As a once in a lifetime experience, your wedding ceremony and celebration need to be just perfect. Literally, months can be spent carefully working out all the details — coming up with a spectacular menu, picking a gorgeous venue, and decorating it with eye-popping decor.
But let’s face it, if there’s one choice that can tower over all others, it’s finding the right dress. Many women begin dreaming about their wedding gown when they’re just girls. By the time you’re actually engaged and have a wedding date set, matching those dreams to an actual gown can be one of the most exciting aspects of wedding planning.
If you’re at that stage of the process and enthusiastic to begin shopping, where do you begin your search? If you’re planning a few all-day bridal shop visits with you and your mom or closest friends, here are some tips on how to go about selecting the best shop for your needs.
How Do You Find the Right Bridal Shop?
While you may have spent hours envisioning the perfect wedding dress, this is a much different experience from finding a last-minute dress for a special occasion at the mall. This is the single dress that’s going to stun your guests during a once-in-a-lifetime event, so you’ll want to take your time finding the right one.
Before you jump in, doing some prep work is in order. It might help your search to make a checklist first, which can include:
- Knowing your price range
- Doing some research on local shops
- Knowing what to look for in terms of sizing
For example, it’s been suggested that every bridge should plan to spend at least 10 percent of her overall wedding budget on their dress. You’ll want to be certain the stores you’re considering have dresses in your price range.
Another consideration is timing. If your wedding dress is the most important part of your wedding, start searching early. If you have a designer making a custom dress, you’ll need to give them ample time to do it right. If you want to find the ideal bridal shop in your community and trust them to deliver a striking dream dress, here are helpful tips for your search.
Check with People You Know and Trust
Who can you trust more than the people you know best and have your best interests at heart? If you want your bridal shop to be someplace truly trustworthy, get the scoop on which shops rank best from the folks who have already done their own wedding dress shopping. It is likely they can help make this a more exciting experience if they know which shops to steer you toward.
Do Your Own Homework
If there are several bridal shops in your city, read their online reviews. Pay attention to details like what the overall experience was like, how the staff treated them, if they felt the shop was really attentive to their needs, and so on. Chances on you’ll learn a lot about which shops excel at customer service.
Know What You Want First
Whether you have a collection of wedding magazines or certain websites you love visiting, there are plenty of images to be found of a wide variety of dress options. You’ll want to pick the one that’s just right for you before you start hitting the shops. The social media site Pinterest is a great place to see photos that brides have posted of their own wedding dresses. There are so many different trends today that you want to be certain you’re not overlooking one that wows you once you’ve discovered it.
Find Time to Visit Multiple Stores
If your friends recommended one shop that fits your price range and has exactly what you’re looking for — great! If not, there’s nothing wrong with visiting several highly-recommended stores. Even if you find your dream dress on your first appointment, it’s OK to check out a few more retailers before settling on that one. Each store is going to be different, and you may discover one that’s more ideally suited to your needs and desires.
Don’t get discouraged! As long as you give yourself the extra time to shop until you’re 100% satisfied, this definitely isn’t a process you need to rush.
Enjoy Your Wedding With Windows on the Water
At Windows on the Water, we are delighted to host your wedding, because we know that your wedding venue is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. As a popular waterfront wedding venue, we strive to make your day unique because you deserve the wedding of your dreams.
Come visit us to see what makes our property one of the most popular wedding venues in Central Jersey. As you tour the breathtaking grounds, you’ll see why so many brides and grooms choose us as the backdrop for their declaration of love.
Start planning your Central Jersey wedding and contact us today at 609-208-9475 or online for our Windows Wedding Packet that includes menus, event pricing and everything in between.