Okay so, full disclosure—I had six weeks. That's it. Six weeks to plan a whole wedding, which is insane if you've ever tried to book anything. I think I spent the first week just staring at my phone, crying over venues that were already booked.

The dress thing? Oh man. I knew traditional shops were out because they all wanted like 4–6 months just to order, let alone alterations. I remember telling my fiancé, “I'm gonna end up in a white sundress from Target,” and he was like “that's fine” but I knew it wasn't fine, you know?

Anyway, I somehow landed on this site called Kemedress .I'd never heard of it, but I was desperate and figured I could always return it if it was terrible.

I picked that tea-length lace one with the corset back—honestly because it looked the most forgiving in the photos.

When it showed up, I tried it on half-scared, and it actually fit. I'm a solid US 16 and I just ordered my regular size.

The back laces up so I could pull it tighter or loosen it a bit, which saved me from having to find a tailor in two days. Because who has time for that?

I took it to the dry cleaner's a few days before, and then steamed out a couple of wrinkles at home—nothing dramatic.

The day of, it held up through the ceremony, all the photos under some oak trees, and then a ton of dancing.

Oh, and I totally walked into the ocean in it afterwards—spur of the moment, don't judge—and the fabric didn't fall apart, which I was kinda surprised about.

We kept the whole wedding under $5k, which was our number. Most of our stuff actually came from that same site, not just the dress.

Look, I'm not here to tell you what to buy.

But if you're panicking like I was and you see something you like, I'd say just order it and see. Worst case you return it. Best case? You get lucky like I did.