Wedding Dress Shopping

I’m getting married in September. With a short engagement I knew I needed to buy a dress ‘off the peg’ (meaning you don’t have to order a dress to be made for you like you would if you had 12 months or so before your wedding). I needed to buy a dress I could take away that day.

Now, you might not know but I’m teeny tiny! Meaning I had NO idea what was going to suit me – what style, what colour, a big skirt, a short dress, sleeves, straps, strapless……..there are SO many options and let’s be honest, you’ve probably never bought a wedding dress before so how do you know what’s going to suit you?

It took me two shopping trips to find a dress. So I now feel like I can give good advice and tips to any Bride looking for her wedding dress. Yes, I’ve seen hundreds of wedding dresses in my time as a wedding planner but I’d never tried one on!

My main piece of advice is don’t put too much pressure on yourself to find ‘the one’ straight away – you wouldn’t go into a department store and pick up the first item of clothing you saw and buy it, you’d browse around and look at your options, maybe try several on and it’s exactly the same with wedding dress shopping.

My first stop was to a wedding dress outlet, with thousands of dresses to choose from! Although a little overwhelming to start with, this gave me so much variety of styles to try on – perfect for if you don’t know what you’re looking for or what is going to suit you! You never know, you might find the one doing this but if you don’t, that’s ok!

Just remember to keep breathing, nice deep breaths if you feel yourself getting overwhelmed in the cloud of white frilly dresses! The sales assistants are there to help too and keep you calm.

Here’s a few little tips for wedding dress shopping;

– Only take a handful of people with you, those who you really value opinions from.

– Wear nude underwear! You probably won’t need a bra as most dresses have an inbuilt bra but if you feel more comfortable in one, noone is going to make you take it off

– Don’t worry about the sales assistant judging – they’ve seen thousands of bodies and only really care about getting the dress onto you. They’re not looking!

– Enjoy one of their drinks – whether it’s water, tea or a glass of fizz, take them up on the offer. Bridal shops are usually cosy warm places so you might need a little refresh in between trying on dresses – and the bubbles might calm your nerves!

– Go with an open mind. Even if you think you won’t suit a certain style, try it on anyway – you can always dismiss it, but you’ll never know if you don’t try it. I ended up picking a style I didn’t think I would look right in……it just shows!

– Don’t put pressure on yourself to find ‘the one’ – you might not get ‘that feeling’ and that’s ok. It might take a few times trying the dress on before you know it’s the one! (yes, it took me 3 attempts!). TV shows really ramp up this image of getting ‘the one’ feeling and ‘saying yes to the dress’ – I hate that saying by the way! But it doesn’t always happen – aslong as you’re happy, comfortable and can see yourself marrying the love of your life in that dress, it’s the one for you!

– There is no rush! Dresses can be altered from as close as 8-10 weeks before your wedding if you buy off the peg so there really is no rush to get it a year or more in advance – unless you’re ordering in, then yes, you’ll need to allow at least a 12 month lead time depending on the dress & designer – you bridal shop can chat to you about this.

– Choose a dress that makes you feel amazing! Take on board the thoughts of your entourage, but at the end of the day it is your decision. You’ll be one wearing the dress on your wedding day so you have to feel comfortable and a million dollars! Don’t buy a dress just because your Mum loves it and is paying….you have to love it too!

– Accessories, hair & shoes will all fall into place once you’ve chosen your dress so have an idea about what you want, but don’t stress about them at this stage.

And above all, enjoy the experience! Trying on wedding dresses is so much fun so enjoy it – you only get to do it once! And if it all gets a little too much, just take a break and some time out – the dresses will always be there for you to try on!

And if you came here for a sneak peek of my chosen wedding dress……..hard luck! 😂

Lots of love,
Keri x