Wedding Dresses

Budget – Not the most joyful word when it comes to wedding planning but you absolutely must set a budget for your wedding dress before you go shopping. I would heartily recommend that if your budget is £1,500, you look for wedding dresses that cost less than that because your gown will need altering to fit you perfectly and these alterations cost money. Know your budget from the start so you don’t daydream over dresses that cost way more than you can spend.

Research – With your style of venue and dress budget in mind, get yourself online. Browse wedding dresses by designer or style on Pinterest, click through to designer’s websites and check out their lists of stockists. Wedding blogs and magazines also have a plethora of bridal fashion and will often be showcasing designers you can easily find in UK boutiques.

More Research – Now you’ve got a little shortlist of boutiques by your side, you need to do a bit more research. Take some time to browse the boutiques’ websites – does their look and feel suit you? Do the photos of the boutique interior look good? In short, does the boutique seem like somewhere you’d like to be and does the boutique’s brand and approach tally with your own? Then check out their social feeds and check that again, you’re getting all the good feels. If you’ve done all that and you’re still smiling, it’s time to take things to the next level…

Armed with your stylish ideas, it’s time to get out there and actually hit the boutiques to try some wedding dresses!

From the boutique’s website, check out their policy on appointments. Is there a charge for appointments? When are they open and when suits you? Chances are that it’s going to be easier for you and your bride tribe to start the dress search on a Saturday but weekdays are often much quieter in boutiques. Saturday appointments can book up months in advance so get organised and be prepared for a little wait.

We also have a few words of wedding wisdom for you too when it comes to arranging those all-important appointments.

First up, be true to your budget. Of course, it would be downright fabulous to go wedding dress shopping with a blank cheque but that’s just not how it works. Everyone has a budget to work with so as tempting as it might be to try on ALL THE DRESSES, it’s beyond heart-breaking to fall in love with a gown that’s out of your price range. Keep it real.

Secondly, let’s just talk a bit about those appointments shall we? Wedding dress shopping should be fun, enjoyable and a kinda beautiful experience so don’t turn it into a military exercise. Book a couple of appointments per day max and avoid packing your dress days so full that you end up tired, confused and hating the whole thing. That’s not the stuff that wedding dress dreams are made of.