Things to Keep in Mind When Shopping for a Wedding Dress

 For most brides, shopping for their wedding gown is one of the most important things when it comes to their wedding. They start their research by looking at the different styles, designers and prices for wedding gowns. This is also a time that the bride uses for bonding with their family and friends, which in most cases are the bridesmaids.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when shopping for your wedding gown:

Look for a Bridal Shop in your area and/or ask friends and family for recommendations. It will also be wise to search online for the stores you want to visit and see if there are any reviews of past clients.

When you are trying gowns for the first time be open minded. Don't just try on gowns that you think you are going to like. Make sure you try on different styles to see what would look better on your body. Ask the bridal consultant for suggestions as well.

Do not let a bridal consultant pressure you into buying a gown you are not sure about. Some Bridal Salons will try to pressure you into buying a gown by telling you that you don't have a lot of time. We had a bride come in to our Bridal Salon and she was very upset about a gown she felt she was pressured into buying. Her wedding was 10 months away and the store she purchased the gown at told her that the dress would take six months to come in and that she also had to take into consideration another month for alterations. Well she purchased the dress and had it in her hands in six weeks. She wasn't fully in love with the gown and ended up purchasing another one. She ended up spending more money than she wanted.

If you are on a tight budget, try looking at Bridal Store sample sales. Some stores want to get rid of older samples and sell them at a big discount. The only drawback from this is the limited amount of gowns and the fact that you might need to alter/fix and clean the gown. You can also search online for brides who are selling their gently used gown for much less than what they paid.

Make sure that you know what the cost of alterations would be if you need to have some. Some stores charge a ridiculous amount of money for taking in a dress. In some cases alterations can run you 1/3" to half the price of the gown. If the alterations are too much, you can consider finding a different place to have the dress altered.

Finally, make sure that you love the gown you purchase since you are the one that's going to wear it. I've had brides felt pressured by their own family and friends into gowns they are not completely in love with. Your family and friends are there to support you on picking the dress you want, not convince you into wearing a gown they like.