It is natural that almost as soon as your other half pops the question the thought suddenly goes through your head, ‘what am I going to wear?’ Your wedding dress is one of the most important items of clothing you will wear in your lifetime, so it’s understandable that so many people dwell on this topic.
Preparing for your Wedding Dress Appointment
With it being such a big deal for many brides, it can be easy to get wrapped up in things and not be able to think properly before your bridal appointment. This can make the process of getting a dress stressful when really it should be a time you can enjoy yourself and feel special! As bridal experts, we’ve put together five tips to help brides prepare for their appointment. Keep reading for some helpful things to consider before heading to your bridal appointment.
Do your research
When you arrive at your appointment and meet your consultant, one of the first things they’ll want to know if you have a certain style in mind or any inspiration for your gown. This isn’t to limit your search, as it is important to try on many different styles, but instead, it is a great starting point for your consultant to head onto the shop floor and pull some dresses for you to try on. This is why it is good to have done some research beforehand and get an idea of the style of dress you feel would suit you and your wedding best. Creating a mood board is a great way to get down lots of different elements of dresses you love, as well as pointing out some things you maybe aren’t so fond of. Once you’ve collected your inspiration images or created your mood board, be sure to bring them along to your appointment.
Keep an open-mind
As important as it is to do your research, you also really need to keep an open mind. You might arrive at your appointment with your mood board and be sure this is exactly what you want, then try on what you’ve been describing and not get that magical bridal feeling. You might be sure that a fishtail would suit your body better, but then actually you try on a ballgown and fall completely in love with it. Your mood board is just there for a starting point, so don’t be disheartened if you end up going a completely different route in your appointment. You never know, your dream dress could be one you never considered looking at before the consultant picked it out for you.
Remember alterations are available
Going along well with the idea of keeping an open mind, you should also make sure you remember alterations are available. If you go in with the idea you have to have sleeves on your gown, and then feel like you have almost found the perfect one but it’s missing those essential sleeves, there is no need to panic! Rather than disregarding the dress because it doesn’t have sleeves, talk to your consultant about if they think it would be possible to get sleeves added to the dress. On most gowns this is possible and quite straightforward for a professional seamstress, you can simply just get in touch with a bridal alterations specialist and they will be able to make the perfect sleeves for your gown. This is the case with many different aspects, such as adding or removing embellishments, so don’t completely write a dress off if it is just missing a few final details.
Set a budget
Before you go to your bridal appointment it is really important that you set yourself a realistic budget. If you go to an appointment and start trying on dresses way out of your price range and fall in love with one, the entire experience is going to be stressful for you. Instead, come up with a budget you are comfortable with spending on your gown and then tell your consultant to only bring dresses that are within this price range. Remember, you’ll also have to consider the cost of alterations, a veil, shoes and accessories, so you don’t want to spend it all on the dress.
Give yourself plenty of time
Something many people don’t tend to consider is how long it can take between purchasing the gown and having it ready for you to wear on your wedding day. The length of time it takes really depends on if you buy a dress off the rack or get one made to measure, however, either way, you want at least 5 months remaining for alterations. If you are going for a made to measure gown, you want to add on a few months for the gown to actually be ordered. To reduce your stress levels, give yourself around 8 before your wedding to sort out your wedding dress.
There is a lot that goes into getting your perfect wedding dress, but as long as you are prepared it doesn’t need to be a stressful experience!
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