4 Tips for Wedding Dress Shopping

My mom, Aunt Peggy, and cousin Hailey were my entourage as we spent a long weekend in Sacramento visiting the several boutiques and stores.

Now that the wedding is OVER (wootwoot), I thought it would be a fun post to share the variety of dresses I tried on while dream-dress-shopping, and let you in on some secrets that helped me pick "the one." 

Dresses come in all different price ranges.  It was important to me I didn't spend a fortune on a dress I'd only wear once.
It's like I'm frugal or something :-)
Your assistants first question will be about your budget - so make sure you set this prior to your first dress appointment

While I ADORED this dress, it simply didn't fit our venue and just didn't "feel" right.  Our venue was outdoors/meadow/woods/rustic/beachy-esque. 
In another life when I get married in a church or a beautiful country club, this is my go-to.

I went in to the appointments knowing I wanted a lacy form-fitting dress.  And at the end of the day I walked out with a chiffon flowy dress.  The dress in this picture I had ZERO desire to try on.
It was poofy.  There were feathers.  It screamed NO.
But I did it anyway.
While you may have an idea of what you want, keep an open mind because you'll be surprised the endless options.

Don't buy a dress because the style looked good on someone else.  Whatever the style, make sure it fits YOU.  When you put on a dress you should think, "This is so 'me'"



For me, I wanted something that was "timeless."  I wanted something where I'd look at pictures 30 years from now and not have to explain to my beautiful grandchildren "That was the style back in 2014."  I wanted something that complimented my location, and flattered my figure.

I also wanted something that made my mom cry the moment she saw me wearing the gown, but let's be honest - she cried with every dress.

Ashley's Hiking Chronicles - Rock of Ages

I probably sound like a broken record these days with my constant hiking posts, but we've been SPOILED with decent weather this spring in the PNW and we are taking FULL advantage of it.

This weekend's hike was Rock of Ages.  After looking at pictures we thought it looked like fun.

Fun:  Yes
Hard: Hell yea

This was a difficult hike.  You gain 3,000 feet in under 3 miles.  That's slightly over 1,000 ft/mile.  If you don't know what that means, it means steep.

Super duper steep.

Unfortunately we didn't get too terribly many photos of the super steep parts.  We were too busy holding onto tree roots and clinging to the mountain for dear life.  Here's the information from OregonHikers.org.

• Start point: Horsetail Falls Trailhead
• End Point: Horsetail Falls Trailhead
• Hike Type: Loop
• Distance: 10.0 miles
• Elevation gain: 3000 feet
• Difficulty: Difficult (steepness, length and creek crossing)
• Seasons: Apr-Oct
• Family Friendly: No
• Backpackable: Yes
• Crowded: Only at trailhead

And for the best part - pictures!

The arch! 

Devil's backbone

Looking down

Looking up