Dress Adventure - Parts II and III

Last month I shared the first part of my dress adventure and now I'm here to share the conclusion (mostly in photos). That's right, the long-distance relationship with my dress has come to a close and we are now co-habitating.

This is my excited face...photo taken on the day I went to pick up the dress

My second fitting was in the late afternoon of Easter Saturday. Unfortunately, this timing was a bit inconvenient (taxes were still undone, lots of work to do, etc.), so it was just a quick up and back trip for me.

So bada$$

However, Brother Turkey was kind enough to make the trip down from NYC to spend the morning with Turkey Mom before the fitting. They met me at Penn Station mid-afternoon and we made our way down to Kleinfeld.

Right: How Brother Turkey said he felt; Left: How Brother Turkey actually felt; Middle: his Facebook status

As Brother Turkey notes, the second fitting was quite painless and I even took some of my own tips, including pinning up my hair.

THRILLED with how the dress fits - the hair worked, but was pretty awfully done

Not sure what's common with second fittings, but mine consisted of ensuring that the first set of alterations (to fit the bodice and take up the length slightly) were right and do a test on the bustle. Once we determined the dress fit (yay!), they put on the veil, checked the way they worked together, pinned a couple little things...then set a pick up date and sent us on our way.

Posing with Brother Turkey & Turkey Mom in the lobby

With such a quick visit, we had some time to kill before our returns to various stops on the East Coast. We enjoyed a delicious lunch / dinner at Eataly. As a Philadelphian, I can't help but compare it to DiBruno's, one of my favorite spots here in the city (except Eataly may be about 2x the size).

Turkey Mom's yummy crab

One short week later it was time to go pick up the dress. Turkey Mom and Dad were in town for our tasting, so on Saturday AM, we took the Amtrak up to New York for an even QUICKER trip.

Yes, I'm a HUGE dork and bought a Kleinfeld t-shirt...and then wore it to pick up my dress

My fitter, Josephine, was appalled when I told her (at both fitting #1 and fitting #2) that I would be taking the dress back on the train. Which is humorous when you consider how many women, like our own Miss Castle, fly with their dress. She suggested a town car, driving ourselves...you name it. No thanks.

So, we got off the train, jumped in a cab to Kleinfeld and were out, with a dress, in about 15 minutes (that included a bathroom break). And thus began the journey of our dress from 110 W 20th Street, New York, New York to my apartment in Philadelphia.

A very kind gentleman, carrying my dress down the street

We're getting some stares (first of many)

He even hailed a cab with his extra hand!

Dress doesn't really fit in the cab...even an SUV one!

We made it to Penn Station, sweating under the heat of the dress, without incident. I had purchased an extra ticket for my dress (yes, I just said that) because I worried slightly that if we were in a 4-seater and put the dress on one of the seats, I'd get yelled at. However, the train was packed and all the 4-seaters were full, so we sat with the dress across our laps. Oops - I guess I didn't need that ticket.

2 ladies and a wedding dress

1 1/2 very sweaty hours later (there was heat coming out of the vents for some crazy reason), we made it to Philly and squished the dress in the back of my parents' SUV. I'll admit, seeing as how this was the most the dress was wrinkled in its entire trip, I felt vindicated in my decision to take the train.

Do you think the dress looks comfortable? I do not.

Rescuing the dress from the car

You know, just your average Saturday afternoon...walking a wedding dress into the apartment

Although he hasn't seen the dress, I suspect that the sheer size of the garment bag may deter Mr. Turkey from thinking I'm wearing a slinky wedding dress. It now resides on the door jam to our guest room closet, requiring you to "get skinny" when entering. It's driving him crazy!!

Me & my dress (please don't judge the boxes in the background)

It only took 5 friends, 4 round trips to NYC, 1 brother, 1 mom and a couple hundred bucks, but now I have a wedding dress (that fits!) taunting me every day with just how close the big day is!

Where are you storing your wedding dress? Are you keeping it "under wraps" until the big day.