Setting yourself up for the BEST possible dress shopping experience
If you’re reading this, you’ve found the right place! It means you care about your wedding dress shopping experience and you’re already a leg up by simply doing just that…. CARING.
Chances are, this is your first time dress shopping. Even if it isn’t, this time around is just as important as the first time or any other time before that. Giving yourself every opportunity to enjoy this ride is SO IMPORTANT because the line between enjoyable and over-shopped is FINE. Finding your wedding dress is unlike anything else in this world. In fact, the closest thing to finding your wedding dress is finding your fiance! Its magical, effortless, happens when you’re least expecting it, and sits at this quaint little place where your heart and head meet. For some, it is nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster. As intimidating as that may seem, it absolutely should be an emotional experience. This will be the most photographed outfit you will likely ever wear!
So how are you supposed to be prepared for something so emotionally driven? Especially something that you’ve never likely experienced and something that carries SO MUCH mental weight? As seasoned bridal stylist’s, WE’VE GOT YOU!
There’s beauty is simplicity. Finding a guide that will be your '“one stop shop” and set you up for absolute success is simplicity at its finest! We have no doubt, if you follow this guide, you will get the absolute most out of your wedding dress shopping experience and have the best time while you do it!!
Eat, drink, and BE MARRIED
For the love of all things good, please give yourself a well rounded meal and hydrate before your wedding dress appointment. We know… it’s tempting to want to look your “skinniest” while trying on dresses. But, believe us when we say trying on dresses should be considered a sport. You sweat, you jump in and out, you squat, you walk around, its 100x more physical than you ever expected it to be. Your body NEEDS fuel to be mentally and physically there. It is more harmful to starve yourself in hopes you look your best trying on dresses than it is to be “slightly” bloated and have the mental clarity/ability to know you’re having a bridal moment when it’s happening.
Look good, Feel good
Chances are, you’re going to have your hair and makeup done for your wedding day. So why wouldn’t you want your hair and makeup done while your trying wedding dresses on? Give yourself every possibility to bring your wedding vision to life! Want a boho inspired look? GIve yourself some soft waves in your hair with a natural makeup look. Maybe you’re a little more glam? Give yourself a clean, low bun with a bold lip and wispy lashes. Still undecided on what your wedding vision is?! Girl, no sweat to it! Just throw a face of makeup on and a few curls in your hair. We promise, even if you aren’t feeling 100% on the day of your appointment, there’s something magical about feeling like you look good! It brings a whole new confidence to the table!
Don’t overbook yourself…
As big of an event as this is and as much as you want this moment to last forever, don’t overwhelm yourself by booking 3…4…5 different bridal appointments. Honestly, 2 in a day is MAX we’d ever recommend for a bride. There is a very fine line between enjoying your wedding dress shopping experience and it becoming that nightmare of a situation where you’ve tried on 200+ dresses and have lost complete sight of your wedding vision. Did you know that the average bride only tries on 4 to 7 dresses before she knows she’s found the one?! You’re not wrong for trying on more dresses than that. You’re not wrong for needing to go to multiple places to find your dream dress. Every bride’s journey is unique and quite honestly should be because no two brides that are the same. How boring would life be if we all had the same experiences?! You’re BEST bet at not getting to that overshopped bride level is doing your research. Connect with the shops by following them on social media, reading their reviews, and stalking their website to really get to know who they are! What designers to they carry? What’s the price point of their dresses? You may not know EXACTLY what you’re looking for in a wedding dress but do they have any on their social medias that you’re drawn to? Figure out why you’d want to be a bride with them and half the battle is already done!
Bride knows best!
Choose your entourage wisely. They WILL make or break your appointment. This Is an emotionally charged decision and if your entire entourage isn’t on your side, it can turn from a happy memory to something you never want remember faster than you can say “I want to be an Emerald Bride!!” Less is more when it comes to who you bring with you. The more opinions that get involved, the easier it is to get overwhelmed. And while Aunt Martha might mean well when she tells you she thinks that dress looks like her tablecloth, in reality it just crushed your dreams of wanting to be this bohemian beauty on your wedding day! Only bring the people that you feel 100% safe with. The people that you can be your true self around! The ones that you can cry with, laugh with, and most importantly….the ones you feel secure enough with to be like “hey, I love this dress so I need yalls support to love this with me.”
MINDSET > anything else
We could write endless amounts of content on this because it’s THAT important. If your mind isn’t right, you’re on an uphill battle to even feel worthy enough to be a bride. Which honestly, it shocking to even think about. You’d think “Ok I got the ring so now I’m a bride” would be motivation enough to feel like a bride but thats so far from the truth. There’s endless factors that play into actually FEELING like a bride. But, that’s a whole other blog for another day! So to start things off, if you walk into your appointment thinking that you already want to go to your next one…you’ve already closed yourself off to finding a dress at your current appointment. We are firm believers in the dress finding you and it’ll happen when you’re least expecting it so if you come in with the mindset that you have “x” amount of appointments to go to rather than coming in knowing theres a chance you’ll find your dress there, you’re GOING to miss your moment. Same goes for waiting to start dress shopping until you’ve reached your “goal weight” or “when the timings right”. You’ve already missed the entire point of finding your dream dress! There’s no better time than the present to start loving yourself. Stop letting life pass you by just because you don’t like the way you look!!!!!! There’s a reason we say “Come as you are, Leave and Emerald Bride” and it’s because we fully understand the gravity of what finding your dream dress means. If we’ve done our job right, by the end of your appointment, you’ll have found your dream dress AND a confidence in yourself you didn’t know existed.
At the end of the day, no one expects you to be AMAZING at finding your wedding dress from the very beginning. It’s ok to not know what you want or to even know where to start. You wouldn’t be the first bride to come in a say “I have no idea…”. That’s why you’ve found us and that’s why you’re reading this! We have full confidence that YOU can do this!!!
