The Bride: Nicole Dooley, a 25-year-old merchandising assistant
Her Gown: Lazaro, style LZ2153
Her Story: "My vision of my gown had always been simple and classic—a timeless elegance. As I flipped through bridal magazines, I found myself marking pages of gorgeous silk and sateen dresses with beautiful draping and gatherings. Nothing over the top or with glitz or glitter.
With all my family back in Ohio, I asked my soon-to-be mother-in-law to join me on my bridal appointments. She was thrilled to take part (having no daughters of her own). We started at a very small boutique and began sifting through racks of gowns. I've always been a very decisive person, so it took me all of maybe 10 minutes to find three gowns I liked. But as I tried them on, none of them really had the wow factor. So we moved on to the next salon, Bridals by Lori.
In the gown department on the third floor I was greeted by my own personal bridal consultant. She instructed us to select the dresses I was interested in. Since I knew what I was looking for, I whipped through and chose about eight dresses to try on. The first two Vera Wang gowns were pretty, but again didn't have that 'wow, this dress is for me' factor. Then, I put on a Lazaro gown. It had a dropped-waist bodice, a low-slung sash at the hips and a full skirt. It accented my figure beautifully, and when I stepped out of the dressing room, all the mothers and daughters who were there gasped a 'Wow!' My mother-in-law started to cry! That's when I said, 'OK, wrap it up!' Even though this was only the third dress I tried on, I knew it was the one. And I was out of the store in record time: one hour!" —Ashley Moore
