always welcome.
I admire how budget-principled you’re being after finding something that a) makes you feel special and right and b) is “affordable” for brideland. I swear, when I see something for under $1K, I dance a jig. If it’s under $1K and actually a lovely material, my jaw slams to the floor. Though I understand practicality, the dress is so inexplicably hard to be practical about. And if you feel happy ending-ish, I want this to work for you. I really do. And so pretty and flowy. Wee!
Maybe Bella Bridesmaid in LA has the ‘maid’s dresses and materials too? And maybe they’ll allow photos so we readers can gush a bit?
That’s exactly what I’m doing next — making plans to visit the LA Bella Bridesmaid.
Dude, and thanks for the encouragement. Those dresses ARE totally affordable for brideland. But it’s like I heard you once say: if I can find something I like just as well for cheaper, then all the better. But if I can’t, it will be easier to make the decision and feel better about spending the money on one of these, because they’ll my best option.
oooh those dresses make me want to swoon. also keep in mind that they are still waaaay cheaper than the “average” wedding gown. If you love it, buy it and if you feel guilty sell it later and make some moola back
Those Saja dresses are gorgeous. I agree with trying on everything. I tried on some things that I hated, but loved on me. I also think you should take a picture in them once you try them on. Some don’t feel right but photograph great. Others feel great but photograph like crap.
I would like to cast a vote rooting for a colored dress!