First up, it's worth saying - there's no right or wrong way to shop for your wedding dress. (Well, apart from make sure you feel comfortable and supported, and don't feel pressured or judged.) Having said that, we've seen enough lovely dress fittings to know what certainly may help, and this is one of those things! We know you want something different to the norm - it's why you're here, the home of alternative wedding dresses. A lot of people will tell you to try on dresses that are completely different to what you think you want, and that's mostly true - here's why:
1. You don't want any what-if's - you want it to be stress free, and therefore post-dress-buying-worry free! Buying your wedding dress is a big decision and more money than you'd usually spend on clothing (or a lot of things), so you want to make sure you've got it right. You never know, you may subconsciously want to trial something totally out of what you would normally try - we'd rather bring this to the forefront before you've made the payment than it surface after nothing can be done about it!
2. And in that vein, you don't know what a dress is like until it's on. You can end up totally falling in love with something you really didn't expect to - wedding dress shopping is all about how you feel, and you don't how you'll feel until you're in it!
3. It doesn't mean you'll have to try on something you absolutely hate - we're not here to force you into dresses that are going to make you feel horrible. We won't make you try on a meringue, or something super traditional, or anything that's going to make you want to claw your own eyes out - we promise! Our bridal stylists are trained to read each appointment and know the dresses inside out, which means they can pick out some dresses they think you'll like that you otherwise wouldn't have tried. There will never be the suggestion of a dress that we think you'd hate or feel uncomfortable in. Period.
4. Even if you don't love it, Nos are as important as Yesses in the first stages of dress shopping. To really understand what it is that you want in a dress, it's useful to eliminate what elements you don't want from a dress - and to know why you don't want it. It makes it easier to find the right dress. It can also be helpful if you have a family member who has a very different idea of your wedding dress to you - once they've seen how you feel in it compared to the one you feel best in, it'll be no contest for them too.
5. You want to make the most of the process. It's not every day you get to go dress shopping, so enjoy it! Whether you want to ride solo, with one trusted friend or three - we like to think our appointments are loads of fun, and about as relaxed as they can be whilst still getting the job done. So make it last a little longer, why don't ya?
