Firstly, massive congrats on getting engaged!

EEEK that’s so exciting!

I’m sure one of the first things you’re desperate to do is try on some wedding dresses in one of those beautiful boutiques you’ve never been able to step inside of before!

Before you jump straight into this, follow my steps below and they will help you find your dream wedding dress!

Step One – Do Your Research

Have a google to find some local boutiques near you or you can also use online directories like those on Hitched and Rock My Wedding to find recommended boutiques.

Once you’ve got a list together of these boutiques, have a look on their websites to see what designers they stock and what dress styles they have.

Take some screenshots of some of the dresses you like and save it in a folder on your phone or computer. Then look at Rock My Wedding and other wedding blogs like Love My Dress to see real weddings so you can get a realistic view of how the wedding dresses you like look on real brides. It’s a great way to see how dresses suit different venue styles and body shapes and types.

Step Two – Know Your Budget

It might be early on in your wedding planning journey but it’s important to know your budget before you go dress shopping. Wedding dresses can be anything from £500 to £20,000+ and different bridal boutiques will stock varying price ranges.

Have a look at your list of boutiques and see what their prices are like on their website or if they don’t have any prices then give them a call and ask (it’s not an unusual question for them!) Once you’ve done this is will give you a shortlist for boutiques that fit within your budget.

If you need a hand creating your wedding budget please Get in Touch, I’d love to help!

Step Three – Have An Open Mind

You’ve narrowed down the boutiques you’d like to go to and have chosen one to book your first appointment.

When you go to your appointment, go with an open mind! Yes you’ve screenshotted some dresses and might have an idea on style but its important to be flexible.

You might try on the dress you’ve been obsessing over and feel really underwhelmed in it (you’d be surprised how much this happens!) For example I always thought and dreamt of a fitted dress for my wedding. I tried several on and just didn’t feel anything special! I ended up with a fit and flare dress as you can see in the first picture.

Even if you love some of the dresses you’re trying on, I’d recommend trying at least 1 dress in each style for your first appointment. If anything it just helps you narrow down your options and try and focus on one style.

Step Four – Visit A Few Boutiques

Some Brides might get ‘the moment’ with their dress on their first appointment and buy it then and there, if this is you then that’s amazing!

However I also think its important to highlight that this isn’t the case for a lot of Brides and it’s perfectly fine to walk away from a boutique without your dress! You might even love more than 1 dress in a boutique and be struggling to make a decision.

For me I found a dress I loved early on in my search but am one of those people that feels like they need to try on several to really know there’s nothing better out there! In the end I went back to buy that dress I loved and felt so happy being able to make the decision knowing what else was out there!

The key thing is to start early enough to have the flexibility to go to several boutiques if you aren’t finding your dress straight away. I’d recommend starting to look for your dress a year out from your wedding date.

Step Five – Comfort Is Key

One thing to remember is you’re in your wedding dress all day and will want to be able to move around, sit down for dinner and dance comfortably in it! Consider the weather as well, do you really want a long sleeved ball gown wedding dress in the peak of summer?

You might be tempted to say ‘It’s not the comfiest but it’s only a day and its beautiful!’. All I’d say is yes it’s one day but it’s also your ONLY wedding day so you don’t want to look back on it and remember the fact you had to drag your dress around the dance floor or that you couldn’t eat because your dress was too tight!

Have a dance around in the shop and make sure you sit down before you say YES TO THE DRESS!

If you need any help in finding the right Bridal Boutiques or want someone to come along and give an honest opinion over some prosecco then Get in Touch Here, I can help!