Dreading wedding dress shopping

[Lonelymama88]

Hello,
my partner and I have finally booked our wedding for September 2024… we’ve been together for 17 years, engaged for 12 years 🙈
The one part of planning I am least looking forward to is wedding dress shopping! I am not a very confident or fashion savvy person so just the thought of it makes me feel sick.

When is the best time to start looking?
I have absolutely no idea what I would like to have and I have a funny body shape.

Who do you take with you?
I think I have 6 family members who have said they would like to come 🥴…. I’m an indecisive person but that seems like far too many 😂

Any and all advise much appreciated please and thank you 😊

Also, ask yourself, do you really want a big white wedding dress? Or do you just feel you're supposed to have one?

I knew I couldn't move nicely in a big dress, that I'd worry about spilling something on white and I was also getting married at a rural venue where a big dress seemed all wrong. I got married in a blue mid length bridesmaid dress with a handmade hat and I loved it.

Yes you’re putting too much pressure on it to have an enjoyable dream experience. I had been looking forward to wedding dress shopping for years and when it came to it I hated it. Hated snooty assistants who squeezed me into too small dresses and then made comments about how much they didn’t suit me. Hated being presented with dresses that were the opposite of what I’d asked for. Such a disappointing experience.

in the end I found a range of dresses online I loved and then went to a shop that stocked them and chose the one I liked best out of them. I had to travel quite a distance and a bit of ringing around to check what stores had which dresses, but it was worth it to get the shopping but over and done with.

It doesn't sound like you went to the right shop. No bridal consultant should even put you in a dress that's out of your budget, or not without highlighting the price before you try it on and checking that you're willing to try it. You have plenty of time to look for a dress so don't rush into a decision - it sounds like none of the three were right for you. You say one would need altered - to be honest unless you have a made to measure budget all dresses should need altered to fit you. Did you go to a wed2be type place..?

Sounds like you need to do a bit of research on styles, designers, stores in your area etc. I absolutely love bridal fashion so if you show us some dresses you like we might be able to help suggest similar designers?

These are the 3 that I took from the shops website.
I was sure I wanted sleeves however trying on different styles today I am open to strapless. Corset back and a line worked better with my body shape. I like sparkle too.

Have you got a good comfortable strapless bra if needed for any of the dresses?
It's good that you're open to trying different styles. Agree they shouldn't be encouraging you to try something out of your budget, nobody should be under that kind of pressure.

Those are all lovely dresses

Is there a shop called wed2be near you. They do fab dresses at a really good price. 700 ish. They had every sort of style available too.

@Lonelymama88 Those are all really quite classic styles, so you should have loads of options if that's what you like. I agree that it would be worth trying Wed2B, it's not a shop I had any success in but if you're on a budget they're a good place to go. Do you have a David's Bridal near you? Other things to think about - material and colour. That first one you posted looks chiffony and ivory whereas the other two looks more tulle/lace and blush, so they're quite different dresses. Mikado satin can also be lovely in a-line. Sounds like you're open to lots of things. Is there a local bridal Facebook group? You could get recommendations there for stories that would fit your style and budget.

If it was me I would leave it another year. Your wedding isn't for ages yet and you could change your mind in the meantime.

If you are anywhere near Stockton on Tees there is a fantastic bridal shop called Butterflies with a huge selection and lovely staff.

You're not necessarily going to find a dress you love in any one given shop. They might just not stock something in your style.

I went to a dress shop and was completely underwhelmed although felt I had to politely try some on when the woman there was helping me. I knew almost the moment I walked in that I wouldn't buy one from there. They were too mainstream.

I bought my dress from Etsy in the end and took it to a seamstress to have it altered.

I didn't involve anyone else in my decision at all, other than the seamstress who advised on what she thought suited my body shape.

Sometimes having other people's opinions can be unhelpful, especially when it's all quite subjective anyway!