Finding a wedding dress

Hi Nikki-Lea,


If you can get up to Birmingham I’ll always recommend The Dressing Room, they have an enormous selection of dresses (all with prices on their website for transparency) and you can build a ‘wish list’ of items you want to try on. This way when you arrive for your appointment, they’ll have pulled out your faves for you already.
When you first try on, just try EVERYTHING. Something with sparkle. Something with lace. Something plain, strapless, sleeves, mermaid, Ballgown, everything! It will help you start to figure out what you like.
I bought my dress from Ann Louise Bridal and she had a marvellous selection if you like sparkle like me!
Top tips for searching - try a range of stuff, don’t judge on the hanger- take photos in everything - write down the names of the designers and styles you like- don’t feel like you need to find The One straight away- take your time- negotiate! Some places might give you a discount for paying in full, for example.
Best of luck in your search!

So my first question is why would you want to knowingly go to a store to ‘not necessary buy’ if you’re going to these stores and looking for dresses? I find that an odd concept - You shouldn’t really be wasting the shops time. And what happens if you go and you find your dream dress… are you going to say yes!? Honestly the best advice I was given at a big wedding show was research carefully only go to shops you’ve looked at the dresses they carry their price point and go with every open mind that you might find your dress because that’s why you’re going. Going to shops just to have a day out makes no sense as you’re looking for your wedding dress and it should be special not trivial. But if you have to use an appointment up to try styles with no intention of buying perhaps be more conscious as to which store you go to as many bridal shops are small family run business’s that time is money and their stock is delicate. When you’re ready to find your dress for real research the heck out of stores to know what you’re in for and be ready to buy your dream dress. Hope this helps!