Welcome back to the Ultimate Wedding Dress Guide! In part three, we will cover one of the most exciting experiences of the process; trying on dresses!

In our previous post we covered the timeline and tips for shopping preparation. We discussed how to schedule an appointment and covered the checklist for what and who to bring to the appointment.
In todays post we get to physically go shopping!

As you arrive at the bridal boutique, take a moment to take in your surroundings including the people you have brought with you or those that are meeting you there. Remember that you and everyone with you is here to have fun, to enjoy the exhilarating feeling of trying on beautiful gowns, and relax into the state of having an open mind before you walk through those front doors.

We want to take this moment to set intentions for our experience such as being here in the moment with the people you love and appreciating the beautiful body that you have brought with you today.

If like many of us, you experience conflicting feelings about going to try on clothing revolving around your feelings about your body, know that you are not alone. As a way to calm those feelings, try to remember how much your body has done for you and how much you appreciate how far it is gotten you in this wonderful life. Look around you and feel that gratitude for yourself and the people that you love who are here with you today so that later, as you look in the mirror, if you have feelings of apprehension you can look back on your intentions and remember:

You deserve this experience.

You are beautiful.

And you are exactly who you need.

OK, let’s get started!

You will very likely have a Bridal Assistant helping you choose dresses based on your design ideas, inspiration and vision. (Hint: Don’t forget your worksheet from Episode 1!)

Your goal is to clearly communicate the things that you think you’d like so that you have an opportunity to try them on but to remain open to new ideas even those that you think you “don’t look good in “.

This is your big day so your opinion is very important, but it’s completely OK to allow the people you’ve brought with you to share their opinion. You have also come to a bridal salon to shop because the opportunity of working with a professional may be very helpful to you in selecting different designs, lean in and have fun!

Once you have all picked out a couple of dresses it’s time to put them on! Allow the excitement of this unique experience to watch over you: you’re getting married! You’re trying on some of the most beautiful clothing you’ve ever gotten to wear so enjoy the feeling of beauty that surrounds you completely.

As you put on each dress, feel the different textures of the fabric, the weight of the dress overall. And think about how you want to feel on your day. Do you want to be effortless, unrestricted, wrapped tight in the fabric or feeling loose fabric flowing around you. There are no right answers, this is all about how you feel, so if the feeling of sequins under your arm rubs you the wrong way, literally, take note of that.

If the weight of a fully beaded dress is exhausting just standing in front of the mirror take note of that. If you are surprised by how much you like the look of a Fitted silk slip style dress over the ball gown you thought you had in mind, take note of that. Don’t leave any space for judgment of yourself today. Feel the way you feel in each dress and record your opinions honestly good bad and everything in between.

When you start to feel the exhaustion that can come with an alarming amount of fittings, take note of that as well and give yourself a break. When you start to feel overwhelmed by the amount of options and decisions, step away because that is your indicator that it’s time to consider all of the incredible options you’ve seen over some lunch (and champagne!).

As a general rule taking a few days to make this decision is totally appropriate. However, be careful not to take too long in considering as this can build unnecessary pressure that you don’t want to feel in regard to this special decision and special day. If you continue to search for weeks or even months and add more and more options to your inspiration board, you will risk the feeling of decision fatigue which overtime can detract from the joy of this experience.

Prolonged consideration also puts you at risk for not meeting your planning timeline so once you’ve made a decision, move forward.

Lest we forget that no matter what dress you choose you are beautiful and the person waiting at the end of the aisle already thinks that, no matter which dress you choose.

Once you’ve narrowed down your options to the final two dresses, The critical decision points for each dress are:

How did the dress make you feel?
Is it within the price range you initially set?
Is it available in your size range?
If the dress needs to be ordered, will it arrive no less than one month before your wedding day?

If all of this criteria is met, great news, you’ve got yourself a wedding dress! Congratulations!

Dont forget to download your FREE follow along worksheet at the link below and join us for all the dressing fitting fun in the video below!

Free worksheet