Since the whole idea behind the Las Vegas wedding was easy and simple, I wanted a dress that would suit that concept.

I knew as soon as we booked the Vegas Venue that I had to find a dress. It would be too much pressure if I found one that needed to be altered or ordered, so I just jumped into the search.

I did not have fun dress shopping.

I spent an entire day off looking around the mall for any white or off white cocktail length dress.

It shouldn’t have been hard. It was, after all, prom season. But everything I found was too short, or too modern, or too trashy, or too ugly. I must have gone into every woman’s clothing store in the mall.

I even went across the street to another shopping plaza and did the same thing. Nothing.

I went to the web, my ultimate answer in times of shopping peril, but was thwarted again. Even with all of cyberspace at my fingertips, I could not find a suitable dress.

It was beyond frustrating. My simple Vegas wedding was not starting off well. Finding a cute cocktail dress during Prom season was not proving to be a simple task.

I chose to go another route and a couple weeks later, went with a friend to “David’s Bridal” after work. The bridal consultants were not very nice. Even though the store was dead, and I was only looking at simple destination dresses they seemed honestly annoyed that I had not made an appointment.

Um…really?

Maybe they were just miffed that my price point was so low, but I wasn’t planning to spend much on the simple dress I was envisioning.

I only found three dresses that I was even willing to try on (though she did only show me like 8 to choose from).

Dress number one was NOT impressive.

I liked the sweetheart neckline and had wanted something more unique on the skirt, but this dress missed the mark. It just looked cheap on the bottom and I wasn’t a fan of the type of bling the dress had.

Dress number 2 was better.

Again, the right neckline, and I liked the lace and length. I just didn’t feel any sort of emotional attachment to the dress. It was missing something, and it didn’t have that touch of playfulness I was looking for.

I really like dress number 3 despite the length.

I felt like a princess, which was certainly appropriate for our Las Vegas Wedding Venue. I could see it with flowers in my hair, walking down the isle. It was more money than I planned to spend, and being a full length skirt would make it difficult in Vegas. I had planned to just wear my dress all night running around town after the wedding, and this was too long for that. I could shorten it to cocktail length, but that would be an added expense as well.

I didn’t say no to the dress, and even made note of the design for future reference, but I didn’t feel comfortable making the purchase either.

I left the store feeling very disappointed. I wanted to make a choice quickly so I could focus on the other details. I was actually somewhat depressed and fairly cranky when I arrived home that night.

Lucky for me I have an incredibly understanding fiance who loves me dearly. He was so sweet to me, despite how upset I was, and reassured me that I still had plenty of time to find the perfect dress.

Though I knew my efforts would be futile I hopped online again, this time tweaking my search terms to (hopefully) find a larger selection of dresses.

I found a few likely options from a bunch of stores I had never heard of, and really didn’t want to take the chance.

In Google shopping I found a link to a white cocktail dress from Nordstrom and clicked on the thumbnail for a better look. I didn’t like it. Too rigid and mature. It wasn’t as whimsical or romantic as I wanted.

I was just about to give up for the day when I saw something on the bottom right side of the screen. It was in a column titled “You might also like” and was the second to the last dress.

I gasped.

I clicked on the thumbnail to enlarge the image, and I knew. This was my dress. The price confirmed it. Half off and it was far less than I could have ever hoped to spend.

I was so excited. It would need a few special touches to make it perfect but it was everything I wanted for myself.

I checked to be certain that I could return the dress for a full refund (in case it didn’t fir or didn’t look good on) and then I placed the order.

I’m not gonna lie, I was nervous about making such an important decision without having tried the dress on, but the return policy set me at ease.

I needn’t have worried. The next week the dress arrived.

It was exactly what I hoped it would be. It was exactly like the picture, and it fit perfectly.

I still need to get it pressed and I am hoping to find a lacy slip to wear underneath the dress, but aside from finding a few accessories, I am so pleased with my dress.

I am really looking forward to wearing it.