Wedding dress shopping was one of the things I was most excited for and at the same time, most nervous about. I was excited to try on all the pretty dresses, but nervous I wasn’t going to find “the one”. The good news is I found the dress and now I’m even more excited for my wedding! Shopping for my wedding dress was fun and stressful at times. I probably should’ve taken some of my own advice to make the process easier, like not visit 11 different bridal boutiques and try on multiple dresses at each, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. If I could do it all over again though, I would’ve considered these five wedding dress shopping mistakes to avoid.
Trying on Too Many Dresses
While it’s important to try on a variety of dresses to find what you like, trying on too many dresses can actually make the process harder. It’s one of the top wedding dress shopping mistakes most brides make. When you try on too many dresses, you’ll start to get confused, forget what the other dresses looked like, and have a harder time narrowing down your favorites. If you find your top three favorite dresses, it may be best to end your search and pick between those since you know you already like them.
Not Keeping an Open Mind
Most brides have a preconceived notion of the type of dress they want before they step foot into a bridal salon or try a dress on. While this is a good thing that can help guide you in the direction of what you’re looking for, you should always keep an open mind. Dresses look completely different once they’re on, and often times better than what you may think from just seeing it on the rack. Even if you think you can’t pull a certain style off, I would suggest trying all styles first to be sure because you never know! You may be able to pull off that fitted figure flattering dress after all!
Going Under or Over Budget
Before you start trying on dresses, set a budget. Once your budget is set, only try on dresses that are within your budget. Unless you’re willing to spend an extra grand, it may not be a good idea to try on a $3,000 dress when you’re budget is $2,000 incase you end up loving it. Also, don’t let the price tag decide for you. You may be tempted buy a sample dress on sale for $600, but ask yourself first if you really love the dress or just love the price. If you love the price more, that may not be the dress for you and you may end up regretting it later!
Getting too Many Opinions
Most brides take a few close people along with them to dress shop, and while it’s great to have different opinions, too many opinions can get confusing. To make things easier on you, try to limit your shopping crew to a handful of your closest friends and family (ideally under 5) that will give you an honest opinion. Remember though, at the end of the day, it’s what you like, not them, they’re just there to help!
Ordering the Wrong Size
Whatever you do, don’t order a dress that doesn’t currently fit you in hopes that it will by the time of your wedding. Unless you can predict the future, you never know what could happen. Most brides plan to lose weight for the wedding, but sometimes not all are able to lose as much as they’d hoped, or any at all. It’s much easier to make a dress smaller than larger, and the last thing you’d want is your dress to be too small come time for the wedding!
If you’ve already purchased your wedding dress, did you make any of these wedding dress shopping mistakes?
Auburn Pride says
Ill definitely keep this in mind! Thanks
Leslie Soto says
These are all great tips! I’d also say have someone you trust not to show the pics to anyone unless you want them to, to take pictures for you so that you can have them to look back on. I totally agree with keeping an open mind. My wedding dress was one I never would have looked at if my consultant didn’t ask me if I wanted to try it on. It was a brand new dress and they had not seen it on a person yet. She did not put pressure on me at all but was polite about asking me. Turns out it was the first one I tried on and it was my dream dress. I teared up when I put it on the second time at the end of the consultation. It’s also a good point not to order a dress in hopes of fitting into it by the big day. If your dress shop has an in store tailor (and most do) then they can alter it for you if you do lose weight.
Keating says
Great tips! My stepmom has been in the wedding dress shopping process for a couple months now and I’m SO glad she’s not a picky bride haha she walked into the salon with zero clue of what she wanted or didn’t want and a very open mind so it makes it so much easier to pull dresses for her lol
Hannah Landry says
After working in the wedding dress business, I want to bow down at your feet after reading this article! There are so many women who are so unrealistic or unprepared whenever they come into the shop and it just makes choosing even harder! I think you posted valid points with great reasons behind each.
XOXO,
Hannah
Southernseams.blogspot.com
Morgan Gifford says
Definitely keep an open mind! I was set on having a simple lace mermaid style dress, but surprisingly ended up falling in love with my mom’s heavily beaded, totally decked out 90’s style wedding dress! You never know what you’ll love.
The Rad Wife
Roxy says
Last year I got to participate in a friend’s gown search. She literally only went to two places and MAYBE tried on 8 dresses, before deciding on The One. While I’ve yet to get to experience dress shopping, I already know it’s going to be stressful as I am the most indecisive person I know. Whenever the time comes I will have to use these tips!!
Matt @ Plating Pixels says
A good friend of ours just bought her dress. Hope she didn’t make these mistakes. The thing we didn’t know is you have to buy your dress 5 months out! She barely ordered in time but that was almost the biggest mistake of all!
Linh says
Great tips! I worked as a Bridal Manager for several years so I’d have to agree with these. Some gals come in wanting to try on EVERY SINGLE gown we owned and it ended up confusing them even more. I do agree that keeping an open mind is a MUST. Sometimes you have a style you really love, but it may not compliment your body type.
-Linh
Kara says
These are great tips! Having a open mind is so important! I think its best to try on different styles before you say no!
Allison Jones says
These are great tips! When I tried on wedding dresses a few years ago I didn’t try on anything that was over my budget and I only tried on 5. I ended up going with the first one I put on which shows that there’s no need to try on hundreds of dresses.
LiveLifeWell,
Allison
laci says
Yes yes and yes you were spot on for all these !!! This is perfect all dress shoppers need to see !! Laci
The Cuteness says
Awesome tips! People think it’s going to be fun bringing an entourage with them to wedding dress shop, but it’s actually the worst thing you can do. It’s so deflating to love a dress and be shot down. I only brought my dad with me, it made it so much easier to choose!
kenzie negron says
love this post! I am not shopping for any wedding dresses anytime soon but I can relate to this when I went prom dress shopping! I remember saying no to so many dresses because I thought they looked weird on the hangers, but they actually ended up being some of my favorites! x, kenz http://sincerelykenz.com/
Jennifer @ The Champagne Supernova says
Good tips. My wedding feels like it was yesterday, even though it was 6 years ago. I remember how fun it was to shop with my friends and twirl in front of a mirror- just like a movie star. Another tip is to consider the price of the alterations/ fittings with the price of the dress. I got a huge discount on my dress from the bridal store, but alterations were $400 because of the material. Oy vey! Cheers to a great weekend and so happy to connect with your blog- I love it (and think we would be friends in real life!)
Rosalyn O. says
These are some great tips! I can’t wait for the day I have to start planning for my wedding. These have been some really helpful tips, thanks for sharing :))
Allison - Celebrating Sweets says
Wishing I had this list when I bought my wedding dress. Great tips!
Becky @ Disney in your Day says
I got married 4 years ago and was the first of my friends to get married so I had no idea what to expect going into it. Ultimately I did pick a dress because it was affordable, and while I really liked it at the time, it didn’t like… make me cry or anything. Looking back I would have chosen something totally different, but it worked for me then. Great advice!
Kelsie says
These are really good tips! I loved my dress, but did feel kind of rushed in the picking process. I wish I would have slowed down and savored it more.
Brooke Guerra says
What great advice! I unfortunately made some of these mistakes. It is so tempting to go over budget and I had to have the dress after I put it on. Never fun to put that financial stress on the family. Luckily, I DID only bring my mom for an opinion so that was a win! xo Brooke
BasicallyBrooke.com
Heather @ Simply Save says
Too many options sometimes can be seriously overwhelming and give you decision fatigue!
Alissia Haggard says
Too many opinions is the worst- I ended up probably trying more than I wanted to because I kept wanting to poll the audience 🙂
Jenny says
These are such great tips!
I am starting my dress shopping venture next month so hopefully it won’t be too difficult.
xoxo, Jenny
Rhiannon says
I went to one bridal salon. I took my mom, my maid of honor and my grandmother. We each chose a dress and the shop owner chose three. I was upfront about what I didn’t want: strapless (I think it’s too played out) and I wanted something I could breathe in that would fit the overall vibe of our wedding. In the end it was a toss up between a $550 and a $3000 dress; the seamstress actually helped me decide between the two based on the alterations she was going to have to make.
Nicole says
An open mind is very important. I didn’t want to wear anything except pure white, but after finally being convinced to try on a “snow white” dress (which was off white), I decided that it made me look so much less pale
Melissa says
All great tips for sure! An open mind and not thinking you are going to lose xibs.