Shopping for your wedding day look can be both an exciting and stressful moment in your wedding planning. With decades of experience in the bridal industry, I’ve seen a lot: the good, the bad, and the ugly. To help ensure that your shopping experience is as stress-free as possible, I’ve compiled a list of five wedding dress shopping tips to remember.
5 Important Wedding Dress Shopping Tips to Remember Throughout Your Shopping Experience
1 · Research the Stores and Designers They Carry
Out of all of the wedding dress shopping tips, this is the one that needs to happen first. Before you even step foot in a bridal boutique, it’s important to research them and their designers.
Researching the store will tell you two things. First, it will tell you who they are (or who they’re not) and what values they uphold. This, in turn, will tell you whether their values align with yours and help you decide if you would be comfortable shopping/purchasing there. For example, if you’re an ally 🏳️🌈 and you’re seeing anti-LGBTQ+ red flags, you’ll probably need to reconsider making an appointment there.
Second, your research on the store will also tell you what designers and sizes they carry. This is especially important if you are a plus size nearlywed as not all stores stock plus sizes and not all designers have an accomodating size range. This also leads to the importance of researching the designers a store carries.
Researching the designers is important especially if you’re unfamiliar with them because it will show you their design aesthetic. For example, you don’t want to walk into a store blindly only to realize they carry more glam or boho-leaning designers when you’re looking for a modern look with clean lines and minimal lace. Also like the store, researching the designer will tell you if your values align.
This research may involve googling, looking at social media, or calling the store to speak to someone directly. It will take time, but it will save you from wasting time.
2 · Take People You Know Will Lift You Up
Once you’ve done your research and you’ve made your appointments, it’s time to think about who will be joining you in your shopping.
Some nearlyweds are more comfortable shopping alone, and that’s 100% okay! But, if you are someone who wants to share the experience with loved ones, make sure they are people who will add to the experience and not take away from it. Negative Nancys and Debby Downers need not apply.
Along the same lines, it’s important to be clear on what you will not tolerate from your entourage. For example, body shaming is a big no-no in my book. If I were going shopping, I’d make it very clear to my entourage that there would be no comments about how my body looks in a style.
3 · Don’t Let the Opinions of Others Muddle Your Thoughts
Alright, you’ve booked your appointment and got your entourage on the same page as you. Now it’s time to try things on!
While it’s wonderful to share a wedding dress shopping experience with your entourage and get their feedback, it’s also important to remember that the only opinion that truly matters at the end of the day is yours! You are the one that has to wear what you choose. You need to be comfortable in it and you need to love it!
If you are someone who is easily influenced by the opinions of others, maybe you should consider shopping alone. Because (let me tell you) there is nothing like watching the light dim from a nearlywed’s eyes when someone in the entourage doesn’t agree with a style they like or even love.
4 · Don’t Overthink Your Decision
One of my personal shopping tips (for anything) is that if I have to sit there and convince myself that I love something, I’m doing too much. I’m trying to make something work when my gut tells me it’s not it and I need to move on. I believe that the same applies to shopping for your wedding day look.
If you’re standing in front of a mirror or looking at post-try-on photos trying to convince yourself that you like a style, it might not be the one. That is not to say that you can’t have multiple favorites you want to narrow it down from. That’s not uncommon. But when it comes time to narrow it down to “the one”, (just like your future spouse) you’ll know when it’s the one!
5 · Don’t Let FOMO Win
The last of my wedding dress shopping tips is about what happens after you find the one. You did your research, got your entourage together, went shopping, and found the look you love. Congrats, lovely! It was a lot of work, but you did it! Now what?
Stop. That’s it. No more shopping.
Don’t let the fear of missing out on something (that may not exist) or the intrusive thoughts of “What else is out there?” or “What if I see something else I might like even more?” win. Because if you do and you continue shopping, you’ll likely just end up more confused. Very few nearlyweds can try on dozens (if not hundreds) of dresses and still be able to find their perfect style without a problem. However, they are by and far the exception to the rule.
Once you find your wedding day look, it’s time to enjoy the happiness and excitement of finding the one.
The Takeaway
The TL;DR of this is: do your research, make appointments at bridal boutiques that align with your values and carry the styles you are looking for, surround yourself with the right people, and listen to your intuition.
And that’s it! I know I can expand on these 5 tips even more, but I’ll keep things simple for now. If you want any other wedding dress shopping advice, let me know. Otherwise, happy shopping, lovelies!
xx, Lourdes
Not Ready to Start Shopping Yet?
That’s okay! Even if you’re not ready to start shopping for your wedding day look, you can use the pin below to save this post to your Pinterest board as a reminder. And while you’re on Pinterest, follow EÉ for even more wedding and bridal inspiration.
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The Inside Scoop