Panic!! Am I over planning this....

Mine was an hour - it was plenty. Turned up, the woman put me in a simple A-Line dress. Nice, but not 'it'. She put me in something a bit 'bigger' and more princessy. I liked it. She put me in something even bigger and MORE princessy. I loved it. She then said "just to see - try this one on" and gave me a really tight almost fishtail dress, and i LOVED LOVED LOVED it, so tried another fishtail one on after that, and knew that tight fitted was clearly the style that suited me better, even though I had imagined a big dress. So after my first appointment, I knew what style of dress to try on. In the next shop, I tried on one tight fitted dress, loved it, bought it. Sorted!

You can always make lots of appointments and keep going back, don't stress about it!

Go to the first shop and try on dresses of different shapes, necklines and fabrics to get an idea of what suits you best. It is amazing how the dress you thought that you would buy is rarely the one you do once you've tried 'the right style' on.

Go with an open mind: you can try on a dress in about 5 minutes and get a feel for if it is completely wrong. It's only once you've got it whittled down a bit that the hard choosing takes longer. An hour will be enough I should think. It is fun but also tiring, so it's better not to continue if you start to flag. you can always go back another day.

Try not to stress ? You can always go back for more appointments if you need to! At most bridal shops they'll be able to give you advice on styles, and with corset back dresses I'd be surprised if they do it up fully as it can take so long, you'll be able to tell quite quickly if you like the style & shape without that. Just have a think about what style you might prefer - strapless, halter neck, with sleeves, etc, and go for those ones first ?

I did exactly as you did and wrote out a list of what caught my eye on each website, and all of the shops were happy to find the dresses I'd written down. I wouldn't panic if I were you, many of the dresses on my list looked VERY different in the flesh and I didn't want to try them on once I'd seen them. Once you try the first dress on it gives you a good idea of what works and what doesn't and it's easier to narrow down the choices. I felt a bit overwhelmed when I went into the first shop and there were hundreds of dresses everywhere, but I eliminated so many of them immediately just because they weren't my thing! I'm going back to order mine tomorrow, so have booked an appointment but only expect to pop it on again, go 'yep. I'll have it' and then pay for it! Glad I waited a week, the dress I'm ordering, a Sasha Perez by Berketex, has a special offer on it this week that it didn't last week when I tried it on, every little helps!

Don't panic! Most will only give you and an hour to an hour & a half. It's enough, trust me! It's quite exhausting and its best to enjoy it rather than rush it. Plus it'll help your decision process. The fitters are pros at getting you in & out of dresses and you'll probably do about 6 in that time. In total, I've been to about 5 shops (2 on multiple occasions) and a designer and managed in excess of 40 dresses!!! I wouldn't recommend doing more than 2 in a day (am & pm, ideally). It takes time to appreciate the different elements of a dress, listen to opinions, etc, and you might feel a bit bombarded by it all. You're doing the right thing by doing a bit of homework before you go, but my best bit of advice would be to keep an open mind and try on stuff you wouldn't normally consider - a dress will look totally different on...even those ones you've got your eye on already! I've gone off on a different tangent now and taking the leap of having it designed for me! Nervous? Yep! But for me, my dress is something just for me and I want something a little unique.

Just have fun and enjoy it! x

Yep, you're over thinking it.

You ARE allowed to book other appointments...

Lol, bless you, just remember the bridal shops are experienced and know how long it takes to get to a dress you are likely to like, it's in their best interest to find you a dress you like once you're in their shop, so if an hour was too short they wouldn't hold one hour appointments.

Thanks everyone!! ? I feel a lot calmer now (the cuppa helped too!!)... I know I just need to sit back and enjoy the experience! Its just so hard when its something that is really important. In reality I'd get married in a bin bag if it was still to my OH!

Remember as well to let go of some of the control. Bridal assistants have a lot of experience, and will know what suits you.

I know I love BIG dresses and had a huge one for my first wedding. I also knew that wasn't practical for my beach wedding, so I wanted something floaty and Grecian, yet didn't really like those dresses since they were too "evening gown" and not enough "bride".

After getting s bit frustrated trying to get the right style, I went to one shop and just told them all of the above. The lady pulled a dress out that looked awful on the hanger, and told me this would fit all my requirements. I hesitated, but tried it on and she was right. Simple, chiffon, floaty but very bridal and BIG with all the layers.

I had a fairly set idea of what I wanted when I went shopping, the woman suggested I take in 3 various options of that style with differing necklines and waistlines and then 3 different styles that caught my eye. She was very good at being able to talk me out of "inappropriate" selections that she knew weren't going to work on my frame. You think when you walk in that you're never going to be able to choose but in all honesty when you start looking at them in the flesh there won't be nearly so many that you like.

Mine was less than tactful about me trying on dresses. Rude bint.

Mine was less than tactful about me trying on dresses. Rude bint.

Mine did actually talk herself out of a £1200 sale..... I was quite taken by one dress until she used the word dumpy.

Mine commented rather loudly to my mum that we will 'have to find something to cover those up.' As I gave badly scarred shoulders.

we left shortly after.

What a heartless *****. Sorry but things like this make me hopping mad. A shop assistant once made my mum cry over something similar. I live 150 miles away, but I got straight on the phone to the store, tracked down the assistant, and made HER cry. People can be so blimming cruel. ANGRY FACE! No-one makes my Mama cry and gets away with it.

<<breathe>>

I went to three dress shops in a day and tried 28 dresses as my Mum lives far away and I wanted to try them all on with her. My head was spinning after the second shop and I wish I had come back another day for the third shop, when I think back now I do really wish I had spaced them out a bit more. There was also a 4th shop which I really wish I'd gone to but did not have time for, and the evil *******'s keep torturing me by putting this gorgeous Lusan Mandongus in the window and I really wish Id checked that shop too before I picked! Should have done it over more days. Its not like Candy Crush where the game is over if you don;t finish it in the necessary number of moves. The dresses are still there the following week. ;-)

My mum lives in mid Wales, so I booked an appointment at my local shop (bridal that is, not tesco lol!) when I knew she was coming up to yorkshire for the weekend. The staff were brilliant! I told them straight away that I was absolutely not there to buy a dress, but to eliminate styles. Not only were they fine with that, but said that is what they would suggest to any bride.

The assistant told me to spend a fewmoments going through the racks to select a few to try, then she left the room for a fewminutes.

I literally chose 4 dresses. Most were ruled out because they were to lacy, floral, froufrou, heavy or I didn't like the fabric. In the end, I only tried on 2 dresses.... The second one being the first I took off the rack. I knew instantly it was the one.... So the not-even-thinking-about-buying visit resulted in a very happy purchase!! :0)

Definitely go and just see what takes your fancy..... All the dresses look very different on the hanger to online- and different again once they are being worn. Just enjoy the experience and book as many appointments as you need. If nothing else, it's nice to play dress up! :0) xx