I didn’t believe it was possible to have love at first sight with a wedding dress, to me this was just a cliché, especially after my other disappointing Bridal Shop experiences. Hand on heart, the moment I stepped into Gracie by Stephanie Allin, I knew it was THE ONE. For those of you that aren’t aware, Stephanie Allin shot to fame amongst Irish Brides to Be as soon as Amy Huberman stepped out to marry Brian O’Driscoll in her Symphony gown.

I was actually on my way to a Body Shop event on Grafton Street back in Oct 2011 when I had my first appointment in Myrtle Ivory on South Anne’s Lane. I had originally gone in to see a dress in their Sample Sale… also by Stephanie Allin, Fiori which reminded me somewhat of my Mum’s wedding dress but unfortunately the style didn’t suit me.

As I had an hour’s appointment slot, Suzanne made some suggestions and Gracie, from the La Dolce Vita Collection was one of them. I was also quite fond of Milly from A Fine Romance Collection too.

My problem was it was over my budget so I went away for a couple of weeks to recalculate and think…

Just a month afterwards, following some budget adjustments, I went back to Myrtle Ivory to place my order – Gracie would be mine !

Here is the model shot of Gracie which I think is lovely, but somehow, and I am biased, the dress looks even more beautiful if you have some natural curves… It’s described as “a timeless classic with a beautiful twist… polka dot tulle” by whimsicalwonderlandweddings.com.

I added an Ivory Stephanie Allin flower to the left hip as I felt it just finished it off nicely. The few weeks before my dress arrived into Myrtle Ivory I was having nightmares about the fit. I had nothing to worry about as the dress had to be taken in over an inch by the extremely talented and lovely alterations lady, Phylls from All Alteration Services off South Circular Road, Dublin 8.

This post gets pretty picture heavy from here All photos are taken by our fabulous photographer Gingerpixel.ie

Better show a quick few of the Groom too!

And a guest appearance by little Miss Muffin

I hope if Stephanie sees the photo’s she will think I did her beautiful design justice. It was my absolute pleasure to wear it and I will treasure the memories forever.

This last sneaky photo was a little bit later on in the day by a friend John Williams, I think it captures the complete shape of the dress.

A HUGE thank you to Suzanne, Marina & Megan from Myrtle Ivory, I couldn’t recommend them enough.

Thank you for reading, even putting this post together brought back such happy memories of what really was the best day of my life.

Mwah