Ask the Expert: How to shop for your wedding dress!

If you’re taking time to be totally sure of your decision, you won’t care about what’s coming in next season. On the other hand, if you’ve been shopping already but not found something that’s entirely perfect, it can be comforting to know that you’ve got the new season’s pieces coming up!

Just remember, some designers discontinue some pieces to be replaced with others. It’s worth checking with timeline will mean something quite different to everyone so only get started with your dress search when you’re ready to commit. It’ll make the whole experience more enjoyable and worthwhile.

TIMESCALES FOR ORDERING

Saying that, generally allow upwards of six months for your dress to be made. This will be plenty of time

“Wedding dress shopping is undeniably one of the most exciting experiences you can get. But just where do you start? Chances are, you’ve little or no experience of it so here are a few things to bear in mind…

SEASONS

It’s best to switch your thinking about the meaning of seasons. Unlike high street fashion seasons, that are designed to change a number of times per year to match the weather or because we actively want to indulge in the next big trend, bridal designers will generally work with one or two seasons per year. The British designers we stock all work with one new collection per year – launching into the shop for January. While internationally, many designers go for two per year – Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter.

High street fashion is far flightier and chosen with a wonderful ‘let’s just try it, it doesn’t matter if I get it wrong’ manner. It’s totally different when choosing your wedding look, which is going to be iconic to you and chosen with real feeling and depth of thought. You are choosing your wedding dress them or your chosen stockist if there’s a particular style you’ve got your eye on.



TRUNK SHOW AND DESIGNER DAYS

At the start of the year when there are a lot of new collections being launched, many stockists will host events where they borrow in lots of additional styles from individual designers – so keep an eye out if you’ve got a specific designer in mind.

Remember though, some of those extra dresses might only be with the stockist for a few days and you’re more likely to have to make a decision that weekend.

WHEN SHOULD YOU CHOOSE YOUR DRESS?

Whenever you’re ready to! That for a wide range of designers and manufacturers. But do remember there are designers out there who can easily manage shorter timescales. (our current record is six days for a fully couture dress!)

The timescale will really vary depending on how, where and by whom your dress is being made. Our UK designers have more logistical flexiblity and the dresses are made in their own studios, meaning there’s more control and it can allow for shorter timescales.

If your dress is coming from abroad and/or is being made in a mass produced setting, the timeline is less flexible and you need to allow for transport and custom delays.

Check and double check your facts, it’s all too easy to get swept up in scaremongering so you feel pressured to commit to a dress before you’re totally ready.

MAKING THE DECISION

Take your time! I cannot stress enough just how important it is to make sure you’re entirely confident in the dress you’re committing to. Anyone who has ever changed their mind, deep down knew it at the time of ordering. It’s all too easy to overrule yourself and think ‘I’m being too fussy, I should just get this one even though I don’t love it’ or ‘I’ve not got long until my wedding so I have to just find something’ that will get that feeling.’ I promise, you must hang on to get that feeling. Not necessarily the clichéd bursting into tears version of it, but your own personal one. Often for my clients it’s more of a relaxed sigh of relief, and often only happens after a night or two to sleep on it. So don’t settle. Remember you’re finding out about new things that you have no experience of so consider it just that – pure research. Treat it as a process, take the pressure off yourself (and try to ignore other people’s!). If you take your time, really pay attention to how you’re feeling and trust your own gut instincts, you’ll know if you’re making the right decision.



FINALLY, DON'T BE PRESSURED

This is a biggy! (Especially at the moment, post-Covid when everything and everyone is a little bit more anxious.) It’s important to recognise that you’re likely to have no previous experience of dress shopping so your information sources are potentially limited and also, unfortunately, potentially untrustworthy or skewed.

It can be all too easy to get swept up in the excitement when friends and family want to be involved for the big ‘YES!’ moment or to experience pressure from sales staff talking about tight timescales and deadlines for ordering.

Take as much time as you need! Never be swayed by someone telling you that if you don’t order today, you’ll not be able to get that perfect dress – I can pretty much guarantee it’s not true.