Our favorite bride-to-be guest blogger, Kelsey, is back today sharing her thoughts on picking a wedding dress. We’ve touch on this topic before (thanks to another guest blogger!) but it’s always nice getting multiple perspectives – afterall wedding planning is really not the same for every couple. Â Take it away Kelsey!
Saying Heck Yes to the Dress ~ How to Pick Your Wedding Dress | By: Kelsey
Back again to share my fantastic journey of planning a wedding. In going through this whole process, the next question a bride gets after the ‘omg when is the wedding?’ is ‘do you have a dress?’ Personally I think that’s a little sexist, but I also write a blog with the word Barbie in the title so I may not be the best person to dispute this. Anyway, the pressure of finding the perfect dress can be about as stressful as finding your soulmate, but good news for you, you’ve already checked one of those off your list so let me tell you about the other.
I’m not going to sugarcoat this for you, wedding dress shopping is really hard. It is stressful and it is not all champagne and Kleinfeld’s. Unless, of course, you go to Kleinfeld’s in which case, dang girl.
Why is dress shopping so hard? Because after the whole ‘this dress is my destiny’ feeling you may or may not get, you have to decide if that’s what you want to look like for the rest of forever. These pictures last forever. This is not a happy hour Instagram #tbt moment. This is look has to be classic. You want to look back on this dress and react like the image above.
The easiest way to start, rule out what you don’t love and call in the reinforcements. So far in my planning, I have not wanted a lot of help or input from others (because I’m a nasty woman like that), but dresses are a great way to get instant feedback from your friends and family. Think of them as your air tank and wedding dress searching is like scuba diving. Right? Right.
Once you’ve narrowed down what you think you like. Call your [fill in the blank army of strong, powerful women you want to take with you] and book at least two appointments are different salons. [insert image3] Most stores have some pretty great or not so great Yelp reviews so use those to figure out what and where is going to work for you.
Now you’re at the salon. Here’s what you need to do. First, twirl around on that pedestal stage thing for at least eight seconds. Second, touch everything.
Third, find a dress. I recommend trying on a couple of silhouettes even if you’ve ruled them out in your head. What harm can it do? Play dress up for a minute. Also, get comfortable with your sales associate because she’s going to get real up close and personal with you, buttoning, zipping, and clamping you into dresses.
At the end of the day, I tried on 7 dresses. I relied on the gut reactions of my mom and sister, and then I found the dress. I didn’t cry. There were no doves released (as I requested…wth maid of honor). But it was a dress I felt beautiful wearing and a dress that I wanted to get married in.
I won’t bore you with the ‘go with a beachy vibe’ or ‘I want to be able to dance’ information because, you know all that. My comfort requirements were: do I look like Beyoncé and can I sit down in this. Check and check.
So you sign the paperwork and go out to brunch and remember that 4-6 months of waiting is going to be totally worth it.
