Church walk through

Dave and I finally meet up with the Church coordinator Helen this morning.  First, we watched a powerpoint that basically broke down all the dos and don'ts.  Such as Do:  arrive on time, Don't: get drunk in the waiting room.  HAHA see.. all the basic stuff.  
Then, we did a walk through of the church, figured where everything was going to be set up and learned of all the restrictions such as no fresh flowers on the side of the pews, where the invisible boundaries are for photographer and videographers. 
We then went to get a quick bite to eat at Cotixan then rushed back to watch the wedding that was taking place at 2pm.  We didn't stay too long, but at least we had a good idea of how the ceremony will be.  I wished we had more time to take a walk around the back of the church to see if there were any nice spots for pictures but i guess it'll have to be another time.  
Oh yeah we also got a chance to look through the 6 wedding binders for program samples and only found one other Vietnamese couple getting married there hehe it'll be a nice day :)

The Dress - experiences

Alfred Angelo Bridal 
 10515 N Mopac Expwy Ste A145 Austin, TX 78759 (512) 342-2432


While visiting Catherine in Austin, Texas I was literally bribe to go try on wedding dress  (44 oz of strawberry limeade during happy hour can go a long way).   I can say I was glad to have this be my first experience.  We walked in around 2 in the afternoon with no appointment and started looking around.  Jessica, the sales rep was wonderful!  I told her I didn't really know what I was looking for since this was my first time trying on gowns and if we can just put on a few different shapes then that would be great!  Jessica definitely did just that, she pulled a few style from each silhouette and we worked from there.  She listened to all my likes and dislikes and continued to pull dress from what I was feeling...she was not overbearing at all.    We also were able to take as many pictures as we wanted.   Jessica treated us wonderfully even though though she knew she wasn't making a sale, she even wrote down all the prices for all the different dresses we tried on.   What a great first experience, especially with my favorite cousin.   

David's Bridal 
980 Camino De La Reina San Diego, CA 92108 (619) 220-8008 
The first time I came here was with Dave in the middle of the day on a random weekday, I walked in and saw only maybe 1 or 2 other customers browsing in the store so I asked if I could try on gowns and was informed that I needed to make an appointment.  Interesting considering how so many workers were just standing around doing nothing.   The parking here is horrific and is always crowded! The door is also on an awkward side facing Mission Center Road (looking across to Chase).


The following Saturday with an appointment time scheduled I came here with my sister and mom.   After registration we were assigned a sales rep and set up with a room.  I had done my homework and printed a few dresses I wanted to try on, I was able to try on the majority of the dresses.  The sales rep was very friendly, however she didn't suggest any additional design or style or gave input in other dresses that might work besides just pulling the dresses I had requested to try on.  The space here is kind of tight since you are right next to another girl but we were able to do what we needed to.  You can take pictures here as well. 


Brides by Demetrios
2025 Camino Del Este San Diego, CA 92108 Neighborhood: Mission Valley (619) 294-2575

We dropped by here since we finished early at David's Bridal and our appointment at 2000 Dreams isn't until later.  After registering I was assigned a sales rep and was able to try on a few dresses without an appointment.  We pulled a few styles ourselves from the rack and the rep pulled a few based on what I was telling her, she also did a good job with accessories such as beaded belts and veil.  The space is not as tight as David's Bridal since the mirrors are not directly in front of the dressing rooms, you are still right next to another girl so it was difficult taking pictures without someone else in your picture.  The sales rep gave us info on the upcoming trunk show and the deals are pretty great, 15% off the dresses and additional $50 off on the first day of trunk show.   This place seems less hectic than David's bridal.      




2000 Dreams
4180 Convoy Street San Diego, CA 92111 (858) 541-0684

I had made an appointment 4 days in advance because I was going to be with my sister and mom, and I wanted to make sure we were set to go.  I also printed dresses taken from their website to make the process more smoothly.  Coming from Mission Valley I was stuck in a bit of traffic so I called on the way over to let them know I was running 10 minutes late and see if I could still come in.  The lady over the phone was hesitant and said I could still come in if it's only 5-10 minutes late.  I said yes I'll be right there. 

Coming into the store, the first thing you see is not the front desk but rather rows of dresses stuffed on racks.  As you walk to the very back of the room there are maybe 3 or 4 made shift dressing 'rooms'  and one stage area.  Piles of stuff was everywhere, I started feeling claustrophobic.   We sat down and waited for a while, a sale lady looked over from the crowd of customers and asked what did we want? I said I had an appointment, I was just on the phone with her a few minutes ago and before I could continue she said lots of people came in without an appointment and since they're here she had to help them first, everything is backed up by an hour (what the heeze if they were backed up she could have just told me to not come in)... told her I printed the dresses I wanted to try on from the website so that should be easy for her to just pull them.  She took my sheet and told me to go ahead and 'familiarize myself with the inventory' as she continues to help the other girls and paid no attention to my printout.  I figured I'll do it myself and see if I could find the dresses.  the dresses were crammed so tight with no apparent rhyme or reason as to how it's organized.  A different sale girl came over and asked if I pulled any dresses that I wanted to try on and I showed her my list and said I can't find any of these, so I described what I was looking for.  She took my sheet and didn't get any of the dresses on the list explaining that the samples had been sold so it's not available for me to try on and the website is outdated and what they have doesn't reflect what's on the site.   After a while, she pulled two dresses that had all the stuff I said I didn't like.  I put one on just for the heck of it, I could barely fit inside the dressing room and no one was there to help clamp it or anything... the other stuff they pulled I didn't even want to try on.  The first lady was snappy and wanted to know if I was going to try it or not.. I said no thanks and decided to leave.  All the dressing rooms were full and with just 2 sales rep that I knew it wasn't going to be productive if I stayed.  As I walked out the 2nd rep ran after me and explained again about all the walk ins and I told her I understand but priority should always be given to someone who makes an appointment especially when I even called to let them know I was running 5 minutes late, if they were really busy they could have just me to not come in over the phone.   Oh yeah, NO pictures are allowed here. 


On a different day Dave and I dropped by Mon Amie on the way home from an LA trip...


Mon Amie Bridal Salon
355 Bristol St Suite N Costa Mesa, CA 92626 (714) 546-5700

There was a sample sale that weekend and I called to make an appointment.  I was told that dresses there starts at $1800.  I came and was given time to look around, a rep came 15 minutes later to ask about the style I was looking for, I gave her a break down of what I was looking for and she didn't seem like she was very interested in what I was saying after hearing my price point, she pulled 2 dresses, both didn't match what i was describing and since there were no other effort or suggestions from the sales rep, I got dressed and left.  Could it be that the poor customer service was because I didn't want to spend 5K on a dress? maybe, maybe not but my impression was this place is kinda bourgeoisie and unless you're willing to spend the big bucks you're not gonna get the treatment you deserve.   



Another day of dress shopping, I went up to Escondido, dropped by a few really small places that seems to be more for alterations.   I guess they can so order dresses from a catalog, most of them are alright because they offer free alterations if you order it through them but the sample dresses that were in the stores have probably been around since the 80s.  

Bridal by Susanti 
339 W 2nd Ave (between Escondido Blvd & Juniper St) Escondido, CA 92025 (760) 489-5911
One of the bigger  bridal places in Escondido is bridal by Susanti, the location is convenient because there's a tux place right next door.  It was completely empty, I walked in and there wasn't anyone around, I just started to help myself and looked through the dresses.  After a while, a sales rep came over and said let her know if I needed help, I told her the specs I was looking for she told me to feel free to pull the dresses.  She was very nice helping me into the dresses using all the clamps and even helping me take pictures of the dresses as I'm in them.  However, I'm not sure if she's familiar with what dresses are in the show room.    The store was very hot even though they air was turned up, however, the fitting room was roomy, you definitely have space to move around in the massive dresses.  
The sales rep was very nice, even writing down the designer, dress name/# and cost on a card for me. 

Aria Bridal
200 E Via Rancho Pkwy, #247-B North County Fair Mall Escondido, CA 92025 (760) 839-2742
This is located on the Onami side of the Mall, I came in without an appointment and there was only 1 other older couple there picking up a dress they had ordered.  I told the sales rep what I was looking for and she started to pull a few and let me look through the stuff they had.  NO photography and NO they won't tell you the designer or style # saying that once they order it from the designer they just relabel it with their own label and #.  The dressing room is on the small side and so is the stage but because I was the only one there, it wasn't so bad.  The girl helping me was pregnant and she was having difficulty breathing and I felt bad that she was working and on her feet.  She looked like she needed a nice cold drink and someplace comfy to put her feet up.   After many tries of getting info on the dresses I was interested in, all I walked away with was the possibility of the designer's name with no additional information on the collection or anything else.   I was told to just look online and see if I could find the dress.  BAH.  Also, if there was a dress that you wanted to try on but they don't have the sample, they could request to borrow one from the designer but will charge you $75 (this amount would apply to your gown purchase.) 


Another day of wedding dress shopping, this time I went East with my mom and we were going to hit up all the places along the 8.


Bridal and Veil Outlet 
4620 Alvarado Canyon Rd Ste 12 San Diego, CA 92120 (619) 563-4933 

The only 'outlet' I found around San Diego.  This place sell sample dresses from the Bridal and Veil shop in Mission Valley.  The girl working is very nice and bored, seems like no one comes around too often and she craves human interaction.   Finding this place was weird you can see the store from the front but because they were fixing the entrance you basically have to go through the back towards the parking lot, up the elevator, pass the outdoors store and to the back to find the door of this place.  Dresses on the website is what's available in store  and prices is about 50% tag prices . 


Prevue Formal & Bridal 
5500 Grossmont Center Dr Ste 111 (between Havenhill Rd & La Mesa Blvd) La Mesa, CA 91942 (619) 589-2100
This is like a dress shop inside a mall that you go to when looking for a homecoming or a prom dress, that happens to also have wedding dresses.  The sales girls are not professional bridal consultant but still very nice.  I was given the bigger room with a bench inside, the mirror area is very small, you can't see the front and the back at the same time I think there's 2 or 3 pedestal so there's not too much space.   We just dropped by without an appointment, it doesn't seem like you need one but if you can avoid high school dance seasons that would probably be a really good idea.  


Amour Bridal & Evening Wear 

4652 Palm Ave (between Finley Ave & Lemon Ave) La Mesa, CA 91941 (619) 466-2668
This little shop is located in between all these antique shops, it might have been a sign to what I might find inside?  The dresses were like from the 90s and the sales rep was this older... I mean older .. maybe in her 70s? ... she couldn't hear what I was telling her and kept asking me the same questions over and over.  She really did try her best but I just didn't seem like there was anything I even wanted to try on.   I left after a skim through of what they consider their 'new' stuff was.  I found a dress I saw at the Bridal and Veil outlet for full price.  


Angel Bridal 
5921 El Cajon Blvd (between 59th St & 60th St) San Diego, CA 92115 (619) 229-0323
This place is a mess, there's stuff everywhere.  It was highly advertised in the Vietnamese newspaper and upon coming in we were met by the owner and her daughters (their faces says it all... it's summer and I have to be HERE!?).    I asked her about prices and was thrown off  by how it's different depending on my wedding location.  I was told that chair sash rental is $1 if I had my wedding in east San Diego but because it's up in Rancho Bernardo it'll be $2 each because it's a very far drive.  I was shown a catalog of dresses and the owner pointed out which ones she had for samples but when I asked to try it them on she said the dresses have been boxed up and dry cleaned so I can't do that.   She also told me that she can custom make any dresses but based on the look of the store I dunno how good of an idea that might be. 


A trip up to santa ana with Mom, we went to the following places:


Dai Bac Wedding Center 
9251 Bishop Pl Westminster, CA 92683 (714) 899-8008

They have a lot of fancy ao dai to rent, along with all the things you'll need for engagement and tea ceremony.  They also sold Casablanca dresses through the catalog and even though there are sample dresses in the shop, you can't try any dress on unless you're really planning to buy it, she said it's because dry cleaning is expensive. 

Silk Image 
9114 Bolsa Ave Westminster, CA 92683 (714) 903-6699
This small little shop has ao dai fabric for sale ~$100 for the fabric and $110 for labor.  I feel like ao dai fabric is such a rip off because all they do is cut it from the roll and decides to charge you up the whazoo for it.  Ao dai's fabric is only about 3 yards so how in the world could fabric be that expensive.  This is everywhere that sales ao dai fabric not just Silk Image.  


Hollywood Bridal 
9545 Bolsa Ave Westminster, CA 92683 (714) 775-5455
I actually been here before and rented bridesmaid dresses for my cousin's wedding a few years back.  Vy was a great help, she sat down with me and went through all the prices for rentals vs purchase.  Like other places she also sell gowns through a catalog, there are few samples but you are able to try it on, prices are much cheaper here than American prices probably by $3-400 .   I think the designers are limited, I don't recall which ones haha it's been a while.  Vy and her sister does makeup, even though her sister is in San Diego there's still a travel fee for Vy to come down to SD.  This is like a one stop shop.  Lots of bridesmaid dresses or formals to choose from   


Thuy Bridal & Florist
14263 Brookhurst St Garden Grove, CA 92843 (714) 839-6588

This place was pretty small, the owner didn't really show us around or anything, she basically told us the basic prices and then vented about how the contractor she hired to fix her house is asking for more money when she just gave him 5K yesterday.  We sympathized with her and quickly sneak out. 


Elegant Bridal
15639 Brookhurst St Westminster, CA 92683 (714) 210-5448 
We went here because of Phat's recommendation  and the girls seems to really likes Phat.  She told us to come back in February if we're interested in rentals because they constantly get new items in.  


The Wedding day 
18449 Brookhurst St Ste 1 Fountain Valley, CA 92708 (714) 593-5900
I made an appointment the day before and came in a little early, filled out the paperwork and started looking through the dresses.   I like how the labels are color coordinated based on the prices of the dresses.   There were a pretty good selection and the consultant was very tentative, she listened to what I was looking for and did a really good job of trying to find the right dress.  Half way through the appointment, the owner came in and also assisted with making suggestions and recommendations.  I feel in love not with a dress but the perfect rhinestone belt... too bad it was $400.  Pictures are welcomed and customer services was excellent.  They didn't worry about time constraint or how many dresses were tried on.  


Chia Lieu Bridal Couture 
3816 S Bristol St Ste J Santa Ana, CA 92704 (714) 966-5399

This is a higher end boutique by a Vietnamese designer.  Her designs are very simple and not complicated.  She did offer custom work which starts around $3500 if you were interested in going towards that direction. 

Jaclyn's Bridal
3930 S Bristol St Ste 204 Santa Ana, CA 92704 (714) 549-1493 
This is in the same center as Chia Lieu, conveniently next to a tux shop, we dropped by 30 minutes prior to closing so we didn't have too much time to look around.  I did try on a dress and the sales rep did a great job at accessorizing it.  She showed me different ways to tie sashes and using different clips to create an individualized look.  She was very creative in that aspect. 


I made a trip up to Anaheim with my parents because there was a trunk show I wanted to attend.

Mariposa Bride
316 N Anaheim Blvd Anaheim, CA 92805 (714) 776-6881 

This place had such great reviews on yelp and what excellent timing of the trunk show.  I called for an appointment and was assured that the dresses I was interested in would be there.  On arrival, I checked in and was not met with my consultant for more than 20 minutes later.  I showed her the 4 dresses I wanted to try and she left to go get it from the back.  A while later she came back empty handed and said they didn't have any of those samples.  WHAT THE HECK!?  I specifically called days before to make sure I wasn't wasting my time driving up to Anaheim.  BaH!  I told her what I was looking for and she didn't really pull any dresses that matched the description.  My mom suggested to try some on since we were already there and so I did.  The consultant wasn't really around to help with clipping the dresses.  I felt like she was preoccupied with something else.   This was definitely not as impressive as all the yelp reviews had mentioned.


The Bustle 
1011 Camino Del Mar Ste 114 (between 10th St & 11th St) San Diego, CA 92014 (858) 523-9254

This place is by appointment only, I had an appointment at 4:30 but due to traffic coming down from Santa Ana I knew I wasn't going to make it.  I called around 3:30 and told her about the crawl of the traffic and said we can reschedule but she said don't worry she'll wait for me and just drive safely.   I kept up updated of my progress or lack there of but the whole time was assured that the time was saved for me so just come.  I didn't make it until 5:30 (3 hours in traffic) and was happily greeted by the sales consultant.  She had even made a cute little sign in front of the store to greet us.   She asked if we would like some champagne and little cakes were also put out.  The selection here isn't as much as other places but the the customer service was excellent.  They really know how to make you feel special and was definitely not pushy.   There's also a 15% off card that I got through Bridal Insider that is a great discount. 



Catherine was in town and after going for Dole whip we decided to continue the dress search.

Here come the Bride
2225 Camino Del Rio S Ste A San Diego, CA 92108 (619) 688-9201
This place has the BEST dressing room a comfy couch and flat screen TV ensure who ever you brought along won't be bored especially if they're not that interested in the dress shopping process.  It's quite odd that this place uses binder clamps to tighten the dresses since most of the other locations will use rubber tipped spring clamps which works so much better!  You can take photos here so remember to bring the camera.   

D'Angelo Couture Bridal
1400 Camino De La Reina Ste 120 & Ste 107 (between Westfield Drwy & Park In The Valley Drwy) San Diego, CA 92108 (619) 497-1949

I was so confuse trying to find the door to this place.  I guess there's two stores facing each other, one is for bridesmaid dresses and the other is for gowns and accessories.  We went in and at first no one was there... we waited a bit and a few ladies walked out and just talked, we didn't know who was the sale person so we just decided to started looking through the dresses ourselves.  After a while a lady came and said help yourselves, remember to tie the dresses back on the hanger with a double loop.  UH ok I guess it's self service here.   There were dresses everywhere!  in the hallway, in the dressing rooms, just everywhere!  I guess we could take pictures because no one was there to stop us HAHA.  We also dropped by the bridesmaid side and tried on a few dresses, I wanted more information on a dress they didn't have in store and the sale lady said write a message down for her and she'll get back to me.. but never did. 



Bridal & Veil Mission Valley 
1233 Camino Del Rio S San Diego, CA 92108 (619) 295-1588

This place has a pretty good selection of dresses, the sales person is all about making the sale, they'll work on 2 or even 3 brides at one time regardless of if you have an appointment or not.  Don't expect to feel special here, customer service isn't what they're known for.   They will however follow up with any requests or questions through a phone call.  Anyways, there are plenty of mirror rooms so that wasn't really a problem.   The sales rep does a good job at pulling dresses that matches the styles you're looking for.  Prices here are a bit pricier because they offer a 10% discount for registering on their website which ends up leveling out with other places.   They won't tell you the designer or style name/# until you make the purchase and originally there is a no photography policy but once you decide to buy you can basically do whatever you want.    
I ended up getting my dress here, obviously not because of their customer service but because this was the only place in southern California that I could try on the dress I wanted. 

I really love my dress! The more I look at it, the more I love it and can't wait for it to come in so I could try it on over and over hahah.   Oh yeah, I also found my wedding shoes, after looked all over the internet and in every possible store.. I FOUND IT.   It was a very productive week...dress... check!  shoes... check!        

The Dress - Reflection

I'm not gonna lie and say I haven't thought about wedding gown in the last 10 years of our relationship or even have a folder on my desktop labeled "wedding" and subfolders in different categories 'dress, flowers, cake, etc' hahaha Yes! I am that neurotic.  In the words of Dave... Prior planning prevent poor performance.   

All the things involving the wedding prior to the dress (photographer, videographer, church, reception, etc) seems to come together so smoothly because I felt like we had a clear idea of what it was we were looking for really help to book that right vendor.  

Dave and I have been a great team through the entire planning process so originally I wanted Dave to be part of this process as well.  But I thought about it and not because I care about superstition or anything like that.  Rather, I want to keep this ONE thing a surprise because I want to see Dave's genuine reaction during the first look... I think with all the busy things we'll be doing through out the day.. this moment will be very special for just the two of us.  

This decision to leave Dave in the dark might have also made the process of deciding on a dress more difficult than what it could have been because I didn't have Dave to give me his feedback of yays or nays. 

I may have also been a little jaded from watching all the shows like say Yes to the Dress or Platinum weddings because it boggles my mind on how much a wedding dress actually cost.  The idea of paying so much money for an item you wear for only a few hours seems like such a waste of money. 

However, through the entire process I learned that the MAIN reason why it was so difficult for me to commit to a dress was because being such a frugal shopper who LOVES a good bargain for myself, it seemed so selfish to spend this large amount of money on just me.  Whereas, money isn't ever an issue when comes to the happiness of friends or family.  

 In life, there are so many few moments that you can keep special just for yourself.  

Today, I did decide on a dress and splurged on the purchase, but I want to thank my awesome support team for assuring me that it's ok to be happy.   I love you, you guys are the best!

Amazing Race: David & Marilyn Edition - Episode 4 - 3rd Leg - Cabrillo Monument

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