I said YES to the dress!
I am SO excited to share that I said YES to the DRESS! I can’t wait to spill my dress shopping experience, tips and more! My dress is hiding in the back of my closet for just the rest of my clothes to see until the big day, but keep reading for photos of other ones I tried on.
If you’re new here, Hi! My fiancé Ryan proposed on December 5th – you can read our proposal story here and our venue/date announcement here!
This may come as a surprise considering I’m a fashion blogger and spend thousands of dollars each year on clothing… but my wedding dress was actually NOT something I wanted to splurge on! I wanted to have a beautiful dress obviously, but as my mom said it really doesn’t matter THAT much… I’m marrying my best friend and at the end of the day, that’s the most important thing.
There are SO many beautiful dresses out there and it was definitely a tough decision! My experience is a little different because I only ended up looking at two places – BHLDN and a secondhand nonprofit boutique. I and never actually looked at a typical bridal boutique because I didn’t want to even be in the vicinity of dresses over my budget. Which I am glad I did! I ended up getting my dress for less than $1,000 and I love it so much. I’ll share more about the one I chose near the end of the post.
bhldn
The first place I looked at was BHLDN, which is Anthropologie’s bridal store. It’s surprisingly super affordable for wedding dresses! I love Anthropologie so much and I always knew I wanted to try on their wedding dresses when the time came.
This strapless one is the first dress I ever tried on and almost bought it! I love how it looks strapless, but I just knew I would not be comfortable in a strapless dress and I didn’t want something too tight. Adding straps would have been an easy fix, so I held up straps to it in the store but didn’t like how it looked with the straps. It’s such a beautiful dress though!
This one below was another runner up! I love it so much, but it was just a little understated for me. It is so pretty though and if it was at least half the price, I would consider it for our rehearsal dinner. It’s also super comfortable!
Here’s some more dresses I tried but didn’t love…
nonprofit bridal boutique
The second place I looked at was a second hand non profit bridal boutique. I tried on probably 10-15 dresses there but was not impressed. Although the boutique did carry new dresses, a lot of the ones that had been worn before had turned yellow or were missing beading or had some other sort of wear and tear. A lot of the dresses were actually similar in price to the BHLDN ones or even pricier which is kind of crazy. But, it is sustainable and is all for a good cause.
My Dress
Later on, I discovered BHLDN’s sale section and found my dress! If you are also a bride looking for a dress I highly recommend checking it out. They literally have dresses starting at less than $200 and also have a ton of accessories. I love my dress so much and can’t wait to marry Ryan in it next year!
Dress shopping tips
- Think about what shoes you want to wear. I am getting married in the Spring so I knew I wanted sandals. I also want to be comfortable and do not want shoes with a heel. When I looked at dresses I brought a pair of my favorite sandals to try on with the dresses. Some dresses make you look taller or shorter. If you’re not sure what shoes you want to wear, it might be a good idea to bring multiple shoes with different heights.
- Bring a backless bra. This is something I wish I had thought about! I only brought a strapless bra with me when I tried on dresses. Some dresses have low backs but I wish I had brought a one backless one. Also the backless bra I have now actually has a lot more push up than the regular strapless one, so if you have a small chest like me it makes such a difference! Linking it here.
- If you know how you want to wear your hair, have it styled a similar way when you go to your appointment. I’m still not sure how I want to wear my hair but I think it would have been a good idea to bring a hair clip and tried putting my hair up. I felt like it took away from some of the dresses and an updo would have looked better with some of them.
- Get glammed up. I recommend going to extra lengths with your make up extra or even getting your hair or make up professionally done – maybe schedule your trial before. It makes a huge difference when trying on dresses.
- Take a lot of photos especially of all angles. I didn’t ask my mom to take a lot when I went the first time, so when my sister came with me the second trip I made sure she got photos of different angles. Videos would be helpful too!
- Bring a slim bridal mask. Because of Covid I had to keep my mask on when I was outside the dressing room looking the mirrors. I wish I had taken more photos when I was in the dressing room because that was the only time I could see myself in the dress without the mask on (I’m not sure if I was supposed to keep it on or not…) It is not the same! If your store requires masks I would recommend brining a slim white one because the one I wore was purple and almost covered my entire face. I feel like it was distracting.
- Keep an open mind. I had no idea what I was looking for, I kind of just browsed everything and picked out what looked pretty. From there I knew what I liked and didn’t like! I definitely had to try a few different types of dresses to find out though.
- If you know something doesn’t work for you, don’t waste your time keep trying to make it work. For example, looking back at the photos I tried on soo many strapless dresses when I knew I didn’t want a strapless dress. Why…
- Keep comfort in mind. It’s a long day! There’s a lot of uncomfortable dresses. I don’t know how girls move in mermaid dresses LOL! The one I tried on felt like I was wearing a hard rock… If you’re not comfortable for the 10 minutes you’re in the dress at the boutique you won’t be comfortable on your wedding day.
- Ask about adjustments. When I initially thought I was going to go with the first dress, I asked if I would be able to add beading. The stylist said it was possible. When I tried on a strapless dress, the stylist held up straps so I could envision what it would look like. It may be an easier fix than you would think!
- Try on accessories. If you find a dress you love, grab some accessories! A veil, headband, whatever the boutique has that you can play around with. This will help give you a better vision of how you would look in the dress on your wedding day!
- Be prepared to use your imagination. This was the hardest thing for me, and I like to think I have a good imagination haha! Many boutiques only carry sample sizes so all of the dresses you try on probably won’t be your size. I liked that I was able to order mine online and return it if I needed to. I had originally ordered a size too big in my dress and was on the fence about it. When I got the smaller size in the mail, I loved the dress so much more and knew it was the one!
- Have fun! This is obvious, but it’s not something you get to do every day. Make sure to give yourself enough time too, so you’re not stressed out and can just enjoy the trip!
- Bring supportive people with you! This is pretty personal so it depends on who you want with you. I only brought my mom and sister, and we were not all free the same day so I went to BHLDN two separate times with each of them. They were both special experiences!
- Buy the one YOU love and the one you feel the most beautiful in! Everyone else is not going to have the same opinion and that’s okay. It’s your dress, you’re the only one wearing it so you should go with the one you feel the best in!
List of items to bring
- Backless bra – click here for my favorite one
- Shoes you want to wear with your dress – if unsure, bring multiple pairs with different heights
- Your ring – I forgot mine on a venue tour
- Any other accessories you may want to wear
- Hair clip/hair tie
- Any family/friends you want with you
- Bridal face mask – click here for a cute one
Thanks for reading!
I can’t wait to keep sharing more details as we plan more of our wedding! I share the most over on my Instagram stories so be sure to keep up with those to be the first to hear about updates.
