Top Tips When Shopping For Your Perfect Wedding Dress
As soon as you get engaged, your ears are ringing with the pressure of finding a venue to book, who to invite, and what kinds of flowers and food to order. Fortunately, we are on hand to help you with the most important of all decisions….the dress! Here is our guide to wedding dress shopping with as little stress as possible.
Research
Wedding dress shopping is incredibly exciting but showing up at all the bridal shops you know and trying on anything and everything they have won’t get you very far, other than into madness and panic! It’s crucial to think carefully about where you want to go, what kind of experience you want and your budget. Then make a list of the shops you want to go to, find out how many people you can bring (if you want to bring your bridesmaids, mum etc.), and make an appointment.
At Chilham Bridal, we close the entire shop for your appointment so you get our full attention, which makes your visit really special. We also have no limit to the number of guests you can bring along to your bridal appointment, so you can enjoy the experience with all your loved ones.
Timing
Finding your perfect dress can take some time – leaving 8-12 months for the process (if possible) is ideal. You can never be sure how long it will take you to find that dream wedding dress or make it perfect with alterations, so giving yourself as much time as possible is always a good idea.
If you find your dream dress with us and need alterations work – which is normally the case – we give you a list of our recommended and trusted wedding dress seamstress’s local to Chilham Bridal. You then contact your preferred seamstress and they will book you in for your fittings. These will be carried out privately in their home studios and generally start a few months before your wedding.
Budget
Going wedding dress shopping without a clear idea of your budget can be a dangerous game. It could mean that you set your heart on something that is out of reach or that you can’t make a decision on the day. If you aren’t sure where to start in calculating a budget, here is a good guide to get you started.
At Chilham Bridal, our designer dresses start from just £600 and all are preloved or ex-sample. All dress are sold off the rail and so once a dress is sold, it is gone. We cannot order more of the same dress so it’s important that you are in a position to buy when you visit us, so that you go home with your dream dress. If you need a bit of time to get funds in place or to sleep on it before committing to a dress, you can pay a £100 non-refundable deposit. This will secure the dress for a week so no one else will be able to view or try on the dress and you can take your dream dress home when you are ready.
Style
It’s really helpful to have a look at dress styles online, to get an idea of what you like, and often more importantly, what you don’t like. You might also want to have a look at which designer ranges you are most attracted to. However, when you go to your appointments, really challenge yourself to try on dresses you might not normally go for or that aren’t your usual style. Many brides end up with a dream dress that is nothing like one they had originally imagined they might wear.
We have over 80 beautiful, on-trend wedding dresses from top designers: Justin Alexander, Maggie Sottero, Pronovias, Mori Lee, Charlotte Balbier, Lillian West, Allure Bridal, Benjamin Roberts, Essense of Australia & many more. Our dresses are pre-loved or sample dresses, which means you can wear something spectacular for half the price others will pay for the same dress.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.