Firstly, congratulations on getting engaged! Planning your wedding day is one of the most exciting times of your life.
Traipsing venues trying to find the perfect one. Sampling a hideous amount of cakes. Realising that there are 100s of shades of every color and trying to pick your favourite.
But, undoubtedly the most important part of planning your wedding is picking your dress. No woman can honestly say she hasn’t had a collection of her favourites stored since the ages of six.
The pressure is on, the clocking is constantly ticking as your big day gets closer and closer. The good news is that picking your dress can be such good fun, visiting different cities and quaint little towns looking for the best wedding dresses that they have to offer.
On big days like those used for dress searching it is important that you have everything you need with you in order to avoid unnecessary stress, after all no one wants to look back on memories tarnished by an argument about forgotten things or having to make a dash home half way through the day.
Therefore, we have compiled a list of what to bring wedding dress shopping with you which we hope will help you to avoid any difficult scenarios.
- High Heels – If you are planning on wearing heels on the big day it is a good idea to take some with you to try dresses on. This will allow you to see what the dress will look like when you are that little bit taller.
For the most accuracy the best idea is to try to bring a pair of heels with the same height to them as the ones you plan to wear to your wedding. So, if you’re planning on wearing 3 inch heels then bring 3 inch heels and so on.
- Ideas – The odds are that you have done lots of research in the wedding dress field recently and bringing some of this with you could be a fantastic idea.
If you bring a virtual mood board with you on your phone or tablet then you can show the shop assistants, this could help them to help you to find the perfect dress. If you prefer to keep things a little more traditional or are not too trusting of modern technology then you could always bring this in a paper format.
- An Open Mind – It’s always good to go armed with a few ideas of what you’d like your dress to look like but it’s equally as important to keep an open mind. If you go into this close minded you are blocking the possibility of finding an even better and more fitting dress than the ones you have in mind.
If you are willing to look around you might find a style that you have never even seen before that could perfectly represent you and compliment your features.
- A Comfortable and Convenient Outfit – Your day will involve lots of trying on beautiful dresses but these dresses can often be tricky to get on and do up so why add to that stress? Your best option is to go in a simple outfit that is quick and easy to get on and off to aid those dress changes.
- The Right Underwear – It is important that you wear the right underwear. Wearing bright pink granny pants is a no go for dress shopping. You need your underwear to not interfere with the way that the dresses look on so it’s a good idea to wear discreet and light colored undergarments.
Another good idea is to try to wear underwear that is similar to that that you will want to wear on the day so that you can see how they go together and check that they do not bunch up.
Who To Bring Dress Shopping
So, now you have a rough idea of what to bring to bring dress shopping which is fantastic. However, who you bring is equally important. Obviously, only you can make this decision but we do have some advice.
Traditionally people only take women dress shopping with them, this is because the groom doesn’t get to see the dress until the big day so it is only fair that none of his entourage do either.
However, the odds are that you know several women so choosing which ones make the cut can be really hard. Generally speaking people take their bridal party so this would be your maid of honor, bridesmaids, flowergirls, the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom.
It is important to remember that this is only a rough guide and that this may not be suitable for you.
Some women are not very close to their mother in law to be, it is important that you feel comfortable so if you don’t have the closest relationship then you should feel no pressure to invite her. Similarly, some people have strained relationships with their own mothers and may feel that having her there would be counterproductive.
It is also important that you have a variety of types of people there. For instance, you will want people who can be brutally honest with you and also people who will always hype you up.
This is a difficult balance to find but it will pay off as you need people to be critical of the dresses that you try on so that you are not taken over with awe and do not find yourself making rash decisions but you also need people that will make you feel beautiful and give you the confidence boost to try all sorts of dresses on.
Final Thoughts
The most important thing to remember is to have a fantastic time and to be open minded. However, these organisational tips should also help the day to run as smoothly as possible.
It is also critical that you think really hard about who you invite along with you as you want to feel comfortable and have the most positive experience possible.
