Every bride that enters my boutique has confessed to feeling overwhelmed from trying to find the perfect wedding dress. I know exactly what they mean because I felt the same way when shopping for my own wedding dress.
Wedding dress shopping should be exciting and exhilarating, not frustrating and overwhelming. Over the years, I’ve helped hundreds of brides find their perfect wedding dress without the accompanying stress.
Here’s some advice I give every bride on how they can stay stress-free while shopping for their wedding dress.
Limit The Number of Boutiques You Visit
Every bridal boutique you visit is sure to have an endless array of wedding dresses in every style imaginable. The more boutiques you visit and the more gowns you try on, the more overwhelmed you will be at the end of the day.
One or two boutiques are the maximum you should aim for in one day. That gives you sufficient time to rest and review your choices in between fittings.
Choose Your Bridal Boutiques Well
Being extra choosy when picking boutiques to visit is the key to an enjoyable wedding dress shopping experience.
Bridal boutiques that offer personalized fittings should top your shortlist. Experienced bridal consultants offer invaluable suggestions and non-judgmental advice that can help you choose the perfect wedding dress for you.
Before making an appointment with a bridal boutique, ask if they will let you take photographs while trying out different gowns. Taking these photographs home allows you to look through them photographs at leisure and make a more objective decision when choosing your wedding dress instead of making hasty, on-the-spot decisions.
Go With A Style In Mind But Be Open To Suggestions
Walking into a bridal boutique without having done any homework is sure to overwhelm you. With so many different styles on display, how do you know where to start?
The best way to avoid such a scenario is to look through a site such as Pinterest and save some ideas of wedding dresses that you think would look good on you. Collect these images and take them along with you so the stylist at the boutique can show you similar styles.
While we recommend starting with the styles you have in mind, we strongly advise you to keep an open mind. If a style that you had set your heart on does not suit you, be open to trying on other styles that the bridal consultant recommends. You never know how a particular dress will look until you try it on.
Skip the Huge Entourage
I know you have been waiting for this experience for a while, but to be honest, the brides who bring less friends and family to the appointments, always have a better experience. When brides bring more than 2 people with them on their first shopping trip, they get bamboozled with their friends opinions and the poor brides mind becomes cloudy and doubtful as to what wedding dress they love the most, which just adds to the stress and overwhelm of ‘Which dress is best?’. My recommendation would be to sort out which wedding dresses you love the most and then bring the entourage back the second time to help with the final decision. That way you will have all your favourite people with you to help celebrate when we say ‘Yes!, to the dress!’.
Take Your Time
Ideally you should start your wedding dress shopping as early as possible or at least 8 months before your wedding day. This gives you ample time to shop around without feeling stressed. This also allows you to make a second appointment to try on your favourite wedding dresses again.
While you are at the bridal boutique, do feel free to discuss your budget and your preferences with the in-house stylist. This will help them make the right suggestions. If you get the feeling that the stylist is only interested in selling to you without really helping you, try a different boutique.
At Empire Bridal, my team and I go out of our way to make your wedding dress shopping as stress-free as possible. We start with discussing your requirements so we can show you the relevant styles. While we may make suggestions and offer styling advice, we will never pressure you into buying something you do not like. You can try on as many gowns as you like and take the trial pictures home so you can look through them at leisure. Visit Empire Bridal for your wedding dress shopping and we’ll pull out all the stops to help you find that perfect wedding dress without the overwhelm.
Phone 03 9707 4888 to make your appointment, or schedule your appointment here https://empirebridal.com.au/appointments/
Our boutique is located at Shop 6/6-10 Princes Hwy, Beaconsfield VIC 3807 (Parking at Rear)
Can’t wait to meet you!
Michelle xx
(Photo by Celia Michon on Unsplash)
