Last night, one of my roommates from college (Andrea), Dean, and I made our way up to Ehwa University to go to the Princess Diary Cafe, thanks to the recommendation from one sweet soompier/Seoulite.  I had some vague idea of what this "dress cafe" would be like, but nothing could prepare me for the reality of it. 

You push through the glass door and are immediately hit with a heavy dosage of glossy pink, sparkly blue, and gilded gold divans.  There are three or four coffee tables on one side of the room, and on the other, there is the furniture (a piano, divans, couches, a vanity, etc), some professional lighting fixtures, and a lot of props (giant teddy bears, fans, gloves, billowing veils, frilly hats, crowns, flower bouqets in creme, baby pink, magenta, and peach).  You first have to sit and pay for a drink (mandatory)--my Vienna coffee cost 6,000 won, so it was a fairly normal coffee price.  You sip your coffee, wait for some people to finish up their photo session, and then it's showtime.

 Andrea and I went to the back to pick out our dresses.  There were probably 30-40 wedding dresses in varying degrees of poof and flamboyancy.   Since I want a more low-key wedding dress in the future, I picked out the opposite of what I'd wear.  So mine was the stereotypical fluffy, tight bodiced, long dress, while Andrea opted for a more vintage-y number.  We were given tall platform shoes so the dresses wouldn't drag as much, and just as we were leaving the back room, and assistant hurried over to fasten on our tiaras.  

 Dean played the role of the photographer last night, and I have to say, he was probably a tiny annoyed with me.  As someone who is very much the photo nazi, I'm used to being in control of the shots.  So I was continually giving my (probably unwanted) advice..."Get one from a higher angle--it will make our faces look fat from where you're sitting!  You're being too conservative--take a LOT because then we have more to choose from.  Dean, you're over-thinking the shots--just take them quickly, use your intuition.  Is this lighting too harsh?  I think we're too close to the light source and it will wash out our already white dresses..."  on and on and on. Poor Dean.  But he was a trooper and took close to 200 photos.  At the end of our dress hour, we slipped back into our regular clothes and back out onto the streets.  It was amusing, and Andrea pointed out, "It's so weird!  It's like we just led a double life...we were in this really crazy fantasy land and now we're back to being normal people."  It was a true statement.  I loved being able to get dolled up, act like ridiculous, and then go back to my normal self.  Since we had such a great time, we're bringing the rest of our friends next week.  When we had called before, the responses had been "Oh, it sounds fun, but I'm kind of tired tonight."  After seeing our pictures, my friends are nothing but pouts.  "I want to go!!!  That looks so fun!!  I should have gotten out of bed!!  When are you going again??"   So you can probably expect another Princess Diary Cafe post in the near future.

Here are some pictures.  I have a LOT more on my 411 thread and on my flickr site (ask and you shall receive)

 Until next time!  Pax