As much as I love fashion, I wasn’t the kind of girl who dreamed of her perfect wedding dress. In fact, I didn’t think much about my wedding in general until I was ready to get married! Once talk of a ring started floating about I made a few trips to the bridal boutique that just happened to be next door to where I was working at the time. A whole new world was opened to me! But before I tell you the story of my dress, let’s back up a few years…
When my friend Karrie got engaged another friend and I tagged along with her to find her perfect dress. I don’t think she had a particular style in mind at the time so we were just looking at everything. As I recall she tried on a few and nothing really grabbed us so we kept pulling until I came across a beautiful dress with long sheer sleeves. We laughed about how it looked like something from medieval times and then both girls laughed harder when I suggest Karrie try it on. It took a little convincing but she finally agreed!
Guess what wedding dress she chose?
How to Find Your Perfect Wedding Dress
1. Don’t Stick to One Style
My first suggestion for finding the perfect wedding dress? Try on everything! Karrie’s dress is the perfect example! The hanger appeal wasn’t great but when she put it on we all agreed it was perfect! When I got engaged I had my heart set on a gorgeous ivory boat neck dress that I saw in the window and thought was so perfectly “me”. It was the very first dress I tried on once I had a ring on my finger and it was so underwhelming that I was honestly confused. I loved this dress! It was made for me! Only, it wasn’t. It took trying on all kinds of wedding dresses – mermaid styles, princess ball gowns, fitted, a-line, you name it, I tried it. And when a new gown appeared in the window that took my breath away, I tried it and knew it was THE ONE.
Does my dad look familiar? He was in Karrie’s photo too. He married them!
Another reason to keep trying? How often do you get to try on wedding dresses?? For me, it was a fun chance to play dress up, to put on beautiful gowns and stand in front of a mirror while people literally “oohed” and “ahhed”. This doesn’t happen in my every day life! I wanted to experience this “princess moment” as much as I could!
2. Stay in Your Budget
I know it can be tempting to want to visit every bridal boutique in a six state radius. While I highly encourage you to try on all kinds of dresses until you find the right one, I would suggest you stick to dresses that are in your budget. Why? If you’ve got a $500 budget and the $5,000 dress is the only one that you love? Well, you’ve got problems, dude. Sure you can find another dress you love but those visions of the “perfect” (expensive) dress will haunt you!
3. Be Selective of Your Support Team
I know some girls who have shown up for appointments at bridal boutiques joined by their mother, sister, soon-to-be mother-in-law, four bridesmaids, three aunts and a grandma. That’s a WHOLE LOT of opinions! Unless you know your group is just there to tell you everything looks beautiful, maybe narrow the group down a bit. The only people I ever took with me for dress shopping days were my mom, grandma, and sister-in-law. And I don’t even think they were ever all there at the same time!
4. Ignore the Trends and Find Your Dress
Are ball gowns big right now? Lace dresses, a la Kate Middleton? Trains, no trains, veils, no veils- all this stuff changes over time (and then comes back around again!). The key is to ignore what’s “in” and find the dress you love. This is the dress you’ll want photographed a billion times. The dress you’ll want to look back on and not say, “What in the world was I thinking??” Pick the dress that is “you” and you’ll never regret it!
Engaged? What kind of dress of you thinking right now? Already married? I’d love to see the dress you chose! Please email me a photo of your wedding dress and I’ll put together a post showcasing my favorites! Send your photo to Jamie@JKStyle.com or message me on the Facebook page!
Love A-line wedding gown