The Dress - Part 1

I did bridal modeling as a teeneger (it's actually how I met my ex-husband) so I know a lot about dresses, what works on my figure, etc. Needless to say, searching for my dress was one of the most painful things I have ever done (granted I have two kids and even birthing them wasn't this painful).
A "large" part of my pain was my larger body. I mentioned before that I had started traveling for work and not having my gym and eating horrible every day had totally ruined everything I did two years ago when I dropped from over 200 lbs to my nice, fit 150 lbs. Now I'm back in between those numbers, but no where near my "goal".

My other pain was that I had one idea of what kind of dress I wanted, but Mr. S had a seriously different view of what he wanted to see me in. Here's my advice-he may totally love you, but you know what is best for you-do not listen to him! However, I didn't learn this until MUCH later.

So, on to looking for dresses. I tried on probably 6 or 7 the first time. These were the contenders:
#1
#2

#3
At the end of the day, I decided that none of these were "the one" so the dress wasn't picked that day.

How hard was it for you to find a dress?