I got my dress on Sunday! It's going to have to be rushed, but hopefully all will go smoothly. I ended up getting it from Andrea's (from Ashley), so thanks to those that recommended that store. I had kind of a whirlwind weekend--my parents came up from CT and I met them in Portland to shop--so I figured I'd post my thoughts about the stores we went to (I'm writing in the order we went to them, if that matters). I was looking for a lightweight dress for a July daytime wedding, and I really wanted a corset back.
1. Spoil Me in Yarmouth. This store was lovely, and our consultant, Mary, was really nice and helpful. The dress selection isn't huge, and it is pricey--up to $4000, not sure how much there is below $2000. There were two dresses that both my mom and I liked there, but I didn't love either, especially not for the price, and they both had too much going on for me. I wanted a more simple dress, and everything was lacey or sparkly or belted or something. The dresses looked very pretty, but not exactly right.
2. Eco Elegance in Portland. This is a consignment store that has some new dresses (if people don't wear their dresses). They also have a line of new raw silk dresses by a designer in Belfast. The designer was there when I was trying on dresses. I liked her stuff a lot. Really plain, but elegant and classic. She uses functional buttons, and accents the dresses with chiffon sashes or narrow rows of pearls or rhinestones. My mom thought the dresses weren't "bridal" enough, though, so we disagreed there and moved on (and there wasn't really anything like I was looking for in the consignment dresses--the one that I liked was so big on me that I was worried that the cups would always look weird and not fit right).
3. David's Bridal in Portland. Really bad. The store was a madhouse, and our consultant was asked to assist a MOB with a few dresses part way through my appointment. I picked out the dresses I liked in the catalog, and the consultant brought them, although I feel like she only brought the ones that were really fussy. The lace and beading looked kind of cheap in the dresses I tried on. The consultant kept pushing their Vera Wang line (I didn't like any of the dresses, but told her I would try one that was ok, and instead of bringing that one, she just kept asking if I wanted to try Vera Wang).
4. Andrea's in Portland. Ashley was great. Instead of having me go through the racks and pick out dresses, she looked at the pictures I brought and listened to me and picked out dresses herself. (Also, we were kind of time-crunched.) Even though it's prom season, so they were busy downstairs, upstairs in bridal was relaxed and we had plenty of space. There were two dresses I really liked--one was actually the first one Ashley had me try--and I ended up going with the one that I liked the color of better. The price range was similar to David's for the dresses I was trying on, but the dresses just seemed to be higher quality at Andrea's.