Much like a wedding dress, every bride’s wedding dress shopping experience is unique to her. But there are a few common thoughts that run through most brides’ minds as they whittle down their options to the wedding dress they’ll wear down the aisle. From the funny to the downright scary—goodbye, all my money!—five brides are here to get real about what they really thought while they were wedding dress shopping.
1. Just looking at all of the dress options is enough to make me dizzy. Beginning a wedding dress search is akin to walking into Forever 21 without knowing what you want: It’s easy to get lost in a maze of lace, sequins, silhouettes, and hues, overwhelming your senses in awe-inspiring fashion. Recalls newlywed Tara, “The first bridal boutique I visited had literally hundreds of options. I remember thinking, it’s going to take an hour just to see every dress—and it did.”
2. Why can no one agree? You’re head-over-heels for a fit-and-flare number that makes you feel like the sexiest bride to ever walk an aisle. But your mom is obsessed with the ball gown you barely agreed to slip on, while your best friend feels you should go A-line all the way. “I brought three people wedding dress shopping with me,” says newlywed Katie, “and not one of us could agree on the best look for me. With all our differing opinions, it was difficult to narrow down what really looked good on me.”
3. The dress I have to have is how much? Your wedding dress will long live on in your wedding photos. But let’s be honest: You’re in it for just a few hours. So it’s no surprise that many brides—present company included—struggle to get behind the big price tags that can come with even couture-like perfection. Newlywed Amy says she was tempted to get an evening gown off-the-rack when she found most wedding dresses she liked hit at the $2,000 or more mark. “In the end, I found a $1,500 wedding dress I couldn’t resist buying,” she says. “But let me tell you: Swiping my credit card was tough.”
4. I hope my fiancé loves it as much as I do. For some women, it’s enough to wow themselves in their wedding gowns. But others live for the look on their partners’ faces when they see them in that dress for the very first time. “I knew my fiancé would love something a little sexier—something like a mermaid or trumpet-style silhouette that really showed off my body,” says newlywed Jessica. “But I went with a ball gown, and I was really worried he wouldn’t dig it as much as I did. Luckily, he bawled like a baby when he saw me in it and eased all my worries.”
5. I cannot wait to wear it. Once you choose your wedding gown, you may feel so beautiful inside it you’ll never want to slip it off. And realizing you have to wait six months until it arrives in your size back at the store—and several more weeks until it’s altered perfectly to your body—is a special kind of fashion torture. “When I found The One, I had to be coaxed back out of it,” laughs newlywed Cassie. “I knew I’d have to wait nearly nine months to wear it again and that seemed like forever. I would have worn the sample home if someone would have let me!”
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