Tips on bridal dress shopping with your daughter

Your daughter’s engaged! She’s so excited and can’t wait to find her dream dress! You have both watched every episode of “Say Yes to the Dress”, and have looked both online and in bridal magazines, so you KNOW you are prepared. What could possibly go wrong? Let’s just say it never hurts to hear advice from someone who recently went through it all with her daughter…

Just some tips, which may or may not apply to your personal experience, so pick and choose those that might apply to you

Limit You Entourage

As popular as it is to bring your entire wedding party along for the dress shopping, I would advise against it. Of course, my daughter had a very large bridal party so logistically this would have been a nightmare anyway. Everything can be immediately shared with the bridal party, so it may not be a big deal to keep it small. We just had myself, her future mother-in-law, her sister who was her MOH and her aunt and I.

The Bride’s Opinion

Make everyone who is attending agree to let the bride run the day. We all agreed to keep our opinions to ourselves because what counted most was how Kelly felt in the dress. 

Decided on Budget

Kelly and I had agreed prior to the visit on a general budget. She chose to try on gowns within that budget which actually helped the selection process because the sheer number of gowns is overwhelming anyway, and especially if the sky’s the limit.

Don’t Rush, Take a Breather

As my husband and I were purchasing her gown, the one firm demand I had was she was not going to purchase it the same day. This was really the best call we made in the whole process. This decision had nothing to do with not wanting her to get the dress she picked. The exact opposite. I wanted her to be sure. It is so overwhelming and I could tell she needed to take a breath. And this took the pressure off her on that day. We went back a few days later, she felt the same when trying it on, so we knew she had made the right choice. Those few days also gave her time to decide on some changes she wanted to make to the bodice, which had to be included in the initial order.

The Fittings

Another decision we made not really thinking it through was when the dress came in, we took it home with us because it was months before the fittings were to start. We had the choice of this or having the dress shop store it. At the time it didn’t seem like it mattered, but of course, COVID hit, and the store was closed for a very long time. We ended up getting the alterations done by a local seamstress who was highly recommended. This turned out to be so much less expensive and a more personal fitting experience. I’m not sure if all bridal salons give this option, but it definitely helped us in both cost and comfort level.

I’m sure there are a million more all you moms out there can come up with as well!  We ended up having a great time, but there’s always room for improvement!  My other daughter has already decided when it’s her turn she might do things a bit differently. Stay tuned!

Bridal Boutique: Castle Couture

Dress: Calla Blanche