Six Tips to Remember when Searching for Your Wedding Dress

When choosing a wedding dress there are many things to consider. So before you rush out to begin your search, make sure you have your plan of action in place. Here are some guidelines to help reduce the stress level in finding your perfect wedding dress:

1. The first and foremost thing to do is to set up a budget. It is imperative that you set up a budget for the whole wedding, not just for the dress. You may be surprised at the number of things you have to plan for and it is better not to be surprised after you have already spent a large part of the budget. You can find wedding check lists in many places online or in wedding planning books. A word of caution here that will also reduce your stress level is that once the budget has been made do not try on dresses that are outside of your budget. If you do than you should be prepared to save in another area of your wedding planning.

However, having a smaller budget doesn't necessarily mean that you will have to settle for less than you want. It just means that you must shop wisely and possibly a little longer. Today it is much easier in comparison to years ago to find a designer dress at a discount. Be sure to make a list of all the places to look and you should be ready to buy, or to put a deposit down, when you start trying on dresses. It would be very sad to find your perfect dress and not be in a position to purchase it. The unfortunate fact is that many discounted dresses as well as original designer dresses have only one in stock with no hope of getting another. This is especially true of designer dresses like Vera Wang wedding dresses, both new and used.

2. The second consideration is to make sure you leave yourself enough time to find the dress you want. A good rule of thumb is a minimum of 6 months and perhaps much longer if you have no idea what style you are interested in. Of course, you if you don't have that much time, you may still be able to find something but it may not be exactly what you want.

3. The next thing you will need to figure out will be the style of dress you want. You may have dreamed about finding your perfect wedding dress since you were a little girl and now that the time is here, you may find that don't want to settle for anything less than what you have been imagining or that your tastes have changed somewhat. Either way there are a few things to consider when you are making this decision. The type of ceremony you are planning, such as if it will be a traditional wedding or perhaps an outdoor wedding or beach wedding may weigh in heavily upon your decision. The time of year plays a big factor in many places. You would not want a heavy long sleeve dress for a summer wedding in Florida!

4. A big factor to consider is the comfort of the dress when you put it on. I'm not talking about something that can be altered, a tuck here or letting another part out a little, although a great fit is very important too. I am talking about how you feel when you put the dress on. On the practical side, keep in mind that you will more than likely be wearing your bridal gown for most of the day of your wedding, or at least several hours and you don't want to deal with a dress that doesn't fit right. On the less practical but not less important side, keep in mind that your wedding day will bring a huge amount of emotions and stress. While these emotions and stress are all part of the excitement, you can reduce some of that stress by feeling beautiful in your wedding gown.

5. With those things in mind your body shape plays a part in the type of gown that will look great on you. You do not want to waste time looking for a dress that does not flatter your figure. For instance, my stomach has a little paunch, so I would not want to accent that area. It would be better for me to wear something that draws the eye away from that area, perhaps some beading or lace on the bodice or on the lower part of the skirt. It will help you to figure out what type of dress best flatters your figure, not only for choosing your wedding dress but also when making other fashion decisions. Don't forget to make sure the wedding dress looks good from the back as well as the front. Your guests may be seeing more of the back of your dress during the ceremony and it should be just as flattering.

6. To insure you do not get overwhelmed when looking for your wedding dress, you could break down the number of gowns you are considering to a few at a time. For example, choose 4 or 5 dresses and from them, choose the top two. Pick out 2 or 3 more and choose from those 4 or 5 wedding gowns. Continue doing this until you are down to only 2 wedding gowns and then make your final decision. Don't forget to have fun, perhaps trying on something totally outrageous just to break up all the decisions you are trying to make.