My heart started to go pitter patter. I private-messaged her, asking if she was legitimately interested in selling. She had also posted pictures of herself in the dress, and she looked to be about the same size as me! I tried not to get my hopes up, though...this was a stranger on the internet, after all.
More dresses? Okaaaaaaaaay. So I did. I went to one more store, and tried on a number of pretty dresses, one after another. From Reddington Bridal, the favorite was Enzoani's Dakota:
I went back to Bella Bianca to try on Guindon again. I tried on a few different belts, but no matter what belt I had on, it still felt like 'my' dress:
From there, we went back and forth a number of times. We talked about our dimensions (extremely similar - she was just a little taller than I am!), our experiences in other aspects of wedding planning - we got along quite fabulously! In terms of the sale of the dress, though, she needed time to think about it, talk it over with her fiance. She was concerned about the condition of the dress, the logistics...rightfully so. I tried to put her mind at ease by saying that IF something happened to the dress that would make it unwearable, I would not blame her, and I would figure something else out.
At one point in time, she decided she didn't want to sell it. I was so bummed - I had not found any other willing sellers of the dress, much less one who seemed extremely 'together' and practical, willing to communicate, and was this friendly.
About a week after she broke the news to me that she didn't want to sell it, one other option occurred to me: what if I just 'rented' the dress from her? She could have the dress back after I wore it, keep it for sentimental reasons if that was the issue, but make some money back in the process - especially since she certainly wasn't going to be wearing it again, even if she did keep it.
I didn't want to be pushy, but I e-mailed her one more time, offering this alternative. And I'm so glad I did, hive! Because after that suggestion and re-discussing it with her fiance, she changed her mind!!! I was so thrilled. This looked like it was actually going to happen!!
We still had a little negotiating to do. She was pretty sure she wasn't going to actually want the dress back, but liked having the option. In terms of price points, we went into it assuming that she was selling it to me permanently. PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com has a 'dress calculator' that helped us get to a mutually agreeable price. She wanted to get more than half back, which I thought was a little high - and the site suggested a few hundred dollars less than half. As a compromise, I offered her exactly half. I didn't want to lose her for just a couple hundred dollars - in the grand scheme of things, I didn't have a whole lot of options if I wanted this as my dress, and I didn't want to pay full price! Half seemed very fair to both of us.
She also agreed that half was a fair price. In a future post, I will explain the logistics of how we're doing this in terms of money exchange and dress delivery- but basically...
Guindon is my dress, ladies!! I should have it in about 6 weeks, if everything goes according to plan. I can't wait to finally have it! The seller just had her first fitting with the bustle, and she sent me pics - it's like we're adopting a child together, or something. Except instead of a child, it's just a really, really pretty dress :) I really cannot believe that I ended up with a big, strapless, non-lace dress, but I love it.
I'm still knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes...but...so far, so good! I can't wait for the wait to be over. In the meantime, it's been really fun to have someone to talk to about veil options, invitations that incorporate stripes...it's like I have a penpal!
So, whattaya think? Am I crazy for buying a used dress in unknown condition, from an unknown person?? ;)