What Brides want you to know before you start shopping... Pt.2
Back again with some more of the little nuggets of wisdom past down from Bottom Drawer Brides that have been and gone before you, wanting you to get the best of our your wedding dress shopping experience…
1. It doesnt matter what anyone else thinks, you wear whatever you want on your wedding day
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times, the only opnion that matters about what YOU are going to wear on your wedding day is YOURS! What else is there to say?
2. Sleeping on it is not always a bad thing
Not gonna lie, this one doesn’t always sit right with me, if I’ve seen you have THAT reaction to your dress you do not need to sleep on it, and saying that you need to sleep on it, that tells me you’re not sure and that it’s not your dress. BUT you know what, so many times a Bride has left the boutique and i’ve been sure they wouldn’t be coming back to me to be proved wrong when a few weeks later that 2nd appointment confirmation drops into my inbox. Maybe you are just someone that needs to take their time over big decisions and there’s nothing wrong with that.
3. Once youve said yes, stop looking!
Omg, this is THE most important rule of all, maybe even bigger that not worrying about what anyone else thinks. Not sure what else there is to say other than why would you do that to yourself? It’s just never going to make you feel good about it, and if you are looking after saying Yes, that tells me theres something worryinh you about your YES decision!
4. Just because it was the first dress in the first shop, doesnt mean it cant be the one.
Urgh, hearing this from Mums/Nans etc is like a slap in the face. “You can’t say Yes in the first shop” Why not? If you’ve done your research and we’ve had a really good chat about it all before then why can’t it be the first one? There is a reason that you picked that one first you know!
5. That you start with the favourite, everything compares back to it!
This goes hand in hand with that last one. When we’ve talked about the wedding I will have asked you to pick out your favourites from the website and then I will have asked you what your top 3 are. Once you are in the boutique and you’ve seen those 3 picks in real life, I will again ask you which one is your favourite? Which one is your gut telling you to try first? There is a reason you pick it first and that is why we try it first. What’s the point in trying everything else before hand, you’re never going to be thinking about the one your wearing just getting impatient to get the favourite one on. Do it the other way round and everything after the favourite has to be better and if it’s not then, there we are!
6. That you should look at the website before going to the shop.
Even if you don’t know what you want or what might suit you, purposefully looking through the website is going to help you to start visualising what the dresses might look like. It will also help you to start picking out things that you think you won’t want as well as what you do.
7. There isnt a golden rule for how many shops to go to or dresses to try on, trust your gut!
Absolutely, just because it’s the first shop doesn’t mean it’s wrong and equally the rule doesn’t apply the other way round either. I’ve heard Brides say that they cant possible say yes until they have been to a certain number of boutiques, this isnt like getting a quote from the builders. Buying your wedding dress is an emotional purchase not a practicial/logical one. You have to trust your gut on this one!
8. To factor in alterations costs.
as well as your accessories! Shoes, Jewellery, Veil etc. If you’ve got a set budget of say £1500 for everything, you’re probably going to want to be looking at a dress for about half that. That being said, alterations are payable just before the wedding, where as the payments for the dress are likely to be around a year and then 6 months before the wedding, so that’s always worth remembering. Not everything has to be paid for all at the same time!
9. What to wear to your Wedding dress appointment?
Ideally you want to be wearin something Nude, Seam free and possible high waisted, it’s more than likely you wont need your bra! Wedding dress appointments are an intimate experience, I as your stylist, will be helping you in and out of the dresses, getting up close and personal with you in a very short space of time so If I’m being completely honest, the best thing to wear is something that you are going to feel comfortable with me seeing you in.
10. How to be open minded - not to have a certain dress in your head.
We’ve all been there, seen something online, bought it, tried it on for it to look shit. Now imagine that feeling times 100. There are so many emotions involved with trying on wedding dresses, so if you are solely focused on just one dress and it turns out not to the right style for you and your body shape its going to soul destroying. Yes pick out your favourites to try on but 100% keep an open mind and trust your stylist!
11. What the dress sizes available are?
So this is always so hard, personally when I buy my new season collections, I will spend a lot of time thinking about the sizes that i have, the sizes that I have sold and what styles and shapes will suit each particular size. While I don’t have a huge collection of gowns, I do try and make sure thati have a good variety of dresses in a variety of sizes. The thing to remember is that bridal sizes are very different to high street sizes and stylists can work wonders with a little clip here and there!
13. That you dont need to make anyone but yourself happy
Just read that one again…
14. Not everyone cries when they find the one!
I didn’t cry! Yes crying is a strong reaction and majority of the time a clear indication that this is the dress, but it doesn’t always mean that! I’ve heard many brides over the years say that they only cried in the dress because Mum/Auntie/Nan cried! Sometimes it is just a feeling deep down that you know, you know that you can see your future self walking down the aisle!
I hope all these points have been helpful and as alsways if there is anything I can help you withm then please do not hesitate to contact me!
All my love