Choosing a wedding dress may be one of the most difficult things a woman has to do as a part of her wedding and it can be stressful. Shopping for a wedding dress should be fun though, and if you educate yourself before heading into the bridal shop, it will be a lot easier for you to make the decision and say yes to the dress.
We’ve compiled 5 tips for choosing the perfect wedding dress that will draw the attention of every single guest on your special day and make your grooms jaw drop. Remember who you bring with you to shop for the dress can and will influence your decision, so it is best not to bring your entire bridal party or ten of your closest friends.
What they like and what you want may be two completely different things and the last thing you need as a bride is a disagreement to happen. Our best suggestion is to bring a female family member such as your mother, grandmother or sister, and your maid of honor. Two people is more than enough to help shop for a dress.
1. Set a Budget
Wedding dresses can range drastically in price from a couple hundred of dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. Creating a realistic budget for a dress before you go dress shopping means you will not fall in love with a dress only to find that it is a couple thousand dollars out of your price range.
By letting the dress sales associate know what your budget is, they will be able to work with you to find the style you want that falls within your budget. Remember you will also have to pay for alterations to the dress that can be costly, so make sure you have the available budget for that as well.
2. Focus on Your Silhouette
The first step to finding the perfect wedding dress is picking the right shape of the dress for your body type. The dress assistant will be able to advise you on what styles suit your shape best, from sleek and light dresses for petite women, to A line dresses and dresses with corset tops if you are busty.
3. Wear Your Best Undergarments
This may sound a little silly, but sometimes how a dress fits is all in what you are wearing underneath it. Make sure you have a perfectly fitted bra and that will be the one that you wear on your wedding day so you know exactly how the top of the dress will fit. If you aren’t sure what style of dress you want to go with yet, bring a strapless bra with you, as well as the one you may wear. This gives you some alternative options.
4. Don’t Focus on Trends
What is ‘in’ right now might not be in a couple of years. Have you ever looked at your parents wedding album and felt that the style of wedding dress told a tale of what exactly was in back then, such as poof sleeves? As a celebrity clothing designer and co-founder of nationwide high-end bridal store Winnie Couture, Winnie Chlomin said: “a wedding dress should be timeless and look that way in photos too.” The last thing you want is to look back on your photos in ten years and wonder what you were thinking.
5. Ask A Lot of Questions
Don’t just ask your sales associate questions, but ask yourself important questions too. Will I be comfortable in this all day? Can I dance in this? Can I sit down and be comfortable? Do I feel beautiful and confident or am I self conscious about a part of my body in this dress? These are all questions that will help point you in the right direction of whether or not that dress is for you.
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If you’re looking for a wedding dress or bridal gown designer for your wedding, visit our easy-to-use list of the Top 10 Wedding Dress designers in your city.
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