First wedding dress appointment...any advice welcomed!

Ohhhhh how exciting! I've not been to try any in yet so I'm not much help I'm afraid, I will be following with interest. I'm getting married in August and I'm probably not going to pick a dress until October half term. X

I did wonder whether looking already was a bit keen but when one of the dress shops asked me on the phone when I was getting married and I said July, her response was 'Which year?' so that made me feel a little better!

Given that many dresses take 6-8 months to get in to the store, in order to give you maximum choice, and minimum stress, you really don't want to be leaving it too much longer!

My big advice would be:

Wear comfy undies, including a strapless bra if you have one - much better than faffing around trying to tuck bra straps in underneath your armpits when trying on a strapless wedding gown!

Take a bottle of water, and a banana - it is hot work getting in and out of dresses for an hour and a half, and you don't want to have your energy levels flagging as this will just get you tired and stressed.

If you have long hair, tie it up - easier when the shop assistant is trying to do your dress up, if you don't have your arms above your head trying to keep your hair out of the way!

Go in with an open mind.....the dress you least think you will like when it is on the hanger, is often the one you feel drop dead gorgeous in! Equally, don't discount lace, or sparkle, or.....or.....or.....until you have tried them on.

Be honest with your shop assistant. If you don't tell her that you dislike the fit of a mermaid dress, or that you love the effect of a sweetheart neckline, or that you hate your arms/love your boobs, type thing, she won't know, and could be wasting time pulling out dresses for you to try that you hate. Don't be afraid to say "no".

Don't worry if you don't find "The one" the first time. There are lots of shops out there, loads of designers, and you DO still have time. Even if you don't find "The One" this time round, you will have a better idea of what suits you, and what you do or do not like, which means you can go to the next shop with more confidence about what you are looking for.

Finally, ENJOY!! It's not often you get to try on dresses that cost well into 4 figures, and to look like a princess. Smile, hold your head up, and say "Hell Yeah" when you look in the mirror!

Thanks Kimiu, great advice there. I had never even thought about taking water and a snack with me!

I will definitely keep an open mind and try on anything they bring me!

Thank you xx

Some great tips there. I've got my first appointment in 2 weeks. It's in a shop where 2 brides i know loved and bought the very first one they tried on, so i'm hoping it'll be great for me too. I'm worried about going for the very first one, as surely it will look amazing as it's a wedding dress and i've never tried one on before so i'd worry that's the reason i love it so much. But if it is the first, then who cares as long as it looks amazing!

Was thinking of taking my mum for lunch after, but i don't want to suggest in advance if actually the shopping was stressful and would rather go home haha.

Have fun and good luck!

I too am a little worried I will get swept up in it all and get the feels for the first dress I try on but I know I will have to try it on atleast twice before I part with any pennies anyway. I also worry what if I don't get the warm and fuzzies for any dresses at all?! Ahhhhh.

I guess I'm finding the concept of shopping for such an important item without having any input from my best friend, whose opinions I really value (my fiance!), really difficult!

I worry too much haha.

Purplecake - Good luck with the dress shopping, let me know how it goes!

WinterWeddingBecs - How did you get on with the sizes? I'm a 12-14 so hope their sample dresses aren't all size 10's!

TFT xx

But you will have your fiance's input.....he just won't be there in person, but I bet you will be picturing him next to you, giving you the eye, or the nod, or whatever he does.

I knew with every dress that I tried on, what my fiance would be thinking. Just because he wasn't in the shop didn't stop him having a real amount of input, if you see what I mean!

Honestly, don't worry - enjoy, visualise yourself walking towards him, and it will all fit very nicely into place when the right dress appears!

Great advice ladies! I've got my first appoinment on saturday & i can't say im excited lol

Hi TFT! I know what you mean, I too am getting married July next year, thought I had loads of time but then panicked when I came on here! I got a bit internet-obsessed and very set on what I wanted. This really limited my options in bridal shops so I ended up trying on a lot that were beautiful on the hanger and horrid on me!

In the end (3rd bridal shop) I got an ex-sample dress which I love, but now have way too much time and it is just hanging in my mum's wardrobe! I think now is a good time to start looking but don't panic if you don't find anything straight away.

What I will say is this: don't expect champagne. That's a myth! They will offer you a tea or coffee / water but don't expect to have time to drink it!

Most bridal shops have books with the designer photos of their dresses in. It's a good idea to sit and look through these first because you have a better idea of how the dress looks on rather than just hanging. Don't be afraid to ask about the dresses on the mannequins either.

You shouldn't have any trouble with sample sizes, I'm a 12-14 and was able to squeeze into all of the dresses I wanted to try. The shop assistants are used to all sizes and will be able to tell if you can wiggle in one or not! Designer size labels are whack though, either too small or too big, so don't take it to heart. Most of the ones I tried were too small at the waist then gaped at the boob, so it was hard to imagine it fitting. I know they have to accommodate for the larger-busted bride, it just had the unfortunate effect of making me feel both fat and flat chested!

Have great fun though! The hardest part was not showing my fiancée - it is the reason I am not allowed to keep the dress at my flat!

Should we avoid wearing makeup??

No light make up is ok, some of the dresses you step into and wriggle them up. Bridal shops do say no fake tan though, you can imagine why!

The samples are dresses the shops have had to buy so they try to sell them on (to cheapo brides like me) and so have to take good care of them.

Not necessarily. If you have a whole load of slap caked on, then it is inevitable that some will come off on the dresses as you wriggle in and out of them (although most of them you will step into rather than put over your head), and for me it is the embarrassment factor of having red lipstick smeared over a shop dress and worrying that the staff will be annoyed with me!

However, you need to get a reasonable idea of what suits you, in terms of your complexion, so a bit of your everyday makeup, with the right foundation and powder is not a bad thing as it will show how things will look on the day in terms of colour - a bright white dress and a champagne dress will look completely different against different skin tones.

So, don't go overboard, but don't feel the need to go bare-faced if that is not what you normally wear!

I was luck y enough to find my dream dress at a sample sale and snapped it up straight away! It was completely the opposite to what I wanted and a size 10 (im a 12) so definitely go with a massive open mind!!!

The advice I was given by a dress shop owner was wear a decent bra with straps as a lot of brides to be have 'popped out'' whilst changing and good Bridget pants as you will be in and out of dresses. I followed her advice and nothing popped out! Try on every style you like before deciding and have fun!

Also the second dress I tried on in the second shop was the one for me but I tried about 7 more even though we all knew it was the one as I wouldn't shut up about it and kept comparing. I thought I would have a 'wow it's the one' moment but I was so taken with all the dresses I wanted to try everything before committing. Don't be afraid to try something you thought was the opposite to what you want and don't pin your hopes on one dress as I loved a fishtail dress by justin alexander and when I tried it on my mum and sisters all said no at once haha they were right it looked awful on me!

Thanks for all these tips, I have appointments scheduled in mid September so I will bear this in mind. Some advice given to me by the staff at the bridal boutiques is to bring a pair of shoes similar to the ones I think I will be wearing on the big day e.g a pair of high heels.

What?! No champagne?! I do love a good cuppa but would be terrified of spilling tea on one of the dresses!!! Water it is then...

You can always take a bottle of fizz with you.....I'm sure they won't mind! The dress shop I used didn't offer me any, but there were champagne flutes ready to use in the dressing room for those that wanted to take some of their own!

Haha BYO Kimiu, that's a cracking idea. My mum will need something to keep her occupied whilst I'm busy getting into dresses!

There is some really good advice on here! I've got my first appt next week and I have not stopped looking at dresses online, in windows, bridal magazines etc since I got engaged six months ago! I think I have an idea of what I want, but my biggest fear is that I would want to try on every single dress, just to make sure I'd scoped out all my options first, end up in the shop for about five hours making everyone frustrated.

Or, I end up feeling like I'm getting on everyone's nerves and then just settling for an 'ok' one. I'm usually overly-polite, but I'm allowed to be demanding this one time, right??

Be as demanding as you like!!

In all honesty, most people don't try on masses and masses of dresses. If you have a shop assistant that knows her stuff, she will be able to gauge fairly instantly what is going to "work" for you/your body shape/height/complexion/age etc etc. If you get one of these, chances are you may only need to try on very few dresses before finding "the one".

It is when you get an assistant who cannot apply all these factors to her stock rail....that's when you end up trying everything you can get your hands on to see what it looks like! This can be most disheartening!

The other thing I really found was that if I didn't "click" with the woman in the shop, and she made me feel anything less than her most important customer of the day, I didn't like the dresses that she was presenting me with.

I went to three dress shops. One had me in tears as she was telling me that my bum was too big, and tried to fob me off with styles that were straight out of the 1980s, probably on the basis that as an older bride (43) I couldn't carry off today's "modern" styles!. One shop had a manager who just wouldn't listen to what I wanted, and didn't want, and basically just brought out everything that ticked every other box than the one that said "make me look amazing". When I said I didn't want sleeves or straps, she just kept bringing out sleeves and straps "just in case".

Thankfully, the third shop was fantabulous. The assistant listened to me, looked at me, and pulled out dresses I would never have dared picked myself. Yup, you've guessed it - the first one she gave to me was "the one". I tried on a few more in that same shop - not one of them was a bad choice. She was superb. But when I put on that first one again, I just knew.

Don't get disheartened, and don't get fobbed off. Whether "the one" is the first or the 101st you try on, you will find the dress of your dreams!

Kimiu can I take you with me? !?

Haha, I wish!!

When I got married first time round, 25 years ago, I was quite definitely "told" what I could and could not have. Needless to say, I ended up with a dress that although was nice enough, wasn't "the one" and every wedding I went to after mine, I yearned for what I could and should have had. But, I was only 19, and everyone else knew better ?

This time round, I have the confidence to know what I want, and what I don't want. I needed advice on some big elements of the dress, of course, but I didn't have any hesitation in walking away if I didn't like something. This was MY time, and I was determined to make the best of it. I didn't need to get diva-like or stressy in any way. I just knew that there was going to be no such thing as second best this time (budgets permitting, of course), and once I had found a shop that was going to treat me as such, we were onto a winner!

I've been back a couple of times - once to try on the shop sample again to show my MoH and my mum, and once or twice just to look at it to match colours for shoes etc, and every time, nothing is too much trouble for them.

I cannot wait until I get to wear it for real, and yah boo sucks to anyone who has, in my previous 43 years, told my that my bum is too big.....?

Oh so totally this for me too!

In addition to all the other advice you've had, which I think is good, I'd say make sure that the person(s) with you will be honest (not brutal, just honest) as they will be able to see you from all angles and give a different perspective.

Also if you're in a shop with a range of different prices, make sure whoever is helping you knows what your budget is, as you don't want to try on the dream dress and then find out you're going to need a lottery win to buy it!

Have a fantastic time - apart from one shop where there was a difficult lady, I had SUCH good fun trying on dresses and almost wish I hadn't found mine so fast so I could have done some more shopping. (And this coming from someone who HATES shopping!!)