New BIW! :) About dress shopping...

[asymons412]

Hello ladies! I am recently engaged ( !) and in spite of how busy I am at the moment, I can't help but start thinking about the wedding! We're tentatively calling it for September 1, 2012, but that may be pushed later depending on the venue we decide upon.

My fiance and I live in AZ, but are actually from NY, therefore the majority of my family and friends are all back East. I want to include my Mom and future MIL in the dress shopping, which means that I will have to wait until mid-July or later to start shopping (which realistically isn't very long at all). However, did any of you do any "preliminary" shopping by yourself or with a friend? One of my bridesmaids will be in town soon and we were thinking of going to a local shop to try on a few dresses to get a sense for what I like.

So, how many of you shopped by yourself or with a friend before the actual "official" shopping? Did you accidentally find your dress too soon, or was it good to get a sense of what you were looking for? Am I just incredibly impatient?

 

[vc10um]

I did! I'm in DC, and my bridesmaids and mom are in the midwest.

I honestly recommend every bride go to David's Bridal or an Alfred Angelo flagship store. The benefit to these shops is that they carry most of their dresses in pretty much every size. That will give you an amazing idea of how each shape of dress (a-line, ballgown, mermaid, fit-n-flare, trumpet, sheath, etc, etc, etc.) fits your body, what you're most comfortable in, and help you narrow down your search in general. If you aren't sample size, you will either have the dress clipped to be smaller to somewhat fit your body, or the dress will be clipped to your bra or held up by the associates if they can't zip it up.

Sooo, I would start there. At least then, any shopping you do with your mom and FMIL may find you 'the one' instead of being a blind try-on session!

 

[Anonymous]

Welcome and congrats!! I'm from AZ (Lake Havasu). Anyhow, as VC said it's a great idea to go to DB or AA (I loathed AA, but I'm a big girl and DB just made me feel more normal). I went on my own the very first time. It was calm, just me looking on my own without worrying about anyone else and I highly recommend it unless you LOVE/NEED to have a girlfriend, etc. w/you to shop.

I didn't find my dress on my first round. I went with a girlfriend about a month later after processing what I had learned on my first trip and I found "THE ONE" that time. I'm a cautious one though and also wanted to include FMIL in the process so I held off on purchasing it then. In Nov, 8 months before my wedding I went w/FMIL for a marathon day and purposefully saved "THE ONE" for the very last dress. I wouldn't have done it any other way.

Well, I would have done one thing. I would have taken my measurements the day that I bought my dress (it used to fit perfectly, ugh!). Then I would have periodically taken my measurements to make sure everything stayed the same or less. Somehow I weigh only 3 lbs more than I did when it fit but I have a realistic 10 lbs to lose before it will fit right again. What's up with that?! hehe

 

[asymons412]

Thank you so much for the advice; it makes me feel a lot better about going on my own! There is a local shop that is the only one in town to sell a certain designer I am very interested in. The assistant said that if I made an appointment, it would last about 2.5 hours and she would walk me through the entire store and every type of dress, which is kind of what I think you guys are talking about. It just sounds like something I would like to do on my own as a preliminary snapshot. I would love the peace of mind walking into dress shopping with my Mom/FMIL knowing that I need not stress about it ending well!

& thanks for the tip Tammy! Ugh, I will never understand the weight-size correlation. I know just what you mean; 3lbs of bloat can make you feel 2 sizes bigger! I guess I should actually consider exercising on a regular basis again, huh?

 

[merilenda]

I'm kind of in the opposite situation. I went shopping for the first time with my best friend and FMIL. I got it narrowed down and I'm kind of waffling between two ideas now. They live more than 2 hours from me though, so it's hard for me to get back there. I'm going back to David's where I live this week by myself. Hoping to get something picked out!

I procrastinated a little setting up the appointment because I wasn't sure about going alone, but honestly. I've already gone with the people I really trust to tell me like it is, and I think I can do the rest alone now.

Good luck!

 

[mrscushion]

Yes, I went both by myself and with a friend to 3 stores (2 trips) before going on 2 more "official" dress shopping trips with my mom. Trying on dresses is fun! And it really helps when you get an idea of what YOU like beforehand.

 

[OUpearlgirl]

My best advice to you is to call around and see if any of the shops near you (or near your family) have sample sales or will let you buy a sample dress. Gowns take between 4-6 months to come in, so if you wait until July there is no way to order.

That doesn't mean you can't find a beautiful dress, it just means you need to look for places where you can purchase off the rack.

I think trying on by yourself is a great idea! That way you can figure out what you like first, before you have other opinions thrown in. Have so much fun.

 

[sillyberry]

My best advice to you is to call around and see if any of the shops near you (or near your family) have sample sales or will let you buy a sample dress. Gowns take between 4-6 months to come in, so if you wait until July there is no way to order.

That doesn't mean you can't find a beautiful dress, it just means you need to look for places where you can purchase off the rack.

I think trying on by yourself is a great idea! That way you can figure out what you like first, before you have other opinions thrown in. Have so much fun.

September 2012.

I definitely did some preliminary shopping. I shopped with a friend (umm...before I was engaged), my mom, my sister, and finally other friends. Although I suppose all of them were "official" to some degree, since I was willing to fall in love at any time! But I started with one type of dress and didn't find the dress I ended up with until the middle of the shopping adventure, so anything can happen!

Have fun!

 

[OUpearlgirl]

My best advice to you is to call around and see if any of the shops near you (or near your family) have sample sales or will let you buy a sample dress. Gowns take between 4-6 months to come in, so if you wait until July there is no way to order.

That doesn't mean you can't find a beautiful dress, it just means you need to look for places where you can purchase off the rack.

I think trying on by yourself is a great idea! That way you can figure out what you like first, before you have other opinions thrown in. Have so much fun.

September 2012.

I definitely did some preliminary shopping. I shopped with a friend (umm...before I was engaged), my mom, my sister, and finally other friends. Although I suppose all of them were "official" to some degree, since I was willing to fall in love at any time! But I started with one type of dress and didn't find the dress I ended up with until the middle of the shopping adventure, so anything can happen!

Have fun!

Hahah oops!! Disregard my whole post then!

 

[merilenda]

OU

My best advice to you is to call around and see if any of the shops near you (or near your family) have sample sales or will let you buy a sample dress. Gowns take between 4-6 months to come in, so if you wait until July there is no way to order.

That doesn't mean you can't find a beautiful dress, it just means you need to look for places where you can purchase off the rack.

I think trying on by yourself is a great idea! That way you can figure out what you like first, before you have other opinions thrown in. Have so much fun.

September 2012.

I definitely did some preliminary shopping. I shopped with a friend (umm...before I was engaged), my mom, my sister, and finally other friends. Although I suppose all of them were "official" to some degree, since I was willing to fall in love at any time! But I started with one type of dress and didn't find the dress I ended up with until the middle of the shopping adventure, so anything can happen!

Have fun!

Hahah oops!! Disregard my whole post then!

You can apply your post to me then, since my wedding actually is this September and I need to get a dress. I've got an appointment tomorrow, so hopefully I can get something going!

 

[amc80]

I haven't tried anything on but I have been dress scouting. I'm trying to narrow down the number of stores I have to visit. I just saw a dress that I love, and one store in town carries it...so I stopped by to see it in person. I don't want to have to drag everyone (okay, so everyone is just my mom and my MOH) to a separate store just to see one dress that I may not even like in person.