Today, I’m sharing tips on how to prepare for wedding dress shopping, including an amazing way you can get the dress of your dreams at a great value. Finding the right wedding dress can be a daunting process. While excited, I will admit that leading up to dress shopping I was nervous! I probably overthought this process way too much, and had irrational fears that I wouldn’t be able to find a dress. This is the most important dress I will ever wear, so it’s gotta be good – right?! So, how did I prepare for this special day? Where do you even start to look for a dress?

5 Tips For Saying Yes to Your Dress

1. Do your wedding gown homework

Before you go to your first appointment, it’s important to have an idea of different wedding dress styles. Get familiar with the different silhouettes, as what the bridal trends are. I love this Wedding Dress Style Guide from www.simplycassandrajane.com.

This guide gave me a great idea of the different dress styles, and I could start identifying styles I liked while browsing online before my appointment. Also, pay attention to what outfits of yours you feel the best and most confident version of yourself in. Do you have a favorite wrap dress that highlights your waist, or do you favor a flowy top? Knowing what styles of clothing you feel best in will help you narrow down a dress style.

2. Set a budget, and be honest!

This next tip seems like a no brainer, but it’s so important. Set a realistic budget, and be upfront about it. There would be nothing more heartbreaking than falling in love with a gown that is not in your budget. Your stylists want to help you find your dream dress. Part of that dream, is staying on budget! Make sure you are upfront at your appointment about budget and your stylists will be able to pull options that check all requirements off your list. Also, when thinking about budget – don’t forget to set aside money for accessories. Part of what makes the dress is how you accessorize. Think about veils, belts, hairpieces, and other day of accessories that you might want to add to your look.

3. Go in with an open mind

Confession – I did not follow my own tip. I went into my appointment open to trying anything the stylists were pulling. However, I had one style stipulation and had vowed to not try on any dresses in this particular style because of it. Flash forward to finding my dress, and…you guessed it…I ended up loving a dress in the one style I had sworn off. Lesson learned. Have an open mind! Yes, it’s important to know what styles you favor, BUT let the stylists work their magic and trust the options they are pulling. You never know, you may end up falling in love with a dress that you could not have pictured yourself in – I sure did!

4. Day of Prep

You will want to feel your most confident on this day. We all know how it feels to have an “off” day, where nothing fits, nothing looks right and you just feel blah. Take some steps to ensure that the day you go wedding dress shopping, is your most ON day ever!

In the weeks leading up to my appointment, I watched what I ate and drank. I didn’t want to be bloated or have a face full of pimples from over indulging in sugar (yeah, I’ve been there). I also cut out alcohol, because let’s be real that does me zero favors in the belly bloat department. The week of my appointment, I upped my water intake, and added lemons to the mix. Drinking lemon water helps with inflammation, and your complexion (give me ALL THE LEMONS).

On the day of my appointment – I went full glam. I put on a little self tanner, so I had a nice glow. I like the Jergens Natural Glow Wet Skin Moisturizer . You put it on right after you shower and it just adds a subtle glow without any streaking! I also did my hair and makeup similar to how I would want it done on my wedding day, so I could get the full vision when I was trying on dresses. My outfit was something I felt confident and beautiful in – I wanted to walk into that appointment feeling my best so I could feel great in the dresses I was trying on.

My advice to feel your best on this special day:

• Watch what you eat leading up to the appointment. Steer clear of food and drinks that will give you bloat.
• Up the water intake – add in lemons!
• Doll yourself up on the day of. Wear an outfit you feel great in. Do your hair and makeup so you can get an idea of how you may look on your wedding day.

5. Go to the right place

For me, where I shopped for my wedding dress was extremely important. I didn’t want to go into just any old store for this day. While there are many great options for buying a wedding dress these days, I chose to keep it local and sought out a top bridal boutique in my area, LUXEredux Bridal. I wanted to go to a professional for this day, someone who really knows bridal and could give me that special experience I had pictured. That magic place was, LUXEredux Bridal.

LUXEredux Bridal is a designer sample boutique, meaning, they provide brides with gorgeous designer bridal gowns at an amazing price. The gowns at LUXEredux are sample gowns, most of which have not been worn previously. So, you are getting that designer dress of your dreams, for a fraction of the price (um, yes PLEASE!).

Seems like it can’t get any better than this, right? Well it does. LUXEredux Bridal offered a truly amazing dress shopping experience. My appointment was private, so myself and my “entourage” were not distracted by other shoppers. The stylist I worked with that day was so helpful, listened to my likes and dislikes, while doing a killer job at pulling options that gave me *all the heart eyes.* Plus, their boutiques are seriously adorable, I’m talking straight from a bridal dream! If this sounds like your idea of the perfect shopping experience, you can check out  LUXEredux Bridal at any of their locations in Columbus or Cincinnati, OH and Indianapolis IN. Not in that neck of the woods? Don’t sweat it – LUXEredux offers a LUXE in a BOX service. You can bring the LUXE experience into the comfort of your own home, with no obligation to buy. Brides are able to browse the LUXEredux website and select 3 gowns they would like to try on. Those beauties are packaged up in the prettiest LUXE way, and shipped to your door for a small shipping fee. There’s zero obligation to buy, but if you do find the dress – cheers! You can read more about LUXE in a BOX here.

To all the brides out there who are about to embark on this special journey, congratulations! While these tips are how I prepared for this special day, the most important piece of advice I can give you is to keep your heart focused on why you are here in the first place. It can be so easy to get caught up in the little details and soon those butterflies turn into stress. Don’t let yourself go down that path where you forget what this day is all about. At the end of the day, the one thing that made shopping for my dress the most exciting, was knowing that I would be wearing this special gown when I marry my very best friend – for me that was more than enough.

This blog contains affiliate links which means that if you click on the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small percentage. Additionally, items mentioned on this blog may have been provided free of charge. All opinions are entirely my own.*