If you’re just getting started in the world of wedding planning, it probably all feels a little bit daunting… And the idea of wedding dress shopping might feel like a minefield of its own. But don’t worry, it absolutely doesn’t need to be that way! We’ve put together 10 mistakes we commonly find brides make that can make it harder to find your dream dress & of course on the flip side that means 10 tips on how you can make it easier & help you get the most out of your wedding dress shopping experience!
- Shopping before you’re ready to say yes
The problem with shopping before you’re ready to say yes is that you risk falling in love with a dress without any guarantee it’ll still be available months down the line when you ARE ready. The other side to this is you risk taking the shine off the experience because appointment after appointment can become tiring for both you & your guests. If you save it til you’re seriously on the search for the one, you’ll have a more magical time & when you fall in love you can go for it without worry of losing it!
2. Having a fixed idea of what you want before you’ve started trying
Its good to have a look for some inspiration before your appointment so that you have an idea of what you’re most drawn to for a starting point. However, if you see something you LOVE on Pinterest or Instagram or wherever it may be, don’t pin all your hopes on that one dress. They can look so different in person, different again on a body vs a hanger, and different AGAIN on one person to the next. Sometimes when people have had a fixed idea, and then are underwhelmed when they try it, it can leave you feeling really thrown off & stuck of where to go next. Instead, just use these photos for inspiration of style, details, designers etc and then go with what you feel when you’re trying dresses on.
3. Not telling us what you don’t like out of fear of being rude
Wedding dress shopping is a process of elimination. We start by working out what silhouette you like & then we move onto the finer details, lace/no lace, sleeves/no sleeves and so on. In order for us to best help you work through the options, we need to understand what’s making you feel good & what’s not working for you. You won’t offend us by telling us you don’t like a particular style or detail, not every dress is for every person & that’s okay! The more information we can find out about what you’re loving & not loving the better we are able to help you find the dream dress.
4. Not wearing make up to your appointment if you usually wear it
Now obviously, we don’t want you caked in instant fake tan that’s going to transfer off onto every single sample we have. But we want you to feel like YOU when trying wedding dress on & so if that means wearing make up because you usually do, then go for it. We all know that feeling when you’re trying to find an outfit for a night out but nothing looks right because you’ve got no make up on, wet hair & fluffy socks on… it doesn’t work does it! So the advice here, isn’t to cake make up on or do your hair in a fancy up do if you wouldn’t usually, but just come exactly as you are used to seeing yourself.
5. Spending a fortune on magic underwear
There’s definitely a place for special, seam free, smoothing underwear in bridal. BUT, don’t worry about this until you have chosen your dress. At your initial appointment, just wear something comfortable, nude or white ideally & seamless if you have it but don’t worry if you don’t. In terms of what to avoid… strong elastic! But aside from that, you just don’t need to worry about it. We sometimes find brides have spent a fortune on special shapewear which comes up to their armpits only to choose a completely backless dress which of course… isn’t the combination we’re going for & so the expensive underwear becomes redundant, not to mention how UNCOMFORTABLE some of this underwear can be! Same goes for bras, our dresses have SO much support built into them that you just won’t need one. If you DO feel like you want additional support, speak to your seamstress during your alterations as they can help here for you! Don’t let your underwear dictate what dress you think you can or can’t wear!
Go to your appointment in something light & seam free (if you have it), choose your dress, THEN choose what underwear works with that dress.
6. Delaying shopping because you want to lose weight
This one is really common but let us be the ones to tell you… you DON’T need to lose weight for your wedding or before you start wedding dress shopping. There’s a dress for every single person, that will make you feel amazing regardless of what size you are. We carry samples in sizes 8-26 & we can order from a size 2-32, so don’t ever worry when visiting us whether there will be dresses for you to try on. Quite often we find brides put off starting shopping because they want to lose weight, and then end up under a massive time pressure trying to find something they feel good in. Don’t delay, just make a start & we’ll help you find something that makes you feel amazing.
7. Worrying about sizes
Number 6 leads us perfectly onto number 7…You don’t need to worry about the size on the label. Bridal sizes don’t align to UK high street sizing & vary from one designer to the next. So don’t worry if the size we measure you up as, isn’t the number you are used to seeing. The main thing is we get you the best fit possible to keep your alteration costs as low as possible, so you need to not worry about the number & leave that part to us. The other thing to remember here is that dresses can be taken in MUCH easier than they can be let out.
8. Booking too many appointments
Wedding dress shopping is exciting & it’s a fun thing to do with your nearest & dearest. However, you can quickly take the shine off the experience and leave yourself overwhelmed if you do too much shopping (I know, how can there be such a thing?! But trust me when it comes to bridal, there really is). As a bride, there’s luckily lots of lovely shops around that whilst they all offer gorgeous dresses, they offer different things in terms of styles, designers, vibe, experience etc. To avoid over shopping & driving your bridal party mad, do a bit of research & pick 1-2 shops to start with that match your vibe!
9. Taking bad photos
This is a big one so bare with me…
Taking photos isn’t something we hugely recommend, this largely comes from personal experience. When I found my wedding dress, I took some photos of it & within the first hour I must have looked back at those photos 10+ times, the lighting was rubbish & it just wasn’t what it was when I stood in front of it. How ridiculous is that? I stood & looked at in person and I was OBSESSED then I scrutinised it based on rubbish quality photos and started putting myself off it and sure enough when I saw it in person again I loved it just as much as the first time. So personally, I’d recommend avoiding photos all together & just remember how amazing the dress makes you feel. BUT I appreciate that’s not for everyone & some people like to have photos to reflect on. SO the advise here if you want to take photos is as follows;
- Take them with a pinch of salt. Use them to remind you of the details of the dress, but don’t scrutinize yourself & how you look in the photo.
- Whoever is responsible for taking the photos for you, make sure they will do it justice. They can get up out of their chair, take different angles, videos, close ups of the details etc. If you’re stood up on the box & they are sat down, every single photo is coming from a low down angle & nobody likes that.
- Remember that how your dress looks on a phone camera, isn’t a patch on how they will look in your professional photography or in person of course.
- Don’t take photos of every single dress you try, you’ll be amazed how many styles you try on & if you have 100’s of photos of yourself in different dresses that wont be helpful either.
- DELETE them if A. you find yourself looking at them too often & scrutinising yourself. B. once you’ve have made the choice, get rid & just bottle up that feeling of excitement ready for when YOURS arrives.
10. Bringing the wrong people or too many people
Bringing too many people to your appointment can really quickly leave you feeling overwhelmed. We advise no more than 3 and this is purely to help you. Too many opinions are definitely not helpful & even with the very best intentions, people find it really hard not to cast their own opinion of what they would like for themselves, or what they chose for their wedding 10 years ago, rather than letting you work out for yourself what it is that YOU like & makes YOU feel good. Honest opinions are welcome, but as the bride, you need to be able to make your opinion clear first. Make sure you choose people who pair their honesty with kindness too, wedding dress shopping is really personal experience & you need people who will build you up. Also, a little tip if you do have quite a few people you want to include. Bring 1 or 2 to your first appointment & re-book to show everyone what you’ve chosen so they still get to be included & have a glass of bubbly with you, but you still get the best experience.
The main thing is just to enjoy it & not pressurise the experience. The proposal is the easiest yes ever & the dress CAN be close second. If you have any questions about any of the above or anything else relating to your wedding dress, you know where we are & we’re always delighted to be able to help.
Ali & Molly x