1. Think of your personal style before going to look at dresses-do you love to dress up and bling it up every Saturday night? Do you keep to a more streamlined approach when dressing for an occasion, do you prefer to dress more organically and eco freindly? Keep this is mind when starting to get a picture in your head of what you want to look like on your wedding day.

2. Start to view some dresses online-sites like Google Images and YouTube are worth checking out – be warned though..this is addictive and you can look for days and days and start getting very confused, so look at a few websites, start looking at the styles the boutique is carrying and go from there.

3. When looking online at particular designers find out where they are stocked-no point in falling in love with a dress only to find out it is not available anywhere near you… You can also send us a picture and we will send you a quote!

4. Budget Budget Budget. Pick an amount and stick to it. In times of recession this amount may not be as much as you had hoped, but I would say 1 thing. There are 1000’s of fabulous dresses out there to suit all budgets, and if the dress looks amazing it does not matter how much you paid for it-no one will ever know! Also consider a Pre Owned Wedding Dress to off set your budget. I’ve seen $2000 wedding dresses sell for only a couple hundred dollars!

5. If you are on a tight budget look into getting sample dresses.A sample sale is one where a boutique is clearing out stock for the arrival of new stock. These styles are sold as you see them in the shop and are not new-however they can look as good as with a clean and fit to your size. The cost of these samples is greatly reduced to entice you to go for them-remember this is the dress you will be getting married in so scrutinize it for permanent marks, or missing beading etc.

6. Try on as many styles in the 1st wedding shop as possible. Mermaid styles, a line gowns, princess gowns, ballgowns, empire gowns. Some will look great some will look terrible and no matter what a salesperson says-they will not all look ‘LOVELY’. If that was the case the 1st one would do! So be harsh here as you are weeding out what doesn’t suit you and working towards what will. Try on all the colours available, straps, boob tubes, long trains, no trains, everything you think might work. At the end of this you will notice what suits your shape and what doesn’t.

7. Don’t bring your mum, your 3 sisters, your 4 best friends, and your fiance along. I would advise a max of 2 trusted people to accompany you on your search. Vary the people if you like but don’t overload-it leads to confusion and can be quite a distressing time with all the opinions- good and bad -flying around. And it is also distracting for you-it’s your choice don’t forget, not the dress your mother always wished she had gone for!

8. You may find up to 3 dresses you really like in 2-3 stores. If this happens it is time to stop and focus on these 6-9 dresses. Revisit them with your trusted friends/mother and see if you still like them as much the 2nd time around. This starts the process of elimination and starts you thinking of possibly going for 1 of them. If none of this has happened yet and you haven’t found 1 that you like try to find out why you don’t like any of them-is it you are waiting to keel over when you find ‘the one’?, are your trusted friends being very negative, are you looking in the right places, is nothing in your budget, or you just don’t like any of them? If this is happening to you go back to step 1 and rethink what you are looking for-realistically now as you should have tried on lots of styles. If you can come up with a definitive style-for example a lace fitted gown with a small train, and some sparkle but not too much..then start talking to stores before you visit them-ring up ask if they have that style-send you a photo and then you can decide if you want to visit the store or not. This should help you save time and stop stressing about the gown as you now have a plan of action!

9. You usually need to make an appointment before visiting a store. You may be allowed to browse but not try on if they are busy, so if you have been on their site and like the look of a lot of dresses book you appointment in advance. Also the time it takes to order a wedding dress can be 6 months or longer so be aware of this before you start. Some stores can do rush jobs so don’t worry-it may cost a bit more to bump you up the queue but if you have found THE dress?? Consider AnyWeddingDress, your dress will arrive at your door in two months or less!

10. Enjoy yourself!

Related posts:

1. Cheap Wedding Dresses 2009
2. The White Wedding Dress
3. Wedding Gown Search