Morning peeps,
I wanted to launch the Bridal Boutiques features with a 'brief' post about trying on wedding dresses.
As I worked my way around the local boutiques in the lead up to Christmas there definitely emerged a pattern of tips for the all important first trip to the wedding shop and I wanted to share that with you.
It is a unique experience and one you will (hopefully) not repeat in years to come so it's nice to make the most of it and make it an enjoyable experience. So many brides I've spoken to over the last couple of years have had a horrid experience and that is so awful because it genuinely should be some of the most fun you can have with your undies on ; )
So first up let's bust some myths.
Myth 1.
'I'll drink champagne while trying on dream £3000 dresses'.
I think one of the biggest myths of trying on dresses is champagne. Ladies, it is a sad fact that not very many boutiques offer this. And certainly not until you've found 'the dress'. So don't go in assuming you and your BFFs will be quaffing bubbles while trying on gowns. This way you will be pleasantly surprised if you are lucky enough to visit one of the few that do offer it.
Myth 2.
'I need all my bridesmaids, both mothers and siblings present for all appointments'
This is a big no no. You need to find a dress for YOU. If you are trying to please your mother who has had 30 odd years of dreaming of you in a huge princess dress in a church (while you want a Jenny Packham dress and a quiet Civil Ceremony), your teenage sister who would rather be raiding Primark's sale rail or your friend from school you felt obliged to invite that begrudges the fact you have over £1500
more to spend on your dress then you are not going to get honest answers.
You need a small 'audience' ideally no more than two whose opinions you can trust and who ultimately know you and what you want.
Myth 3.
'I suit slinky dresses so don't need to try any other shapes on'.
What came out of all my meetings with the bridal boutiques is that in that first appointment you need to try on
every silhouette that is on offer. I think looking back, I personally missed out on this as I was so adamant about what shape dress I wanted and perhaps the boutiques I looked in didn't encourage me enough. Perhaps I could have ended up with a very different dress. For example I LOVE Jenny Packham dresses but I have a bottom and assumed a pear shape wouldn't suit the slinky nature of JP dresses, perhaps if I had properly tried a few on I might have found one that worked....
So Ladies, learn from my mistake. Try every shape on to rule out which works for you. Then you can start narrowing down the selection by picking the dresses out for their different details.
The Experience.
My chats with the boutiques were pretty uniform in the bride's experience.
Appointments range from 1 - 2 hours depending on the shop and of course the day of the week. While boutiques might need to be a little strict on appointment times on a Saturday you are more likely to get a longer, slightly more leisurely appointment on a week day.
On the whole they will want to chat to you about what kind of Wedding Day you will be having, the time of year, the venue or any special requests, for example if you are doing a choreographed dance you need a dress that will move. These questions will help the assistant build up an idea of what you
need from the dress, whether you will need to stay warm or cool, be covered in a church but less so in the evening. They will then let you walk around the shop to select some dresses that have caught your eye, this will show them the kind of dress you
like and are drawn to. Then comes the fun bit of trying the dresses on!
Often then the assistant will go back to the shop floor as you try on dresses to either show you alternative silhouettes you may not have considered or if you have decided on a shape then they can offer different versions of the same shape to see what ultimately
suits you best. Don't forget, these ladies know their stuff, many are trained technically in fashion and textiles while others live for wedding dresses, they know their stock and their designers. They see these dresses on women of all shapes and sizes every day. The same dress will never look the same on another lady so listen to their advice it's much better to dismiss a dress/shape/fabric once you've tried it then to wish you'd given that corseted number a try.
Then when you get it right and have found 'the one' you will see that what you
need, what you
like and what
suits you comes together in one wonderful Wedding Dress.
Some Tips.
It's an idea to wear a strapless bra and I personally would suggest comfortable proper pants. You will soon get used to the assistants seeing you in your undies. If you are comfortable then go for a thong. I wouldn't wear support underwear because you want to see how they fit as they are and each dress will determine the underwear necessary, if at all.
You don't need to go to any special effort with your hair and make-up but you will spend a lot of time looking in the mirror. So I wouldn't advise going straight from the gym! It's hard to see a fabulous you in the mirror if you can't stop looking at your caterpillar eyebrows you should have groomed weeks ago or your beanie hat hair!
Don't try too many dresses on. You can easily become overwhelmed by the choices available and it's easy to put yourself under pressure to find 'the one'.
Ideally you want to be ordering your dress at least six months before the wedding date, this allows time for delivery and fittings. If you haven't found a dress and you are feeling overwhelmed stop, take a break, distract yourself with something else and come back to it a month later. Revisit the shop that gave you the best service, where you felt they were being honest rather than trying to get a sale and explain you are feeling overwhelmed maybe you can start at the beginning, try the shapes on and go from there.
So PiP peeps if it's your first appointment, my advice?
Grab your closest friend or your mum and book a week day appointment followed by a lovely lunch this way you get a longer appointment with knowledgeable staff where you can then sit calmly afterwards with lunch to jot down all the ideas and feelings you had from each dress.
Think carefully about how they made you feel. Ultimately you are looking for a dress that makes you feel like you at your very best.
I'd love to hear from you folks, have you started the search, what have you found to be your favourites? Are you only looking at certain designers? Where have you had wonderful experiences? Let us and the other readers know in the comment box below!
