Let’s be honest; back in the day when our grandmothers got married, shopping for a wedding dress was a very simple experience. If you didn’t have one that was being handed down to you or personally made for you by another family member, you went to the one dress shop in town, picked out your favorite, and moved on to other aspects of wedding planning. But this isn’t your grandma’s wedding, and this isn’t the 1950s. Here are some great wedding dress shopping tips.
It’s the 21st century, which means the ways to shop for a wedding dress are not endless. You now have unlimited options when it comes to fit, color, cut, material, and everything else, not to mention the little fact that a dress halfway across the world is no longer off limits, and with a little bump in shipping and handling you can have that custom-made dress from Italy shipped right to your doorstep. So you would think the process would be even better than it used to be, right?
Not quite. As it turns out, all these options are sending brides a bit over the deep end, so to prevent you from running off the same cliff of wedding dress anxiety as the rest of them, we’ve gathered a bit of advice on how to shop for your wedding dress in our current day and age.
Wedding Dress shopping tips are below.
1.) Know what you want. Now we don’t mean you need to know your dress’s exact cut, fabric, color, and every other detail. However, you should know the general logistics of it. Are you looking for something that’s a bit whimsical and earthy or something more classic and traditional? Short or long? Knowing your venue, price range, and other wedding factors will help you narrow things down to a general idea of what you’re looking for.
2.) Trust your store associate. If you’ve entered a boutique with sales associates that really know what they’re doing (research to find a boutique with a stellar reputation in this department), trust them. They know which cuts work well on which bodies, and even though you might think a mermaid cut will only make you look fat, let them show you otherwise. You may be limiting your search and not even know it.
Wedding Tips 3 and 4
3.) Bring pictures. Don’t worry if the dress in the picture is $40,000 over your price range. The picture will help give the sales associate an idea of what you’re looking for. These bridal consultants see brides like you all the time that probably have a picture in their minds. They can’t quite think of how to describe it in fashion-forward terms. They can turn your blabbering made-up words (“flowy-ish”) into concrete examples of exactly what you’re looking for. So a picture sure would speed the process along.
4.) Stand your ground. You try on a dress, and it’s perfect: you’re twirling in front of the store mirror, imagining yourself walking down the aisle to your future spouse, and you see his/her face light up when they see you. Honey, you’ve found the perfect dress. If your mother-in-law thinks “it’s a bit over the top,” your sister thinks it’s horrid, and your Maid of Honor shrugs, who cares. They aren’t the ones getting married, you are, and you’re the one going to be wearing this amazing dress you’ve already fallen in love with.
Lily’s Bridal – Maryland’s Premier Bridal Boutique – Wedding Dresses, Prom Dresses, and Tuxedo Rentals. Call to book your appointment today.