Notes From a Newlywed: The Dress {Melissa Sweet}

This post is a little difficult to write with the recent news that the entire Priscilla of Boston line is closing up shop as of the end of this year. I had a great experience as a POB bride, from the moment I started trying on dresses to the day I picked up my perfectly altered wedding gown. And you know that TWB is a huge fan of their bridesmaid lines, too.

For anyone who is still looking to score a POB creation, take note that the salons are having huge sales to clear out their inventories. Also, as you'll read at the end of this post, my own dress is now in circulation within a charitable cause's gown sale...so you never know where you'll be able to score a "vintage" POB dress going forward!





When it was time to go shopping for my wedding dress, I really didn't want to look anywhere else besides Priscilla of Boston. I have long been a fan of the brand's many lines (including POB, Melissa Sweet, and Vineyard) not only for their mix of classic silhouettes with modern details but also for their wide availability of price points offered. Looking ahead to alterations, I knew that the convenience of POB's Ardmore, PA location - a quick 5 minute drive from my pre-marriage home - would be an added bonus. Done and done.

But wait...am I trying to tell you that I was sure I was going to walk out of my one and only appointment at POB with a dress before I even went in? Yes, that's exactly what I'm telling you. I was a bride-to-be on a mission, TWBers. I actually tried on about 10 dresses at the Short Hills, NJ POB, chosen because it was easier for my mom and sister in Connecticut to join in on an appointment there, and had all but signed on the dotted line for a mermaid style with a box pleat train and lace appliques on the bodice before trying on the very last dress my consultant had brought into the dressing room. It is the Talita style by Melissa Sweet, and it had just what I was looking for.

(all photos by Nicole Peterson of Girl Photography)

It's a fit-and-flare style, with a modified sweetheart neckline, and the silk satin organza was light and flowy. It wasn't too fussy, too bling-y, too classic, or too trendy. I never would've thought that I'd want a dress with flowers on it, because that's so not my usual style, but this just seemed to work. It was seriously so much fun to wear on my wedding day.

Once I came back from our honeymoon, and got the dress back from the cleaners, I had a decision to make: keep the dress or don't keep the dress. For me, keeping it just seemed like too much of a waste. I had my moment in it, and to keep it boxed up for years on end just wasn't what I ultimately wanted to do. So I turned to Brides Against Breast Cancer, an awesome organization that hosts traveling gown sales throughout the U.S. and uses the proceeds to fund the wish fulfillment of those suffering from breast cancer and overall breast cancer awareness.

I boxed up my dress and shipped it across the country to the BABC warehouse, where it will be assessed, re-cleaned/re-steamed, and set out on its way to be sold. I am so happy when I think that a bride will be able to enjoy my dress, score an amazing discount (I love it when we get to help each other out like that), and also help others all with one very special shopping trip to a BABC sale. You can find out a ton more about BABC at their website, but I've also posted the remaining 2011 sale dates that are currently announced below:

Baltimore, MD: September 30 - October 1
Eugene, OR: October 1 - Dress Dash Clearance Event
Los Angeles, CA: October 14-15
San Francisco, CA: October 21-22
Chico, CA: October 22 - Dress Dash Clearance Event.

Any past brides out there do anything kind of different with their dress after the big day? Let us know in the comments!