Congratulations! You have finally been promoted from girlfriend to fiancé! This has to be one of the most exciting times of your life. It’s the moment you’ve dreamed about forever. After all of the excitement and celebration settles down, it’s finally time to get down to business.. wedding planning. First may come selecting your bride tribe and next up is probably locking down your venue.. and then it hits you- it’s finally time to find the wedding dress of your dreams! After shamelessly binge watching “Say Yes To the Dress” and spending relentless hours on Pinterest pinning random things to your “Wedding Dress Goals” board- You are now a self proclaimed wedding gown guru. *Goes online and books wedding gown appointment with Precious Memories* You totally got this.. Right?
While you’re daydreaming about finding your perfect dress, a lot of questions are probably running through your head. Where do I even start? How do I know it’s THE ONE? Will my family and I dramatically break down crying, just like they do on TV? Will I end up breaking the bank, or can I be the strictly budgeted bride I want to be? Well, I am here to help you settle all of your doubts. I am here to walk you through the process of saying YES to your dress. I want all of every single one of my brides- and every bride-to-be reading this, to end up absolutely obsessed with their dress. No seriously- current mood: Beyoncé. Anything less than that is simply unacceptable!
When you picture yourself on your wedding day, what do you see? The entire wedding planning process has a lot to do with visualization. Your venue, your striking color palette and decorations are all coming together in your head nicely and then you have to vision yourself. What are you wearing? Try to visualize your perfect gown. Do you see yourself covered in decadent lace, or will you be blinging in beadwork from head to toe? Will you be going strapless- or do you want to try a sophisticated sleeve? Your vision is extremely important when trying to find the perfect gown. Don’t get me wrong- I have met some brides that have no vision at all. They have never even thought about their dream wedding. This is totally fine, as long as you have the right bridal consultant to guide you along the way!
When you first walk into our bridal shop you will be greeted by a fabulous Bridal Consultant that will basically be your new bestie! You’ll be asked a few basic questions- Have you tried any gowns on yet? Do you know what silhouette (shape) you’re going for? Do you like lace, beads or both? What price point would you like to stay around? Etc.. All of these questions help your consultant get some ideas of gowns that will fit your criteria and compliment your body shape best. By now a lot of brides are prepared for these questions and pull up pictures or describe the certain styles they would like to try on. Then, the consultant and the bride take a quick cruise around our wedding gown selection, peeking at a few things you’ll be getting to try on. SO exciting!!! After that you’re taken to one of our spacious bridal suites and you get to start trying wedding dresses on. Can you say- fashion show?!
One of the biggest things I want you to be prepared for when you go to try on wedding gowns is the sizing. At our shop, every single one of our 12+ designers (including bridesmaids and mothers gowns) have one thing in common- they run about two sizes smaller than your normal size! I know, its totally tragic and its extremely overwhelming for a lot of people. Again, we will have to go back to visualization- If a gown is too big, we can clip it to the best of our ability to make it look smaller. If the gown is too small, we can try to make it look as presentable as possible to show your family and friends. The rest will be up to you to picture in your mind when its your size and when its altered to your specific body shape, how stunning you’re going to look! I would recommend bringing along your favorite pair of Spanx and most comfortable strapless bra to help achieve your desired look.
After trying on a few gowns, you will start to realize what you’re liking and or disliking about certain dresses. You may find you really don’t like bead work- which is strange because all of the dresses you pinned are dripping in bling! Not to worry, because a lot of brides come in with what they think they want and end up leaving with something completely different. This is all because you never know what is going to look good on your body until you try different things on. Keep an open mind during this process and try on something even if it doesn’t look good on the hanger. I recommend to my brides to try on a style even if at first glance they don’t like it. It’s always better to try it now instead of regretting something you didn’t get to try on in the end. This helps narrow down your selection and ultimately will lead you to your perfect dress. Always stay positive and remember that if you love the dress now when it might barely fit and it’s the wrong color, imagine how amazing it will be when its hugging your body in all the right places and in the color you love! It can only get BETTER!
After almost an hour session of trying on wedding gowns and getting opinions from the family and friends that joined you- both you and your consultant return back to the dressing room and you’re suddenly surrounded by your remaining favorite gowns that could all potentially be THE ONE. You may down to one, two, or three at this point. This is when you need to think (which I know is hard because looking this fabulous in everything is draining!) Which dress made you really feel like a bride? Was it the Cinderella ball gown or the simple lace fit and flare? When you’ve selected the one you think could be it, we try it back on. At this point, I ask my brides, will you be wearing a veil? Even if the answer is no, I recommend trying one because it really brings the wedding vision to life.. It simply gives you and everyone joining you alllll the feels. As you are standing on the pedestal with your gorgeous wedding gown on for the last time, with a veil lightly draping down your back, you finally feel it. Some girls start crying along with family, while some girls have no emotion at all and just say very matter of factly- “this is the one”. It’s okay if you don’t have a “moment”- But if the dress is perfect in every way possible and you wouldn’t change a thing about it, then this is your wedding dress! In this moment is so much joy, excitement and anxiety all in one. This is the most important garment you will ever purchase in your life. I want you to enjoy every second of it. Take pictures, hug everyone.. including me! This moment happens once. You have finally said YES to the dress.
Wishing you nothing but Precious Memories,
Daria