Top 5 Tips for Wedding Dress Shopping

In January 2020, I said yes to the dress of my dreams!

I live in New York City, where there's definitely not a shortage of places to shop for a wedding dress. Believe it or not, I only went to ONE store and the dress I said yes to was the second one I put on!

I tried on about 10 in total, but knew immediately when I tried on the dress it was the one for me. As soon as I put it on, I was literally jumping up and down.

I ended up going to Pronovias NYC for their sample sale in late January, much earlier than I had anticipated going shopping. But the dress I had my eye on was on major sale. Spoiler alert: I didn't pick that dress! My Bridal Stylist Roth (seriously, if you go, ask for Roth... he was AMAZING), asked me to describe how I wanted my wedding to feel. I said whimsical, romantic, and fun. When he asked about my bridal style, I told him that I lean towards feminine, unique, and a bit avant garde. The dress is definitely all of those things.

I tried on what ended up being "the-one" and loved a lot about it, but was hesitant because of some other areas/specifics of the dress. Pronovias is helping me completely redesign the top of the dress to be more me. I couldn't be more in love.

With the ordering and alteration process included, I won't see my dress until MAY OF 2022! That's almost 15 months -- longer than most people's engagements! So whenever you start shopping, I highly recommend going as early as possible.

All that being said, wedding dress shopping for everyone is so different and I scoured the internet for tips and tricks that might help me have a successful experience. Today, I'm rounding up those tips and sharing them with you!

1. Get inspired!

I probably annoyed everyone in my life with how much wedding content I was consuming when I first got engaged. Literally, one of the first things I did was go out to find The Knot magazine because one of my dreams was to flip through it while taking a bubble bath and being engaged (it's the simple things, right?)

I started a Pinterest Board, watched every bridal movie you can think of, and starting thinking about my personal style. I shared my daydreams with my bridal stylist and they hit the ball out of the park immediately.

2. Know your budget (and what's included) Here's where I didn't do so great... I had an idea of what I wanted for my budget and luckily, my dress was under budget! However, I hadn't factored in just how much alterations, my veil, and taxes would be! It ended up being almost $1,500 more than I had originally anticipated (and should have been even more, but Pronovias was so kind to gift some of my alterations to customize my dress). I had seriously no idea that it could add up that quickly! When you set your budget, make sure to include the things that I overlooked!

3. Bring Spanx... Seriously!

My Spanx are my not so secret, secret weapon. They make me feel so much more secure and confident in what I am wearing. I brought them with me to my appointment and felt so much more comfortable in trying on all of the dresses -- plus, I felt super prepared!

4. Try on EVERYTHING! I knew what silhouette I wanted before going into my appointment and it ended up being the silhouette I got -- but that didn't come before trying on every silhouette I could! I didn't want to have buyer's remorse about what could have been, so I was open to trying on everything -- even things that I knew wouldn't be flattering!

5. Soak it all in I've dreamed what it would be like to say yes to the dress since I was a little girl. I still sometimes have to pinch myself that it happened. I wish I took more photos and videos while I was there to be able to relive the experience. I wish I could've captured my mom's face, my sisters' reactions, and replayed them over and over. The experience of planning a wedding is so fleeting -- don't forget to take it all in.

Have you gone wedding dress shopping? Share your tips and experiences down below!

Your internet BFF,

kylee

p.s, this post has links that may offer affiliate commission, meaning I may earn a small percentage of the sale price at no cost to you. That helps power the content I create! Thank you for your support!