“Be the bride,” someone once told me when my time would come. To me, that meant letting myself wear something I wouldn’t be able to find off the rack or appropriately wear on any given day. It also meant to find something that represented me and my beau; something romantic. Honestly, I never imagined wearing a dress with blush tulle as the undertone. The word tulle bugged me and the color blush had no chance in my mind. But there she was, starring me in the face in all her tulle blushiness! When I told my mom it was blush, she was less than thrilled but open to seeing it, of course. Every girl (and their mother), thinks of themselves in that white dress for their big day. Truth be told, I could not see myself in pure white but more of an off-white. I tried on 12 dresses; 10 lace or embroidered and 2 simple white silhouettes. I knew two things immediately; I wanted embellishment and white wasn’t my color. I stumbled upon the South Coast Monique Lhuillier flagship store without an appointment. I wasn’t planning to find my dress that day. I was just perusing, and actually having doubt of finding my special dress anytime soon. I considered taking a break from “looking.” But there hung the Masterpiece. I happened to try her on, including the custom bolero and veil…maybe I put a crown on too, just for fun - haha ;). I felt like a Queen! This is it, I said to to the lady helping me! We both laughed in a shocking way. The dress had all that “be the bride” meant to me - a drop waste, a full layered skirt that didn’t read stiff but rather flows, an open back with that raw edge detail of the floral embroidery, a custom bolero that I could wear for the ceremony and was easily removable to reveal a strapless sweetheart neckline for the reception. Timeless, elegant, and beautiful. It was magic!