First dress appointment tomorrow

So excited! Have my first dress appointment tomorrow (got engaged in October and it's been a long wait!), followed by two on Saturday, and two more the following week.

Anyone got any tips on things to ask, what to wear (should I take strapless underwear etc?), etc etc?

xx

Hi hon, didn't want to read and run as I am soooooo excited for you. I know you've been looking forward to this for ages. I've got to dash as I have a personal training session at 8.30 but will reply properly when I get back in about 10ish. Hope that's not too late for you.
Will run on the treadmill with a big smile on my face thinking about all the fun you're going to have. Dress shopping is fab! (But be warned, it hurts your brain!) xxx

It's so exciting!! I only visited three shops, ordered my dress in the second. I wore a strapless bodysuit and tights as I was quite shy about stripping off in front of strangers, though the will tell you they've seen it all before lol. The girls in the shops were very helpful and as I had no idea what I wanted exactly they pulled out loads of different styles. And although I didn't know what I wanted I knew what I didn't want. What I would recommend is question about things such as underskirts etc needed etc. This will help if you decide to find them elsewhere at a lower price - the whole ensemble mounts up!! ) Maybe take a shoe with the heel size you plan to wear as this will give you a good idea how the dress will look, though they will probably provide shoes. Where I ordered my dress they hadn't shoes in my size on the 1st day so I swanned about in a pretty frock and bear feet.
Also I'm not sure if this is for all bridal shops, avoid wearing make up / fake tan so it doesn't transfer - though that might only be for fittings when you try on your own dress. I didn't put any on at all just in case.
Most of all, ENJOY!! It's the best part but be prepared - it tiring and you can get baffled. You'll know the dress for you when you put it on! Have fun x

ohh enjoy it!

dont get frustrated if you dont imediatly find the dress that feels like 'the one' and dont make any rash descisions, come away and think about it before you pay any deposits!

don't rule anything out, have a go at trying all types of dresses on and see what suits you/what you like! take someone who is honest, but not hurtful - like my mum for example who said 'she didnt always used to be this big you know' to the lady serving me, while i was stood infront of the mirror admiring a gorgeous dress! sob sob! ha xxxx

Thank you girls. Great tip about taking shoes, hadn't even considered that!

I'm actually going on my own to the first one, but that's not a bad thing. I prefer shopping on my own - I have quite a strong idea of what looks nice and what doesn't - and I will take my Mum back to the shop if I find one I like. On Saturday, I have my Mum and sister coming with me - imagine it will be more stressful!

Katie40 - I've seen the pictures of your dress and it is stunning and suits your figure perfectly (which by the way is not big!) We were all smaller at one point, so any of our Mums could make a comment like that. I wish I was taking my teenage figure to the shop tomorrow, but sadly that won't be the case!

maobride - amazing that you found your dress in the second shop. I hope I find 'the one' that quickly. My friend has just found her's after visiting 25 shops! It must be too much to take in!

Mirandolina - I know, we've been chatting about it for ages, so exciting it is finally starting! Very impressed you are off to the personal trainer at 8.30 on a Tuesday night! You have more willpower than me (I was eating chocolate cake, whilst watching a re-run of 4 Weddings from earlier). Mind you, did walk the dog twice today, so I guess I did something!

Back! Worked v hard - I'm proud of myself! If I hadn't have been booked in, I'd easily have stayed on the couch though!

I'm going to re-iterate a few of the things Katie40 and Maobride said.

Wear a strapless bra and big pants unless you want to parade in front of the woman in a thong. Trust me, by the time you have tried on lots of dresses and been to lots of shops, you'll have been in the wrong underwear a few times and will have stopped caring! I popped into a few weddings shops on my own when I was just passing and obviously hadn't been planning to be there!
If you have nude coloured underwear, wear that, nothing patterened or it will shine through.

Heels again - doesn't matter colour but take a similar height to what you want.

Try on every style! You don't know it's not for you until you try it. You may try on something that you totally hadn't planned and love it. With every dress you try on, try to decide what you like and don't like about it. The first shop I went were amazing at helping me to pull out the details so I could start to get somewhere. For example, sweetheart neckline just didn't suit me, so I knew I then had to look at dresses that didn't have this or it could be changed. Look at colour on you, do you like/suit ivory, white, cream, latte? Look at material, duchess satin, taffeta, silk and so on. It just helps you to start narrowing things down.

Something that seriously helped me - take a bit more time to do your hair and make up. The day I ordered my dress, I had done this. I did my make up properly and had put a few GHD curls in my hair. From doing that alone, it helped me to decide that I want to wear my hair down. Take a hair bobble or clip, that way you can see what your hair looks like up and down.
Don't worry about wearing make up or fake tan, a lot of the samples are far from perfect. When it gets to trying on your actual dress though, you'll be scared to touch it. Teehee.

Don't feel pressurised and don't make any hasty decisions! You hear quite a bit about brides who put a deposit on a dress very early in their search and changed their minds and lost the money. It is worth asking order times on the dresses though. Don't be afraid to ask if they have any special offer events coming up soon, like designer days and so on.

Most of all - enjoy it! Have a giggle! If you have lovely attendants, ask as many questions as possible and have a girly chat with them. (I loved finding out about all the bridezillas they get in!) If they are not so lovely, don't entertain them. There are plenty of places that stock designers and their attitude would only upset you if you had to do fittings with them. I'll be honest, some shops I went to were lovely, really helped me and I had a good laugh with them along with getting a great idea of what I wanted. One or two I couldn't stand because of their attitude. Surprisingly, these weren't the high end shops being snooty, it was the other end and just people who were blatantly in the wrong job and industry.

This is your day and they should make you look and feel fabulous! Have such an amazing time! I can't wait to hear what designers you like.

Good Luck xxx

Off to bed now, but just wanted to say thank you! Amazing advice (ever thought about being a wedding planner?!) and I will update tomorrow or Thursday (out for dinner tomorrow night!)

Exciting! x

Hi
I missed your Appt for today but enjoy it, once you have been to shop one you will get an idea of what suits you, Wear a strapless bra, if you have a budget stick to it, the first shop didn't ask me and was too much money, by the second shop I had worked out my budget and style.
Good luck and enjoy it

Just seen your thread, how did your appointment go? x

Thanks WinterBride, hope it went well. I haven't considered being a wedding planner. (Work is high pressure at the mo - a change of career is sorely tempting!) To be honest, it's just that I've received so much great advice from lovely people on here, and helpful people in shops and so on. I'm one of those people who has to know I'm not missing something, so have to exhaust all my options before making a decision. Dress shopping was very much that! Once I had picked my dress, I had to go away, try on lots of other things to satisfy myself that it was right for me before putting any money down.

Hope today went well xxx

Hi girls,

Well yesterday wasn't quite what I was expecting. I had an appointment with a dress designer, but had seen her collection online and was hoping to try on lots of dresses to get an idea of shapes etc. What happened instead was that I put on one dress (didn't suit me at all, as quite tight fitting) and the designer built up layers with fabric and pins - until we had a dress that we both loved. It was quite amazing how quickly she was doing it - and we tried all sorts of different fabrics and colours. I really love the final result and would LOVE to have it as my dress - but it's hugely expensive (twice my original budget, but can still afford it with lots of careful budgeting over next 9 months). She said that I had inspired her to add the dress to her collection (it's got a 50's Hollywood vibe - long, kicks out slightly at hips, in luxe satin, very very pale silver - looks ivory in some lights so still traditional enough for church wedding etc) and would give me a big discount if I decided to go ahead with it, so that we could design it together throughout my fittings.

I have two more appointments on Saturday - then two more next week. Going with completely open mind - as if I find something I love just as much or more, at cheaper price, I'm onto a winner! But very excited that my dream dress is waiting for me if I don't have any success!

Sounds like a fab experience! Great that you are managing to keep an open mind. At least you know you have that option there if you don't see another dress. Really good position to be in!
What designers do the shops you are going to stock? I loved that Hollywood vibe. Mine made me feel like I was on the red carpet at the Oscars when I tried it on. Love that feeling! Now want Veronica Lake glamour hair, but just trying to figure out how that will work with a tiara.

Only two sleeps til Saturday! I remember not being able to sleep the night before my first dress shopping. I got up and painted my nails at 2am! x

Oooo that would be exciting to go ahead with, did she indicate what the discount was likely to be? Sounds amazing

I do keep thinking that this is the only time in my life that I will ever have a couture dress created for me, whilst getting a big discount. It's so tempting - and the fact that it;s pale silver means I'm unlikely to find anything that similar... But will definitely try on everything on Saturday and just enjoy every second. If I find something amazing and it saves me lots of money, that can only be a good thing (hope I wouldn't keep thinking about other one - maybe i would need to sleep on it for a while before putting down deposit!)

Cebpickle1 - It would roughly be half price, just over. It's still a lot of money, but I'd be getting so much more than I was paying for... Would be amazing.

Will update on Saturday night after round 2 and 3!

Good luck for the weekend, half price is great but not if a lot more that what you can afford.