This is a post I've been looking forward to since the day I found THE dress over a year ago! I have always wanted to show you guys the dress I almost chose, but didn't + a few wedding dress shopping tips for the bride-to-be. We'll call this the road to the wedding dress :)
If I can get sentimental for a second, finding my wedding gown with my mama was one of my favorite days ever. Not just in wedding planning, but literally ever. I'm so thankful for this day and don't take it for granted, because I know a lot of brides don't get this time with their moms. Getting into my wedding gown on the morning of our wedding was SUREAL. It was also extremely hot! This picture below shows my face squinting and laughing, because I remember thinking "if it's 80 degrees at 11:30am, I don't want to know what it's going to be during our ceremony at 4pm." It was 96 degrees, if you were wondering ;)
So before I get to more pretty pictures of my gown (that I'm definitely planning on trying on again on our first anniversary!) I wanted to share a few tips for dress shopping, since I'm guessing there are a few newly engaged friends out there after the holidays, along with pictures of me trying on the dresses.
1. Only take people who you are confident will be helpful, kind, supportive and want what is best for you. A little honesty is key, but you don't want someone there who will hurt your feelings. After we said yes to the dress, I brought back my aunts and grandmas to see me in the dress. They all loved this and I found it very special!
2. Come with some ideas of styles you want to try on. I printed out a few pictures of gowns I absolutely loved the shape of and the back detailing, and that's what our consultant searched for. I ended up getting something really similar to my inspiration. Now that we're married and I can share the dress and everything, here are the pictures I brought for inspiration! I pinned tons of inspiration here.
3. Trust your consultant (if you're at a dress shop that has great stylists, that is!) If the style you thought you would like doesn't look good on you, be willing to try something else. They've seen A LOT of dresses on a lot of women!
4. Make sure you do your hair and makeup the way you feel most confident, so when you're looking in the mirror at yourself, you feel beautiful!
5. Bring shoes of your own that you can try on the gowns with. I brought a pair of wedges my mom had (similar to the shoes I ended up buying below) to get the feel of what a wedge would be like.
6. Ask a lot of questions-- about the time the gown comes in, if they have recommended seamstresses or if they are in house, how the seamstress plans to shorten your gown (they almost always come in too long), etc.
7. Look for accessories at the bridal shop, but then also look on etsy when you get home to see if you can find something more cost effective (ie. garters, veils, belts, etc.) Sometimes accessories can MAKE the look. As soon as I put on a beaded belt with my dress, I knew it was "the one".
8. Have fun and don't put pressure on yourself to find "the one" on day one.
9. My biggest tip, however, is to take photos of yourself in the dresses you're most considering. Once we narrowed it down to the two final gowns, my mom snapped some pictures of me in each gown so I could take a look for myself. Sometimes dresses might look nice in person, but don't photograph well. So here we go-- I'm showing you the pictures she took of me!
Dress on the left: the one I ended up choosing and I'm SO happy I did! The lace was a little bit less and showed a bit more skin, which I wanted ;)
Dress on the right: Super comfortable and loved the champagne underlay, but when I looked at the picture, I saw the dress and tons of lace, not me.
A few of the front of the dress I did not chose...again, so pretty, but just a little too much lace. It seemed overwhelming! I also liked that the other one gave me more shape.
The moment I decided to say yes to the dress!
My mom and I...such a fun day!
The day I brought my grandma and aunts back to see the dress and choose a veil:
So those are my tips! Now I'll show you a few more pictures from our wedding day, because it's fun to relive and I'm so happy I chose this dress. I now understand why moms want their daughters to wear their gowns ;) #futuredaughterbeware
Anyone going dress shopping soon? If you've already done so or been married already, what advice do YOU have for brides-to-be?!
Happy Thursday!
xoxo
Great advice on dress shopping! It's awesome the wedding dress shop let you take pictures. I could only take pictures after I said "yes to the dress". :)
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