Dress Shopping

I made appointments at 2 wedding dress boutiques in my area. I made sure to look up what dresses/designers they carried so I knew I would be trying on dresses that I was interested in.

Also, you may go into shopping thinking you want a certain style, but don't be scared to try on other styles (ballgown, mermaid, etc.). I went in thinking I wanted a long sleeve ballgown and ended up with a strapless mermaid

Good luck and remember to have fun

I visited 3 boutiques. I also went to David’s bridal. I went In with an expectation but I ended With a completely different dress than I thought I wanted! I tried on maybe about 20 dresses and narrowed it down to my top 5 and went from there. I chose my boutiques by what was closest to me and who was coming with me. If they had an open appt when everyone was available we went.

I knew what my budget was and after looking only, I knew that David's Bridal has dresses within my budget that were in line with my vision. I only went to David's Bridal. I didn't choose the dress I had picked as my favorite as my consultant wanted to try and "trump it" and she totally did.. with an actual trumpet style dress that I was completely opposed to until my FMIL asked me to try on... and I came out SIGNIFICANTLY under budget.

I went to two shops - one that I made an appointment with at a bridal show and one that's kind of the fancy dress shop in the area but has amazing reviews. Turns out the reviewers were right - it was a much more personal and fun shopping experience. Good luck!

For me, I knew the designers I liked and my budget. Found where in my area I could find those designers and started making appointments at the shops that were convenient to me and my schedule. Only ended up needing one appointment though - found my dress on shopping trip #1!

I went with Davids Bridal because it was in my budget, I didn't want to be temped with dresses I couldn't afford lol

I found the store I got my dress from by browsing The Knot’s ‘Look Book’ app actually — when you favorite a dress, it shows you where you can find it near you. I noticed I was liking a lot of looks from the same designers and they were all available at this store, so I had to check it out! Otherwise I talked to recent brides in my area for ideas — though it’s important not to put TOO much stake in what they may say as everyone has a different experience. Ex- one friend mentioned 3 stores: the first I looked into, and their cheapest dress was the very top of my budget, hard pass. The second was where she got her dress and had a great experience— so I put a lot of eggs in that basket. I went and had a terrible experience- not only were they not particularly friendly there, they had really nothing for me at all. Then she mentioned a 3rd store that she was disappointed with— I was intrigued anyway as they had dresses I loved and were very much in budget. So I decided to check it out despite her opinion. And I had the GREATEST experience there. Lovely dresses AND staff that made me feel great (BHLDN!) And I found a top contender there ... but checked out that last store and fell fully in love!

but, my best bet was finding some dresses and designers I was really liking, and looking up where to find them by me

I visited 3 local shops and David's Bridal. All of the boutiques were not to my taste or budget so I ultimately went with a dress at David's.

I only had one appointment at one boutique and found my dress. My friend (and my MOH) actually got married in March and I was invited to go with her family to help pick out a dress so I got to see the selection (and prices!) of some boutiques in my area beforehand. The last place we went to for my friend I loved it. When my friend went to her last fitting she invited me along again and so I booked an appointment and ended up finding a dress there. It was nice since it was just me and her and no drama. Plus my friend was super happy to be apart my such a big wedding moment.

There aren't any boutiques in my area, so I just went to David's Bridal and had a great experience, and found my dress in my first visit. Otherwise I probably would have gone to a neighboring town to visit a few boutiques!

View Quoted Comment Yes! My best friend already threaten to make me try all the different styles haha. I’m deff doing my designer research, but there’s so many!

View Quoted Comment Great! Thank you for the info!!

View Quoted Comment I didn’t know “the knot” had that!! I’m deff looking into it now. That will deff be helpful! Thank you! And that’s a good point.. everyone’s experience is different. Thank you!!

I decided based a few factors.
1. I knew I DIDN'T want a dress from David's bridal, so we didn't even try there.
2. There are no dress shops in my town, so I would have had to drive at least an hour to go shopping. There were more options on the west side of the state than the east, but the east side is cheaper, so we went east.

We went to the 3 different shops in the next town over, and I tried on about 25 dresses in all kinds of styles.

I started with my dress budget and called a few places to see if they could accommodate my price point. I scheduled 2 appointments but canceled the second when I found the one at shop 1

Hey Jocy!! Have you started thinking about what dress style you would like?