Your First Bridal Appointment

The love of your life has presented you with a sparkling promise of his life-long commitment to you. You gasp and somehow manage to get a single word out, amidst a racing mind and an even faster heart beat, "Yes!" You kiss and laugh, call all of your friends and family... and then, the most important question to any woman pops into your head, "What am I going to wear?"

That's where we come in! The following will answer a few questions on your first bridal appointment. Let us know if your particular question is not answered!

"When should I come in?"
Make your appointment to look for wedding gowns NO LATER than 6-8 months out if at all possible. It is much more preferable, and will take a lot of stress off of you, if you have chosen your gown 8-12 months away from your wedding. Of course, there are always tricks up our sleeves and strings that can be pulled for weddings that are less than 6 months out, but the more time we have the better.

"Why would I need to have chosen my dress so far away from my wedding date?"
Dresses are not hanging in a warehouse somewhere, waiting for an order to pick them. Outside of samples for retail store stock, wedding dresses are not made until a customer has ordered the dress. On average it takes 3-6 months from the order date to get the dress in the store. Then you want to alot AT LEAST 2 full months from your first alterations fitting to your first wear date. Your wear date will either be your wedding day, or if you are having portraits done before the wedding day, your portrait day. Most girls have their portraits up to a month before the wedding date so that needs to be taken into consideration as well.

"What do I need to bring with me to my appointment?"
- A strapless if you prefer to wear your own. We do provide them if needed.
- An idea of the way you want to look and how your wedding will be, i.e. venue, time, theme... A dress you would get for a December, evening, candlelight service in a church may be very different from a dress you would get for a May afternoon wedding in your back yard.
- An idea of how much you are willing to spend on your wedding gown. Apparal is usually recommended to be 10% of your over all budget, but that is not a hard and fast rule. It is usually recommended to prioritize portions of your wedding. For example, if it is important to you to have an amazing band, you may want to put more money towards that and not have top shelf drinks. If it is important to you to have the gown of your dreams, it may be worth it to up the 10% rule to 15% and forego the 3 foot tall chocolate fountain, but that will be up to you and those paying.
- One or two people whose opinion you value and trust. It is human nature to want the approval of those who mean the most to you, but pick one or two, like maybe Mom and Sister, at least for the initial appointment. The more people you add to the mix, the more opinions you add, which can make it very confusing. **These people should also respect and value your opinion and your desires for your dress.** Once you have it narrowed down to maybe 2 dresses that you can't decide between, that may be the time to bring in 1 other person, like Dad, Grandmother, or Best Friend, to break the tie.
- An open mind. It is always good to come in having looked at bridal magazines and have an idea of what you like and what you don't. This will help the consultant get a feel for your goals and your personality. However, don't limit yourself to only trying on one shape of gowns, because that's what you think you like. Experienced Bridal Consultants, like those at the House of the Bride, usually have a good eye for the type of gowns that will look good on your body type. Our job is to combine what flatters your figure, with what you tell us you want, and keep it all in the price range that you are comfortable with. If we come in with a ball gown, and you really think you want a mermaid, just humor us. It's all for fun, and you only get to try on wedding gowns once!

Please do not hesitate to call if you have any other questions, we are always here to help!


House of the Bride