Find the Perfect Wedding Dress

Look through bridal magazines and wedding websites, attend bridal shows to familiarize yourself with latest designer trends. Keep pictures of the designs you like. From the type, size and location of your reception, determine your budget and styles of wedding gowns you prefer. Contact friends and/or relatives for recommended bridal shops in your area.

Start shopping as soon as you set your date. Most designer wedding dresses need to be special ordered. It could take 3 to 6 months for special order or designer wedding dresses to arrive. Order at least six months prior to your reception. This will allow time for fittings, alterations, and coordination. If you decide to have your wedding gown custom made, allow about 6 months since selection of style, fabric and details along with fittings takes time.

To make your day a pleasant and rewarding one, try not to visit too many bridal shops in the same day. When you are fresh, full of energy and enthusiasm, you will be able to make sound judgments. On the other hand, if you come to the store exhausted and unprepared, after trying a few styles you may be confused and find that all the gowns begin to look the same and you may come home toting one of the cheap wedding dresses simply because you were tired! Bring along pictures of wedding gowns you like and be open to discuss your plan and idea with a bridal consultant. It could happen that the gown you like in a picture doesn't look good on you.

The bridal consultant will study your figure type and personality to help select the styles that flatter you and suit your budget. Try on all of the dresses the consultant shows you, even if it may not seem like "your style" of dress as most wedding gown dresses look much better, and different, on you than on the racks. You may want to bring a family member or friend along for a second opinion .

Avoid taking more than one person since too many opinions can conflict and confuse. Wearing appropriate undergarments and a bit of makeup can also help to make the wedding gown look and fit better. Take a Polaroid camera along just in case you cannot decide. Take a picture of yourself wearing each wedding dress and bring them home to study.

It seems there are now as many WAYS to purchase a bridal gown as there are bridal gowns! Full service salons, internet discounters, warehouses and more are all competing for your business. Regardless of where and how you order a wedding gown, some things are the same.

A sales contract will be required, you will need to select your size, and more. There are many horror stories from brides who were taken advantage of when they were not aware of how to protect themselves (and their money) through this process.