Wedding Prep - 8 Steps to a Stress-Free Dress

Written by Hayley from https://devonmama.com and https://seestayexplore.com

You can capture the essence of a wedding with just one item; the dress. This one item reflects the personality of the bride, the style of the wedding and you can guarantee all of your female guests (and some of the males too) will be waiting with baited breath to see what you chose as you float down the aisle. With that in mind, the actual process of choosing the right dress can seem like a daunting task to even the most hardy bride, with a plethora of choice in shops, styles and even colours making sure that you get the best out of your dress shopping experience is vital. Having done significant amounts of research into this including speaking to wedding dress shops, here are our top tips for making it out of the dress shopping experience in one relaxed piece…

Table of Contents

1. Plan your trip wisely

Most bridal shops will only let you try on dresses by appointment so make sure you give the shop a quick call before you visit to check if this is required. Wedding dresses do require a certain skill to handle them and the appointment allows the store to make sure they have someone there who can make suggestions to you based on their experience and your shape as well as helping you to get in and out of the dress itself. It’s also quieter to go in the middle of the week than at the weekend so take an afternoon off work to get maximum attention from those in the store.

2. Leave enough time

It’s never too early to start looking for a dress! Most dresses have to be ordered and then alterations made once it’s come into the store to get the best possible fit for you. That means you want to leave at least 7-8months between buying your dress and your wedding date. You can still get dresses after that point, it’s not impossible but the less time you have the more you limit your options of what’s available to you.

3. Go with an open mind

It’s all very well going in to a store with a definite idea of what style you like but don’t discount suggestions from the store owner/assistant. These people spend their lives seeing the dresses ‘on’ and know that in many cases a dress can look like nothing special when it’s on a hanger. You may end up wearing something completely different to what you first expected.

4. Take someone with you

When you’re trying on your dress you will probably want a second opinion from someone you trust. For most people that’s a parent, sibling or close friend. Don’t take too many, too much mixed feedback can be as bad as none but take someone who you can rely on to tell you honestly that the dress isn’t right for you, even if it’s not what you want to hear right then you’ll be glad of it in the long run!

5. Get crafty

Some dress shops won’t allow you to take photos but if you get your guest to take a pencil and sketch a rough shape then you’ll have something to help you remember the different aspects of the different gowns that you try on. Dresses will all blur into one but a few quick sketches or notes from each dress can help you to remember what suits you best as you go on.

6. Be prepared

Unless you have great body confidence you will, like most of us, cringe slightly when you realise that you’re about to get mostly naked in front of a shop assistant you’ve never met before. Warning: they will dress you so make sure you’re comfortable with what underwear you’ve got on! You also want to make sure you’re wearing items that are likely to be hidden under the dress, we would recommend nude underwear instead of dark colours and a good strapless bra. If you already have any accessories you’re going to wear then take them with you as it can help you find appropriate styles – got a veil of your grandmothers or a certain piece of jewellery? Trying it on at the same time as the dress is far easier than trying to imagine the whole look.

7. Have a budget in mind

It IS easy to get carried away when you’re dress shopping and fall in love with something that’s way out of your budget meaning you end up disappointed. Go with an idea in mind of what you’d like to spend and what your maximum is, this means you have a bit of contingency fund just in case. Bear in mind that on top of your dress you’ll have to buy shoes, underwear, jewellery and possibly a veil which quickly adds a couple hundred pounds!

8. Buy a dress that fits

Apparently most dresses can be adjusted and taken in by up to two sizes but they’re very difficult to let out. Even if you’re planning to lose some weight, buy a dress that fits you now. Your body shape will stay the same and it can be tailored to fit you, however if you buy one to slim into and don’t succeed you could end up having to buy a second dress and sell yours at less than you paid for it. Even if you’re planning on losing a lot of weight, leave your dress purchasing until the last minute and buy it sensibly.