Chances are, if you are looking for wedding entertainment, you already have your dress. But if you have been putting off finding “the one”, we thought it would be useful to give you some tips from an insider. That’s right, if you’ve ever wanted to know what happens at a bridal shop, we have our very own ex-bridal consultant among us.
Top tip – Start looking early!
Many brides don’t realise how long wedding dresses can take to arrive. Factor in the time it takes you to find your dress from many thousands of options, time to get it ordered and then your seamstress will need time for any alterations. Bridal consultants always recommend giving yourself at least a year from start to finish. If your wedding is in the next couple of months and you are still without a dress, don’t panic. This advice is for brand new wedding dresses – there is always the option of buying a sample dress (which is heavily discounted), or ordering priority delivery from certain designers that allow it.
What happens during a bridal appointment?
It is perfectly normal to be a little nervous before your first bridal appointment, but we promise you that once you have tried on a couple of dresses, your nerves will settle and you will start to enjoy the whole process. Usually respectable bridal stores require a pre-booked appointment, although if they are quiet during the week, they may serve you there and then. Always make sure to wear decent underwear, and remove any fake tan to prevent dresses from being stained. At this point, it is perfectly acceptable to wear makeup.
We recommend arriving no earlier than 5 to 10 minutes before your appointment is due to start and once you have arrived, you are likely to be shown to your fitting room and some stores offer refreshments, such as tea, coffee or a glass of bubbly!
During your appointment you will have a dedicated bridal consultant who will look after you. She will show you around the different designers and dresses before you select the ones you’d like to try on. Every single store has varying sizes, but don’t worry about the dresses not fitting because these ladies are trained in the art of pinning if they are too big, or too small.
After you have chosen a selection of dresses, your bridal consultant will usually dress you. If you are shy, try to let the consultant in the fitting room with you because it makes the whole process a lot easier. If you really don’t want to be in your underwear in front of a complete stranger, they may allow you to step into each dress and cover up your modesty before entering the room to zip you up, or corset you in.
Once you are in your first dress, your bridal consultant will reveal you to your guests if you have brought along your trusted family and friends. This is where it can get a little overwhelming so we always recommend taking no more than 2 or 3 guests at most. Your guests will give you their feedback and you can tell the bridal consultant what you like or dislike about the dress. This process is then repeated until you either find the dress of your dreams and don’t want to take it off, or your appointment is coming to an end!
If you are lucky enough to find your wedding dress, it is fairly simple to get things ordered. Never feel pressurized into making an on the spot purchase. If you wish to wait a couple of weeks and bring more guests, simply ask for a second appointment. If you have made your decision and you want to go ahead an order, the process is as follows in most bridal stores.
- Find the wedding dress of your dreams that you really don’t want to take off!
- Tell your bridal consultant that “this is the one!” or “I’m saying YES to the dress!” or other varying forms of verbal acceptance
- Your bridal consultant will then measure your bust, waist and hips, along with what is known as your hollow-to-hem.
- With these measurements, you will be shown a size chart which reflects the designer of your dream gown. Here, your bridal consultant will advise you on the size to order, however they cannot tell you which size to go for – this has to be your decision.
- Once you have chosen your size, you fill out all of the paperwork and usually pay a deposit for your dress (most stores ask for a minimum of 50% to order the dress)
If you have never tried on a wedding dress before, it is worth knowing this really important bit of insider knowledge:
Wedding dress sizes are rather mean and do not relate to the high street!
You may find that in bridal you need to go up a size or two depending on the designer and this is perfectly normal. Although the bridal consultant takes your measurements, the dresses are not made-to-measure. They do go in sizes 6, 8, 10, 12 for example, but a 12 in bridal will not be as big as a 12 in your favourite fashion store.
So what happens once my dress is ordered?
After you have signed your paperwork, your dress is ordered from the designer direct by the bridal store. Unfortunately, you can’t bypass the store and go direct to the designer as most stores have licenses to be able to sell a specific designer. This is to stop saturation of the market and direct competition.
Your dress will arrive into the store and they will contact you to go and try it on. This is not a fitting at this stage. It is just a quick appointment to make sure it is perfect and to of course, pay the balance remaining. Most bridal stores will offer storage as part of the price but check first to make sure you don’t need to take your dress away with you on the day.
If your dress needs alteration, and believe us… most usually do! We recommend getting in touch with your seamstress as soon as your dress has arrived. This is to make sure you are booked in because they can get rather busy, especially during the peak wedding season. You may be lucky and find your gown in a store that also offers alterations too! After the alterations are complete, you usually store your dress with the bridal store until just before your big day and most offer a complimentary steam before you pick it up!
All that’s left is for you to collect your dress and get married!
Once you have your venue, dress and photographer ticked off the to-do list, you’ll need to start thinking about your wedding entertainment and that’s where we come in! Check out all of the available acts on our website www.EntertainersWorldwide.com and let us take the stress out of booking your wedding entertainment, from start to finish!
Want to Save Time When Booking Your Entertainment? Sit back, relax and have your Entertainment contact you! By adding a post to our website e.g. ‘Wedding DJ Required for Wedding Evening Reception on September 16th’, our available acts will contact you by email. Look at the Entertainer’s publicity, decide which is your favourite and contact them directly! The entire service is completely free of charge. Tell us what entertainment you are looking for now and we will do the rest! Contact us. Or view all of our entertainers, bands, tributes, singers, dancers, musicians, magicians, speciality acts, DJs & other artists worldwide here: www.EntertainersWorldwide.com ———————————————————-
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