This is my third and final post about the bridal gown shopping experience. Between my posts on preparing for your shopping experience and my own dress shopping experience, I’m hoping you’re feeling confident and prepared. For this post, I want to share any last tidbits of wisdom on shopping for your bridal gown. I am no expert so I enlisted the help of my fellow bridal consultants - read on for some final thoughts and tips on shopping for your wedding gown.
1) Be mindful about the guests you invite to shop with you. Don’t invite guests just so they will feel included - there will be plenty of other things they can assist with. Once you buy the dress, there are typically still other appointments including a gown arrival appointment, accessories appointment and 2-3 fittings. These are all great appointments to bring a friend or family member to. When it comes to bringing others to your appointment, typically less is more. Less conflicting opinions, less voices in the room and more focus on you!
2) Be willing to try on dresses a little outside the box. I don’t mean strange or crazy dresses, I just mean styles that may be a little out of your comfort zone. More often than not, brides end up loving something they never thought they would like. How often in your life do you wear a form fitting dress, a ball gown or fully-beaded gowns? Chances are it’s not much, so you shouldn’t be expected to know which gown style you love the most without first trying on a few of each.
3) Forget everything you saw on "Say Yes to the Dress." Okay, maybe not everything. There are some useful tips, but too often we see brides with high expectations to have an experience like they’ve seen on the show. You’ll notice brides on the show often end up spending well over their budget, having a big emotional moment or implying that the only way to know it’s THE dress is by a “feeling.” These things usually do not happen in real life. There are emotional moments, but sometimes it has nothing to do with the dress. And yes, there may be a feeling of knowing it’s your dress, but usually there is more that went into that conclusion than just a feeling.
I truly hope that sharing my experience and these tips over the last three weeks has been helpful to all the NWD brides out there who are getting ready to start shopping for their own bridal gown. Every bride's experience will be a little different, but remember to have fun and enjoy the moment!
images via Pinterest
