Wedding Wednesday is a feature I created here on the blog to mark my wedding journey from now until August. Sometimes bookish wedding related things will surface and sometimes not. Click here for more Wedding Wednesday posts.
I’m so excited! I’m going dress shopping finally on October 29! I’ve wanted my little sister and stepmom to be able to come down for it so we were limited in the days we could go because my sister runs cross country pretty much every weekend. BUT YAY FINALLY at the end of this month I will be trying on wedding dresses and weeping my little eyes out because I’m that kind of girl who will cry about this sort of thing because I’m sentimental, it will finally hit me that we are getting married and because I’ll be missing my mom.
So now I have a month to figure out what the heck kind of dress I want! I’m not one of those girls who have had this vision of what I want to look like on my wedding day since I was a little girl. I’ve never really given much thought to it other than I want to look amazing…obviously.
The problem when it comes to browsing through bridal magazines and wedding blogs is that every dress I like is SO EXPENSIVE. I naturally have expensive taste as it is but I just also am a realist in that it is a DRESS that I am going to wear for one day and one day only. Do I really want to spend insane amounts of money on this? But then on the other side, I love fashion (always have) and I want the perfect dress.
But what is the perfect dress? I mean, I’m sure I could go in a store and find lots of dresses that look good on me. I’m sure I could keep looking and find plenty of dresses I like. My fear is that I’m going to go in there and keep looking and looking because I’ll keep wondering if there is a better one out there and keep my eye on others even if I bought one…which is like a clear violation of everything I’ve ever learned while watching Say Yes To The Dress. I’m also kind of picky..so there is that. I could be that picky bride on SYTTD or that bride that has NO idea what she wants. Because I don’t. I’ve seen dresses of all kinds that I like…pretty much in every style. I know that I don’t want a princess gown or anything poofy..but really does that narrow it down? NO.
I was going to link you to dresses that I really like but I realize I don’t know what I like. Perhaps in a later post I will have a better idea and can show you? That is if you feel like lusting over wedding dresses with me 🙂
Jennifer (An Abundance of Books) says
Dress shopping can be stressful, try to keep it fun, you've got some time to make a decision. This may sound strange, but several other women told me told me this: make sure the dresses you try are manageable if you have to go to the bathroom. I decided I didn't want my bridesmaid's in the stall with me holding up my dress, so I looked for dresses I could handle on my own.
I ended up buying a dress that I originally thought I would like the least, but I wanted to see how I looked in a champagne colored dress. It made my top three and when I tried it on later for my mom – her reaction was great, I knew it was my dress.
Good luck and have fun!!
Lauren Morrill (Mona Mour) says
(long-time blog lurker here …)
My tip for wedding dress shopping is one my dad gave me, believe it or not… Snap a photo of yourself in the dress when you're trying it on. A lot of dresses have really spectacular detail that you'll fall in love with, but those details won't show up in pictures and the dress will actually look completely different in photos! And really, the photos are what you'll be looking at for the rest of your life, not the actual dress. If a bridal shop pushes back on photos, explain why you want to take the picture and offer to delete the picture in front of them.
My mom also had a really efficient dress-shopping technique. I'd try on one, and give it a thumbs up or down. If it was down, it went on the rack. If it was up, we left it in the dressing room. Then I'd try on dress #2, and my mom would say, "Do you like it more, or less, than Dress #1?" If the answer was "less," then back on the rack it went. It kept me from getting tangled in a mess of too many dresses to consider. In the end, I was down to 2 dresses, and the one I chose was the one that looked the best in pictures!
Linda says
My advice is to try on as many dresses as you can. Even the ones you don't think you'd like. I thought I'd want one with lots of meringue but I went with a fairly simple dress.
waitingonkeckles says
Wedding dress shopping is sooooo much fun! A few pieces of advice from a newlywed. . . 1. Try on as many as you damn well please. I tried on a few that were way out of my league, but it was so much fun. 2. You will know when you find the one. 3. Be picky! Even if it doesn't quite work in the moment, consider a tailor or getting it altered to be perfect for you. Good luck, Jamie!
Chrystal says
You know what is funny? I had this idea of what I wanted in my head and the dresses I kept picturing did not look good on my body shape. My Mom picked out a dress for me and I kept saying I didn't want a train… guess what? The dress had a train and as soon as I put it on I cried. I am in love with my dress. I keep looking at pics of it all the time and can't wait for it to come in so I can try it on again. You will know the dress is the right one.. I thought it was a silly thing to say, but it was totally true. 🙂
I wish you the best of luck that you find something reasonably priced, yet something that suits your personality. 🙂 And have fun!
Annette says
I think you will be able to narrow down what your really like after you try some different styles on. Don't count on buying one you find at the first store (although this can happen, it usually doesn't.) Also, don't let salespeople try to talk you into something, and don't be afraid to tell them what you like or don't like. Good luck!
Tara says
I would totally love lust over wedding dresses!!!! You should post some pictures soon! 🙂 I have no experience shopping for wedding dresses since we had a teeny tiny wedding and I just wore a knee-length white summer dress!
readingfuelledbytea says
You should DEFINITELY post pictures here. I ended up getting one that was nothing like what I thought I would want, but I totally loved it and everyone else did too 🙂 yes you're only going to wear it for one day, but it is the day that you are going to look your most beautiful and you deserve to have a really amazing dress!