Wedding Dress Shopping During COVID 19
Photo by: Sinead Dubeau
Shopping for your wedding dress can be fun and exciting, but it can also be stressful and overwhelming. With regulations right now, it is a little bit trickier to find that perfect dress. A lot of bridal salons are enforcing a “no browsing” rule and require all guests to wear masks. With that being said, this post is going to be all about tips and tricks to help ensure you make the most out of your appointment and find your dream dress!!
1. Make an appointment: Even if the bridal salon takes walk-ins, making an appointment allows time for your stylist to prepare for you! They will ensure that there is enough staff scheduled for you to get their undivided attention!
2. Preselect some favourites: Before arriving at your appointment, do some research. Pick out your top five favourites from the salon you are going to, and call ahead of time to let your stylist know what you have in mind, so they can get them ready for you before you arrive.
Alongside your favourites from that particular salon, have some screenshots ready of dresses you love from other stores/designers! Although they may not have that exact dress, they may have something similar!
3. Bring a guest with you when possible: Some gowns are tricky to get into and require more than one set of hands to zip/button up. If possible bring along a guest that will give you an honest opinion and is able to help you in and out of dresses. Your stylist will most likely have to social distance while helping you out, so they may not be able to help you in and out of dresses as easily! Make sure to check out the salon's policy on how many guests you are allowed to bring with you during these times!
4. Be prepared for longer delivery times: This may come as a surprise, but some dresses can take up to 34 weeks to come in even when purchasing from a large bridal salon. That is about 8.5 months from the time you find the dress, place your order and have it arrive for pickup. Keep in mind, you will still most likely need to have some alterations. Be sure to leave 8-10 weeks for alterations appointments.
Please do not stress if that timeline does not work for you, as there are always options to buy right from the floor models, or order a dress with less wait time. Although your selection would just be a bit more limited, it is still possible to find the perfect dress for you!
5. Have your measurements ready: Your bust, waist and hips are the three important areas when taking your measurements for your wedding gown. With social distancing guidelines, stylists aren't able to take your measurements as easily. When measuring your bust and hips, be sure to measure your largest area. When measuring your waist, measure the area where when you lean sideways, you bend.
6. Set a budget: The truth is, you can spend between $50 - $10,000+ on a wedding gown. By setting your budget before your appointment, you will be saving both yourself and your stylists time. If your budget is $500 and there is no wiggle room, there is no point in being presented with a $2000 dress, that you will fall in love with but can't justify or afford to buy!
7. Wear shapewear/ appropriate undergarments: Let's be honest, you are probably going to be wearing some sort of shapewear on your wedding day, so why not get the full effect when trying on dresses? Many salons will be able to provide you with the appropriate shapewear, but you can certainly bring your own!
8. Be open to trying on different silhouettes: If it is your first time shopping for a wedding dress, you may not know which silhouette works best for your body type. By trying on different style gowns, you are opening yourself up to more options. If you get into a ballgown or sheath and absolutely hate it, don't worry, you now know you don't have to try on anymore like that, but, you may be taken by surprise and love it, opening yourself up to so many more dresses!
9. Not every dress you try on will fit you perfectly: Bridal salons often only carry a few sizes of each dress in-store, so it is very common to try on dresses that are the wrong size. However, your bridal salon should have clips ready to go, to pin the dress up and to give you a better idea of how it will look in your size. This where having your measurements ready to go comes in handy. Once you find the dress that you are want to walk down the aisle in, your stylist will compare your measurements to that specific dress and order it in the correct size!
10. Think about a non-weekend appointment: Weekends are typically the busiest days at bridal salons and are often pretty hectic. There are a lot of people running around, dressing room areas may be more crowded and overall there is just a lot more going on during the weekend. By making an appointment on a weekday, there most likely will not be too many others in the store, making for a more relaxing experience.
11. Have fun!!! Shopping for your wedding dress can certainly be stressful at times, but don't forget to have fun!! Make an event out of it, only have the people only YOU want there with you, or go by yourself if that's what makes you happy! Do what will make you comfortable, because after all, this is for your big day!
xoxo,
Kathryn