It is official, you are engaged- yay! Now the fun gets to begin, and you get to start looking for your dream wedding dress. As you start thinking about setting up your bridal appointments, you need to think about who you plan on inviting to come with you. Going gown shopping is super exciting and it can be tempting to share that experience with everyone on your side of the bridal party. While this may sound great in theory, it’s difficult to make happen and can potentially add stress to your decision making process. We recommend limiting your gown shopping entourage to about three people at most. This will help make your experience the best it can be with the very most important people by your side.
Now that we know how many people you should bring, let’s talk about who!
- Maid of Honor – Of course, your number one gal should be there with you to help you pick your gown. She probably knows your style better than anyone else so having her opinion would be a great help.
- Parents or Close Family –Chances are your mom has been dreaming of your wedding for a while –maybe even longer than you have. So there is no doubt that she is an obvious choice to bring with you to go wedding dress shopping. Or maybe your Aunt who has been an important part in your upbringing. Then of course a nice choice would be extending the invite to your MOG to make her feel included. And then of course, if you have a sister she would be a perfect to have there to help pick out your wedding dress!
- Bridesmaids – The women that you asked to stand by your side on your big day would naturally be the next choice for who to bring to your appointment. While we think it is great that you are so close to your #bridetribe, bringing in all of your girls can make things difficult. You are then working with so many different opinions. Of course you don’t anyone feeling left out, so our recommendation is to make a really fun appointment with all of your girls when YOUR actual wedding dress arrives in the store, and make it a grand reveal for them! This way you will limit the amount of opinions that you have when picking out your gown, but you will be able to make sure that everyone feels included.
- Its okay to shop alone –It’s also totally okay to go shopping alone if that’s what makes you the most comfortable! Keep in mind, shopping for your wedding dress is much different than running to the mall for a new outfit, we recommend doing what is easiest for you. Some brides feel do guilty about not sharing the experience with friends or family– but you don’t need to! They will understand, and this entire process is for YOU. If anyone is bummed that they didn’t get to go shopping with you, you can always invite them to your gown pick up appointment or even one of your fittings!
Whoever you decide to bring with you, make sure that they are supportive and not overly opinionated. It’s great to have honest opinions if you need help deciding, but at the end of the day, what you think and what you like are the only things that will matter. This is meant to be a fun and enjoyable process so make sure you keep that in mind when you are deciding who to bring with you.
