As most of you know, I recently purchased my wedding dress for my vow renewal. It was my first real bride experience. When I first got married I just went to David’s Bridal by myself and picked whatever dress was under $200 and kept it moving! I just wanted to get married. I would have married Landon in a white bed sheet if I had to with a white pillow case just like I used to pretend when I was a little girl. But my suga plum wanted me to have the full experience and boy was it an experience! So today I’m sharing with you that experience and tips on how to prepare for your dress shopping outing!
Things No One Tells You About Dress Shopping
You HAVE to Eat!
The dress shopping experience is a long one. You will be trying on and taking off dresses left and right and doing it on an empty stomach will definitely take away from you enjoying it. On my dress shopping day , I hadn’t eaten breakfast because we were running late for church but I wasn’t worried because it was Mothers Day and I was expected to get fed after church by the hubster! Well Landon had a different plan for me and surprised my by taking me to One & Only Bridal to get a wedding dress for our vow renewal. I had no idea! I was definitely surprised and excited but boy was I hungry! So was my entourage! It was a long and exhausting process finding the perfect dress but I think it really felt longer and exhausting because I was sooooo hungry! So my advice to you is to EAT! Eat something light with your entourage before your appointment. Nothing heavy! You don’t want to be bloated and ready for a nap either. Just something light so that your stomach doesn’t start talking to you while you’re trying on dresses!
Do Your Research
Spend a lunch break going through Pinterest looking at dresses! PIN them. It’s so helpful for your consultant to have an idea of what styles you like and what you totally are not feeling! Again, in my case I had no idea! I hadn’t planned on buying a new wedding dress. I was going to either hack my old dress or buy a white dress on Lulus.com. Neither scenario really excited me so I didn’t do the research. I hadn’t even pulled the trigger or bought anything because I was just ehhhh about the whole thing. When I walked into the boutique, after crying for like five minutes from being caught off guard, I was SO overwhelmed with all the beautiful dresses. I didn’t know where to begin where to direct the consultant. I had a deer in headlights look. Thankfully the girls at One & Only Bridal were amazing at giving suggestions as to what they thought would look great and they pulled dresses for me to try on. And goodness gracious were their suggestions on point!
Have an Open Mind
I initially thought that I would go for a very fitted dress for my renewal since my fist wedding dress was a A-line gone quinceañera ! And I did try those on! And they were beautiful but when I tried on something completely opposite of what I thought I would go for I got goosebumps! I started crying before I even walked out! It was the one! THE DRESS! So have an open mind to trying on something different ! If not you may be passing up on your dress!
Bring a Small Entourage
Okay, so some of you are probably going to want to shank me because I’ve told you forget the entourage. Their opinions don’t matter! Its what you want! But I’ve since had a change of heart! Yes, I may have been wrong! My first time around I did it by myself. No family, no friends. This time around I had the people that meant the most to me in my life. My husband and our daughters! Yes Landon was there! We’re married already so whatever lol. It made the process more exciting and having our girls look at me the way that they did when I walked out every time made it so much fun! So bring a small entourage! The people that will be honest in a loving way and support you . The people you cannot imagine life without. It truly makes the moment so special. In your case it may not be your husband and children but everyone has those two to three people that make life better and more fun. Thats who you want there. With all that said, I am sticking to my initial advice of not bringing along over opinionated people or a large group. Ugh they know how to suck the fun sometimes and kill confidence. Those can stay at home 🙂
When to Shop for Your Dress
I discovered that wedding dresses cannot just be bought off a rack at boutiques. These dresses take about six months to order and then the alterations process takes from two to three months. WHAT?! YAS girl ! You are not the only bride in the world and they don’t carry every size in the stores. Especially bridal boutiques. So make sure to schedule that appointment as soon as possible! Otherwise you may find yourself buying your best case scenario dress vs your dream dress.
Corporate or Boutique
It’s not everyday you are able to get insight from someone who has bought a wedding dress twice. My first time around I went to David’s Bridal. I’d like to start by saying that they are a great company and that they have a large selection. But the experience!The experience felt like I was walking into a forever 21 and picking a dress off the rack and trying it on. They didn’t really help with suggestions. It wasn’t personalized. They added no additional excitement. They didn’t care about my story or ask questions. When I went for my second dress, eleven years later at One & Only Bridal, OMG, I did not want to leave!! I love those girls. They were truly and genuinely excited for us. They wanted to know our story. They cared! They didn’t rush us. They were so helpful in pulling dresses for me because I had no idea what I wanted. They helped me in and out of my dresses. They were friendly, personable and so passionate about wedding fashion. Which, for someone like me that isn’t the most fashionable about anything but yoga pants, it was very helpful. They were true professionals in their area of expertise and I knew I was in great hands. It wasn’t just how they treated me that had me draw up this conclusion but I could also see how one of the other consultants handled her bride over on the other side of the room. Same enthusiasm. Same attentiveness! These girls just really really care! My vote is boutique over corporate.
Wedding dress shopping has been the most enjoyable aspect of planning our vow renewal and we want yours to be too!!! So enjoy it! Give yourself the freedom to have and want all eyes on you! Happy shopping!
