Are you a Bride to be? Have you started your wedding dress shopping journey yet? If the answer is no, then you need to read this before you do. I tell you all about the experiences I had when searching for my own wedding dress. Including the good, the bad and the reasonably ugly. I hope it gives you a little giggle and helps to prepare you better than I was.

I was really excited to go Wedding Dress shopping, as a Wedding Planner, this was literally the only thing I hadn’t done before. But I have to say, it was not quite as I expected it to be. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great experience. It just wasn’t all quite as I’d imagined. So I thought maybe I should share my experiences with you, so that you can be better prepared than I was!

Just before I get into it, I want to say that this was my own personal experience. And it may be different from yours. I am just simply stating what my wedding shopping experience was like. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go to particular places, it just means that you can be better prepared when you do go.

Being prepared for something as big as Wedding Dress shopping is an absolute must. It’s not every day that you go shopping for the dress that you are going to wear on the biggest day of your life, with all eyes looking at you. It is a big deal. But with the right preparation, should be fun and enjoyable!

My biggest shock about Wedding Dress shopping was the amount of people that have now seen me naked. Ok not completely naked, but I might as well have been when I was straddling a big puffy tulle wearing just heals and lacy knickers.

As far as I’m concerned there are three types of women in this world. I refer back to the gym changing room here. The first woman takes herself off to the loo to get changed. Or perhaps attempts the knicker trick underneath a towel until giving up and heading off to the loo. The second woman just quickly removes her underwear and replaces them with her bikini bottoms. Same with her bra and bikini top.

The third woman prances around completely naked. I’m the second type of woman, and can definitely understand the first type of woman, but plead with the third woman to just put some bloody pants on. Unless you are the third type of woman (who really needs to stop drying her hair with no clothes on), then you will struggle with your first ever wedding dress shopping experience.

When I went to try on my first ever wedding dress, I was actually really really nervous. Like palm sweating nervous. I had visions of not liking any wedding dress at all. It turns out that in the end I had the problem of liking too many. But back to being naked. I was shocked when the woman asked me to strip down to my pants in the back corner of the room. With no curtain.

Now not every boutique will not have a curtain, and not every boutique will have the person in the changing room with you. But it’s just better to be prepared.

So my biggest advice for Wedding Dress Shopping?

Wear non lacy pants. I’m not saying that they need to be full on granny pants, but just something that makes you feel a little less naked. You will have to strip down to just your pants, and so you want them to at least cover you slightly. You will also have to straddle in a very unladylike manner to step in and out of dresses. Most probably wearing heels. So the more covered you are, the more comfortable you will feel.

Being prepared to not be in the changing room alone is the best advice I could give. Only one out of the five boutiques I visited allowed me privacy. The first experience will be horrible. Unless you like being naked in front of complete strangers. But the more you do it, the more you will get used to it.

I was a little bit shocked by it all, and I didn’t feel comfortable stripping down in any of the changing rooms with someone else in them. I don’t dislike my body, I’m fairly body confident, but I just didn’t overly like having to do it. And that’s not how you should feel when searching for the dress of a life time is it?

It’s actually one of the reasons that I purchased the dress from the boutique I did. And the only boutique that I am going to name throughout this whole article. They hung up the first dress I wanted to try in the changing room. Closed the curtain, asked me to undress down to my pants and just step into it. The wonderful Kelly then came in to just button me up.

I enjoyed the experience from start to finish, and it was not just the beautiful dresses that made me purchase from there. But also the wonderful customer service, and allowing me to change down to my pants alone! So I bet you want to know where it was right? Then just simply click the link below…

My Wedding Dress Boutique

What else should you know before Wedding Dress Shopping?

Just because you have paid for and booked an appointment, does not mean that you are going to be the only girl in the room. I went to the third boutique I visited with my Mum, Dad and one of my Bridesmaids. It was actually the boutique I was most excited to visit. And also the one that disappointment me the most.

We entered and had to wait in a long line of girls also waiting to try on wedding dresses. As the clock hands hit the hour, a number of assistants entered the room and collected each one of the girls. It was a rush to pick a number of dresses you wanted to try. That were in bags so you couldn’t really see them, with next to no assistance.

My dad picked every single dress I tried on. I was rushed into the changing room, with the assistant, told to strip and quickly get into the first dress. It didn’t help that I was actually really poorly, but it just felt like a sweatshop. In out, in out. A money making machine. The second the clock hands hit ten to the next hour, I was immediately instructed to get out of the dress I was in.

The experience or being ill, I’m not really sure which one it was, but I stood in the changing room at the end and balled my eyes out. Although not for long, as we were out of the door before the next hour began.

Know that just because you have paid for an appointment or booked an appointment does not mean that you will be the only girl in the room. I think just knowing that before I went would have made the experience so much better. If it’s really not your thing, then book to visit smaller boutiques.

Although you might be ready for your appointment, your boutique might not be. We actually sat in one boutique and nearly walked out. Granted we’d got there 10 minutes early. Anyone that knows me will know that I’m early to everything. We got shown to our little room, and waited there for 25 minutes.

Appointments do not always go to plan. Some appointments do over run, but I’d rather that the boutique just be honest about it. Rather than just not say anything. Your appointment may not start on time, and although it may initially disappoint you, try to use it as bonus time to look through the dresses on the racks.

Remember to enjoy it…

Wedding Dress shopping is an amazing experience, but it is very hard too. Putting a large white dress on is no easy task. And to try on 11 dresses in one day is physically as well as emotionally draining!

You may not step into your dress and immediately know it’s the one, and that’s fine. I didn’t. I tried on my dress, and liked it. Took it off and tried on a whole lot more. Then put it back on and cried happy tears knowing it was ‘the one’.

Every brides experience will be completely unique. Just be prepared, and try to enjoy it whilst you can. Because once it’s over, and you’ve found the one, it’s over forever. You will never try on wedding dresses again. Hopefully!

Outtakes…

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