Once I was engaged, one of the first things I did was pull up my secret folder I had buried on my computer of wedding dresses and styles I loved! And honestly, what girl doesn’t do that? I seriously blame Pinterest. I started going through and printing out dresses I wanted to try on while I was at work, bookmarking magazines, sending a bajillion emails to my sister, watching too much of "Say Yes to the Dress," and dreaming of THE DRESS. It was pretty bad. I was a little crazy.
I started to make appointments once we finalized a venue, and then it was game on. I knew the basics (do your research, know your budget, think about your wedding theme, etc.), but there were a few other things that were not in the back of my mind as I was trying on dresses.
Here are a few tips to think about once you begin your search:
For your FIRST dress, try on something you know you will like. It doesn’t have to be the one that you’ve been eyeing in magazines or something unique, just anything you know that you will love yourself in. Almost like a “safety” dress. You don’t want to hate the first dress you try on for the biggest day of your life! I tried on a simple taffeta strapless dress, and I loved it so much, I was contemplating just getting it. And on a side note, my wedding dress wasn’t even close to what I first tried on.
Check out dates for upcoming designer trunk shows. At wedding dress shops that are doing trunk shows, sometimes they offer amazing discounts for the dresses featuring that designer. If you already know which dress you want and a shop is having that designer’s trunk show, take advantage! The discounts sometimes were up to 25% off!
Try to schedule two appointments in one day, but don’t overdo it. If you’re in that mood for trying on dresses, it doesn’t hurt to try and schedule two appointments for that same day. Just don’t kill yourself over it! It gets exhausting, and sometimes, the more dresses you try on, the more frustrated you’ll get. Everything starts to blend together and you start to forget what you like. I had booked three appointments one day, and at the last shop, nothing was really standing out. I ended up being in and out of there within 30 minutes - and honestly, it was just because I wasn’t “feeling it” anymore. The dress could’ve been there but I was too overwhelmed to try anything else on.
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Don’t forget about the extra charges. When looking at the price of the dress, just remember that you’ll have to add tax + potentially hemming/bustle charges (depends on the style of your dress). And after you get the dress, don’t forget about alteration costs and a veil (if you are getting one).
Ask for a discount. Every place we went to, they were willing to offer about 10% off most of the time because they want your business. If you find a better price for the same dress, but you want to buy it from a different store because maybe you liked the customer service better there - mention the price difference. You’ve got nothing to lose.
Check your payment options. We had to put 75% down, and pay the remaining 25% when I went in for my first fitting.
Be aware of how long dresses will take to get made (varies per designer). When I started looking in November for my wedding the following September, one dress that I was on the verge of buying said it would take about 9 months (most take 6 on average) - which means I would have received it in August! Factor in alterations, etc. - that was really cutting it close. I realized I wasn’t dying to have it, then it wasn’t the dress. Some places will almost bully you into buying the dress, so don’t give in to them!
Ask if you can take pictures! Chances are, the answer is no. But you never know! And if the answer is no, then do what I did and my dad secretly filmed me when I came out of the dressing room using his Flip video camera. Granted some shots are of the floor or in his pocket, but at least I had something to look at afterwards
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