Something which has surprised me about wedding dress shopping is how quickly everyone seems to think you should start. I detailed in a previous post about how I wasn’t so interested in dress shopping and actually wanted to get the major things like venue out of the way first. WELL. That was before I did actually have a proper bridal appointment where the consultants instilled in me the fear that actually, even though the wedding is more than a year away, there really isn’t much time at all.
Um, really?
It turns out wedding dresses not only cost a fortune but take an age to arrive as well – the most common time frame I’ve heard being 7-8 months! Needless to say, I hastily booked some more appointments! I unfortunately couldn’t vlog my first appointments as they were in the LA area and I’d stupidly left my camera charger behind but I did manage to snap some photos with my phone. The first appointment was with Nordstrom in Brea Mall which I tried to approach as an ‘exploratory’ appointment where I tried different styles on to see what I liked. The boutique wasn’t the biggest but the staff were amazing (if you’re going, ask for Amanda who was wonderful!) and they stocked brands like Bliss Monique Lhuillier and Hayley Paige.
These were all around the $3000 mark and now that I’ve been to other appointments where the price point was higher, I would say that the quality of the Bliss line in particular was amazing. There was one particular Bliss dress (not pictured here because it’s still in the running :)) that was $3000 (with an extra 10% off if you buy during a trunkshow weekend!) that looked and felt much more expensive than other $5000-6000 dresses I tried on.
I already had a pretty firm idea about what kind of dress style I wanted and I haven’t really wavered from that too much but it was good to validate what I suspected! I’m planning on doing a whole video on wedding dress shopping tips but I do think the bridal consultant is so important. Whilst I haven’t had any bad experiences yet, Amanda is still my favourite and not only listened to what I said I liked (and didn’t) but also pulled new things to try and suggested other options or styling.
It’s also important to note about the fit – and to warn whoever is with you or whoever you’re showing photos to! The number one comment I heard was regarding the fit about any particular dress but the truth is that rarely if ever will a dress fit you off the rack. Dresses don’t come in different sizes at the boutiques so it’s very much a case of pinning and tucking and doing whatever they can to give you an idea of how it could look! Most dresses that you order will either be made or altered to fit your measurements so you do need to take this into account when assessing style 🙂
I have three more appointments booked in London now where I’ll be bringing some of my bridesmaids along for their opinion as well as my mum! Two are individual brands whilst another is a general bridal boutique and I have no idea if I’ll be able to film, but if I can, expect a vlog or at the very least, another edition of Wedding Dress Shopping Chronicles coming your way!
Thank you so much for stopping by!
Beautiful! All of those styles look great on you! Is the first a fit and flare or trumpet? Which two styles are your favorites?
I think that one is classified as a trumpet (I *think*!). I was actually pleasantly surprised by the form fitting one but I think I’m still leaning towards an A line or ballgown 🙂
You can never go wrong with A line and a Ball gown would be beautiful on you as well! They are a bit more classically bridal to me than a more fitted gown.
you look so stunning, Amie! love every single dress you had tried on.
Aw thank you Rosalin! Trying on dresses is so exciting!
3rd one looks perfect on you
Thank you! It doesn’t look it in the photo but it is absolutely massive haha!
You look really good in the first and last dress Cant wait to see more
I’m also wedding dress shopping – where have you booked in London? I’ve booked browns and pronovias. Xx
I’ve booked in Browns as well – so excited for the appointment! 🙂
Give us a hint or two as to what your dress will look like! I love a good guessing game.
Well I don’t know yet so I can’t really give too many hints haha but I’m currently leaning towards an a line or ball gown style! 🙂
You look lovely in all of these! It’s great that you’re trying on a variety of styles – I’ve had friends who were solely focused on one particular style, but then were pleasantly surprised when they branched out and fell in love with a dress of a completely different style they hadn’t considered before!
Will be curious to see your comparison b/t your Nordstrom and individual designer salons, too. I have my first dress appointments coming up (both with local designers here in SF) though I want to check out Nordys as well!
Thank you! I’ve already had one appointment (again in the LA area) with a specific designer as well as this one at Nordstrom and one at Saks. I must admit I did prefer my two department store ones because of the variety. I quickly found that the individual designers dresses weren’t really my style (even though I loved the look of them in photos!) which kind of left me a bit stuck! That said, there did seem to be more customisation options available because it was the in house brand which was good to know. I haven’t been put off by individual designer salons at all but am very glad that I had the department store ones as well to try on a selection from different designers, so would definitely recommend doing that too if you can!
you Really look good in these dresses! By the way, you lose weight? How did you manage that?
I’ve lost some weight since starting blogging, yes! I’ve really not done anything special – just watching what I eat 🙂
The third one makes your waist look absolutely tiny! You look gorge in all of them
All of the wedding dresses looks so pretty on you!
Good luck on finding the perfect dress. 🙂
Ahhh, wedding dress shopping – such fun times :3 I bought my dress from Anthropologie’s ‘BHLDN’ and my dress was only $1400 but I received so many compliments for that dress! It felt expensive too! I love the third dress you posted, especially that skirt!
https://www.ticketforadventure.com
So excited for you, Amie! Wedding dress shopping can be so fun. You have an amazing figure, so you’ll look great in pretty much anything. I recently saw this dress that I absolutely fell in love with (even though I’m already married, haha!) that’s an A-line and has the off-the-shoulder look that you really like. The detail on it looks amazing too, not to mention the colour is really pretty! Here’s the link, in case you’re interested in seeing what it looks like: https://moncheribridals.com/wedding-dresses/david-tutera-for-mon-cheri/217230-elnora/
They are all stunning on you. You can’t go wrong with an A-line style x
I really love the last dress! Do you possibly still remember where it is from? x
Thanks for sharing this wonderful post, loved the dresses