Tips for bridal dress shopping

So this morning I woke up and flipped on the TV and came across the show Randy knows best on TLC. It’s a show about brides choosing their wedding dresses etc. Anyway, I couldn’t help but smile as I watched the show and saw their anguish, turmoil, laughter and tears even as I remembered the process of shopping for my wedding dress.

I count myself among the fortunate ones when it came to looking for a wedding dress. In my mind, when I began the planning process of the wedding (and even slightly before) I imagined that this was going to be the hardest thing for me to do. Simply because I mean how do you make that decision that this is going to be the dress to walk down the aisle to…I mean this is not just any event or party where you can easily recover the next time if someone else in the party looks better than you, this is your wedding day, like there are no repeat chances, you get this one chance to be in a wedding dress. It really is a lot of pressure.

Anyway, I was fortunate because despite thinking that it would be this uphill task, it actually turned out to be quite interesting and did not take much time. I want to share a few tips how it became so:

1. I did my research-knew my body type and the type of dress design that would flatter or not flatter it. This helped me save a lot of time when it came to trying on dresses. I simply would not try on a dress that I knew would not flatter my body type and reduced my searches to the type that ‘’hid my flaws’’ and ‘’accentuated my shape’’ .So regardless of how many dress types the ladies would show me, I would just be like no, I am not going to try that on and we kept it moving.
2. I reduced the number of people I took for appointments- This helped me remain objective and true to what I wanted without having to consider many different opinions. I went with one person at a time.
3. Be selective about WHO you select to go dress shopping with- This is very important. I mean you definitely do not want to go with someone who will tell you what you want to hear just because but you also do not want to just go with someone who is very opinionated, expressive and domineering. I had to make a conscious decision about this because I wanted to be sure that those I went with knew me and were patient with me(this process can take several hours a day) were honest with me and genuinely cared about my desire to get the perfect dress.
4. If you find it, resist the temptation to look elsewhere- It can take quite a while to make the right decision therefore if you are certain you have found the dress, do not second guess yourself, close that chapter and resist the urge to look at other shops and or magazines. I was quite certain about my dress very early into the planning of the wedding and once I had pictured myself in it, I put a deposit, sealed the deal and never went back to any other shop or website to validate my decision. I put this matter to rest, crossed it off my checklist and focused my attention on other aspects of the wedding. This eliminated any second guessing and doubts.
5. Schedule an appropriate time for dress shopping-Eat a good meal before, you will need the energy, and do not rush through the process. If you are anything like me, I do not operate well when I am hungry because I get slightly irritated and I am likely to just rush through it, give up and push it to next time. Also be sure to communicate the process to those you have selected to accompany you so that they are also well prepared to go the long haul and not get ‘bored’. They can even carry a book to read as they wait for you to change in and out of dresses.
6. Budget- If you are working with a budget, resist from looking at dresses above your budget unless you really really have to, because this not only breaks your heart when you get a dress that is out of your budget that you love, but it also helps you save you time and energy. Communicate this to the shop attendant before you begin. On a lighter not, it is okay to try on dresses for fun and imagine yourself in them as you sing the song ‘’I wanna be a billionaire so freaking bad…’’ in your head but just try not to get emotionally attached to the dress 🙂

The good news is that there is a dress with your name written on it, you will definitely find it, just enjoy the process.

How was your experience dress shopping? Do you have any tips you could share with me? Let me know by commenting on the space below.

Peace and blessings.