The Dress - Part 3

Yes, there is a part 3. My search was hampered by an endless business trip, but once it finally was over and I was back home, I picked up the wedding planning again and focused on finding "the one". My mom came from AZ over the Christmas holiday, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to let her get involved in some of the wedding planning. I decided to try some smaller boutiques I had heard about and to be honest, I was much more impressed by the experiences I had at David's Bridal - I know - gasp! I guess that's just how we roll here in the "fly-over" state of Nebraska.
My mom and I went to one boutique and while they had some cute dresses, I was really annoyed with the sales lady. First of all, it was a Tuesday and no one was in there, yet she still couldn't get off her butt to help us. Secondly, she PRACTICALLY REFUSED to let me try any of my dresses with the "poof" underneath - I know there's a real name, but I like calling it this :) When I did bridal modeling I LOVED the poof and I was determined to have a dress that I wore one with. Eventually she gave in, but said she never sold these to girls, just rented them. Eww. Yeah, most girls will only wear them this one day, but I go to a Ball at least once a year, I'm sure I can find an excuse to wear mine again. Plus, I was determined that I could find one cheap (I did - $10 on CraigsList - Score!). Anyway, needless to say, that girl did not make a sale to me that day.Our next stop was at another boutique in town. This is where all the brides were. The parking lot was so crowded that I had to park in another lot and then we couldn't get any service here either. Ugh!
The final stop for the day was where I thought I had finally found my dress. I tried on many and I was trying to find a compromise between what I wanted and what I thought Mr. S wanted. I did not buy the dress that day, the saleslady suggested I come back in a few months and get measured since I had planned on trying to lose at least one dress size. Here is the dress:

What bad experiences did you have while searching for your dress?