Wedding Blog #2: Trying on Wedding Dresses

Going to try wedding dresses on for the first time can be a daunting but very exciting experience. I've been pre-occupied with other things the last few weeks (last year of university taking up a huge chunk of my time at the moment), so I went there without much thought about bridesmaid colours or what kind of dress I wanted. Seeing so many dresses on the rack without a clear idea of what I wanted in my mind was a little bit overwhelming!
I had a chat with a lovely lady called Donna who owns a bridal shop not too far from me, who does girls nights at her bridal shop every Friday night. We went around there after the shop had shut to the public for the day and she encouraged us to bring food and drink to make it more of a fun, relaxed atmosphere. I wanted to make sure the other girls had a good time as well! It's really helpful to have one-on-one advice and having someone who has years of experience helping brides find their perfect dress, pulling out dresses for you to try on. I'm sure this isn't the only place who does that kind of thing, if you ring around bridal shops I'm sure some of them must do similar kinds of things!
Before trying on dresses, make sure you have a few things with you. If you have your wedding shoes already, bring them. If not, just bring along some heels. Wear a strapless bra, as it's very likely you'll be trying on strapless dresses. And finally, wear big knickers if you're shy, because the dress lady is going to see you without your clothes on when she's helping you in your dress!
What I learnt very quickly, is that big dresses do not suit me! I always thought I would want a big dress, but when I got them on, they drowned me. I should have seen it coming as I'm a petite size 6, and the dress lady put a couple on me to show me just what few favours they do for my shape. What actually did suit me, were the strapless tight dresses, which actually gave me a lovely figure. You just don't know what's going to look good and what's going to look bad on you until you get them on. Keep an open mind, and be willing to try something you wouldn't ordinarily try on. The ones that looked best on me, I didn't look twice at them on the rail.
Make sure you have people with you who are going to give honest opinions. Needless to say, you'll want your mam there. I'm really close to my mam and I know she'll always be (sometimes brutally!) honest, but really supportive. Invite your other half's mam and sisters too, as it's nice for them to get involved as well. Bring close friends too, if you like. You don't have to bring all these people along with you to every fitting, but when you're first trying dresses on, it's good to get excited and chip in ideas altogether.
Remember to take pictures of yourself in each dress so you can look back at them later on, and enjoy yourself, trying the dresses on is fun and you're never going to do it again!