Helping Your Bride Pick the Perfect Wedding Dress
The perfect dress is absolutely essential to the perfect wedding. A fabulously planned, designed, and executed wedding just won’t have the same pop for a woman who’s not comfortable in her dress or happy with the design. Finding the right dress can involve a big investment in time and money, in addition to a major emotional commitment. Here are our top tips for helping your bridal client pick her perfect wedding dress.
Offer advice, but be supportive
It can be easy to forget amidst arranging venues, choosing flowers, picking the cake, and all the other big and small decisions, but weddings are incredibly personal events—and what could be more personal than what you wear?
Your taste is not necessarily the same as your client’s, and this is her decision to make. Give her advice on styles, patterns, and fits, but keep that in mind when you’re helping her shop for a dress. If she’s set on a dress that you don’t think will jive with other elements of the wedding, let her know—that’s your job as a professional—but ultimately, make sure you accept and support her decision. Stay flexible to accommodate her; your client should never feel like she’s fighting you.
Help her manage family members and friends that come shopping with her
As a professional, you know to be supportive—however, your client’s friends and family members may not show her the same courtesy. The best way to help her out is to stay on her side; your example may remind her friends and family members that this is her big day, not theirs. If they don’t take the hint, you may have to manage them a little more actively. Try finding a middle ground between conflicting opinions, or work on turning thoughtless criticism into something constructive. Your presence can make shopping for her dress way easier by reducing the potential stress and tension.
Know the feel of the wedding and the decor
How you fit the dress with the wedding depends on when in the process your client picks the dress out. If you and your client have already settled on a theme and some of the decor, it’s important to go for a wedding dress that will go right in. Offer suggestions on colors and styles that will fit with the rest of the wedding; if your client is going for a traditional wedding, a classic dress is a better bet than one that’s more casual or ultra-modern.
On the other hand, your client may be picking her dress early in the planning stages. Even if she hasn’t settled on a theme with you, chances are she has something in mind. Ask her to give you a sense of what she’s envisioning, and provide feedback on how you think the dresses she’s trying on will fit with it.
Know the venue
Knowing the venue includes both stylistic and practical considerations. If you live somewhere with hot summers and the venue is outdoors, a long-sleeved dress is probably not a good idea. Alternatively, an indoor venue that is air-conditioned or heated may have unpredictable temperatures, so if she’s looking for a short-sleeved or sleeveless dress you can suggest picking one that will look good with a shawl; even if she doesn’t want to wear it during the ceremony, there is nothing worse than spending your own reception shivering.
Stylistically, the key is really to match the dress to the decor, but the venue itself is important to keep in mind as well: a big, elaborate dress may dwarf the rest of the wedding if the venue is small and understated, whereas a casual dress in a larger, more formal venue will also look out of place.
Encourage her to try on as many dresses as she needs—but not TOO many
When it comes to trying on wedding dresses, there’s no perfect number. The first dress your client tries on may be The One—or she may visit three salons before she finds anything she likes. Dresses look different on your body than they do on the hanger, so encourage her to resist making a snap judgment about a dress that caught her eye on the rack. On the other hand, trying on too many dresses can be overwhelming, especially if your client has already found one she likes. Just remind her to take some time to think before making a purchase, because most wedding dresses and accessories aren’t returnable.
Choosing her wedding gown is a huge decision for your bride, so above all else, remember to be supportive, understanding, encouraging and honest. It can be a stressful journey for your client, but with your help you can make it a positive and memorable experience!
My best friend is getting married in just three months, so I’ve been wanting to do some research on how I can make the process of picking out a dress with her a little easier. It is so true that dresses look different on the hanger than they do on your body, so I’ll be sure to make sure she tries on a good amount of dresses without it being too much. Thank you for the helpful information!
My aunt has been thinking about getting married and she wants to make sure that what she wears is perfect. She would really like to get some help from a professional to make sure that it fits. Thanks for your tips about how shawls can cover arms if they don’t have sleeves, so that they won’t be cold.
Thanks so much for commenting, Adam! We’re glad that you found some helpful tips and tricks – particularly ones that will help your aunt with her own wedding. We wish her all the best and hope she has an amazing experience! xx
Warm regards,
The QC Team
Thank you for explaining that it’s important to know about the wedding and décor so that your dress can fit in with that style. My daughter just got engaged last night, and we’ve been wondering what kind of dress she might like. I wonder if she can choose a dress and then style the rest of the wedding to fit with it.
Hi Olivia,
Thanks so much for commenting. First thing’s first (and we know we’re about a month late, so we truly apologize for that) – CONGRATULATIONS to your daughter on her engagement! That’s SO exciting!!!
There have definitely been brides, grooms, couples, etc. who have chosen their wedding day attire and then created the concept for the rest of the decor, theme, style, etc. around what they’ll be wearing. So, just know that this is absolutely an option, should that be what your daughter wants to do! 🙂
All the best,
The QC Team