#TheLivstyledWEIdding: Wedding Dress Shopping Tips

Ah, one of the most fun activities of planning a wedding…wedding dress shopping! I couldn’t WAIT to go shopping for a dress – although, I had no idea how I would ever decide on one. To say that there are so many options and choices are an understatement. Plus, I had a ton of previous brides tell me ‘when you know, you know. You just want to cancel your other appts.’ I just didn’t see that happening with me – I wanted to see all my options!!

I went wedding dress shopping in Houston for a few reasons – my family lives there and half of my bridesmaids live there. None of my bridesmaids live in Chicago, and I felt like New York would be overpriced for no reason. I had six appts set up for three days straight, but only ended up going to four!

For any of you Houston gals, I visited: Princess Bridal Boutique, M2 Milan Bridal, Ventura’s, and Impression Bridal. I had appointments at Brickhouse Bridal and Milena’s Bridal – but never made those. I heard great things though! I had one top favorite from each of the stores, but when I last visited Impression Bridal, I knew one of the gowns I tried on was mine and I didn’t have to go to my next days’ appointments. I said YES WEI to the dress, y’all!

I’m obviously not going to go into detail of what MY actual dress looks like, but I will say that it’s not the style I thought I would end up in. You can surprise yourself! I will say that it’s my ultimate dream dress and I’m so in love. I can’t stop looking at the photos on my phone, lol.

I wanted to share my personal tips for wedding dress shopping after my experience:

Set up a good amount of appointments. Don’t limit yourself! You can always cancel them later. Be careful though – some places make you put a down payment hold ($20-$30) and will charge if you don’t show.
Be open to different styles & silhouettes, but some of you may know deep down what your body looks most flattering in and what must-haves you want in a dress. I researched a ton and saved a lot of dresses on my Pinterest board. I was pretty specific to the wedding dress consultants what I wanted in my dress.
Take your loved ones dress shopping with you! This part is the most fun. I’m really indecisive too, so it helped to hear opinions. Maybe don’t bring your ENTIRE crowd. I had 2-4 people at each of my appointments – and shoutout to my sweet mom and amazing best friend/head bridesmaid for coming to ALL of them!
Have a budget in mind and communicate this to your bridal dress consultant. This is important to try your best to stick to. Avoid trying on dresses that are way out of your budget.
Get the dress that feels like you. Don’t go for styles just because you see them all over instagram, or because it’s what other people want to see you in. This is your dress, your day, and you should feel comfortable in what you end up in!
Have fun with it! This is your time to rock some styles and try to figure out what you’ll be wearing on your big day – such a big important decision!
Don’t settle. Just like not settling in who you marry, don’t settle for a dress that you aren’t 100% in love with. I tried on probably over 30 dresses, and there were SO many gorgeous, stunning, and beautiful ones, but the love for mine far exceeds any of the other ones I tried on.
It’s okay to start feeling overwhelmed. I started to get confused between all the dresses I was trying on and started to feel like I was going crazy. The dress you pick will feel a lot different than any of the others.
Shop early so you don’t have to expedite shipping! It takes roughly 6 months for your dress to come in! After that, you’ll likely have two rounds of alterations. I’d recommend 8-12 months in advance if you can.
Put all your photos in a ‘hidden’ photo album – especially if you live with your fiancÃ©! Also, no texting photos or videos to your friends. Show them on your phone in person if you choose to do so, just in case.
Be cognizant of what you are wearing when you go dress shopping – wearing makeup helps you get a better idea of what you’ll look like the day of, and wearing a cute outfit is good to take some photos in…you never know when you’ll be holding up that sign that you said yes to the dress 😉

Speaking of what you wear when you go dress shopping, a ton of y’all have asked me where I got my WIFEY jean jacket and adorable clutch purse from – they’re both from Wedding Favorites! You may have remembered Wedding Favorites from when I gifted my bridesmaids the eye masks and bridesmaid bags, but they also have a ton of cute clothing/accessories for BRIDES!