Since the moving of offices took up a lot of our time in December, we skimped on the blog posts (sorry!). So we’re going to post one more about shopping for your wedding dress. Now, on to the post!

All brides are different, and the method of finding a dress for one bride may be completely out of the question for another. Nevertheless, we have advice for each type of bride.

We mentioned in a previous post about scheduling a dress consultation during the week, earlier in the day – preferably in the morning. Take pictures that inspire you. It doesn’t have to be of a dress necessarily. It can be a pattern, design, color, or shape. This will give the consultant an idea of your style and personality.

The next, most important thing that we tell our brides for just about anything: be open! You may think you like one style, color, or fabric, but once you try it on, it may not be what you thought it was. Some brides think they want a full ballgown, but once they actually wear it, they opt for an a-line shape instead. So don’t completely shut out an option when looking around.

If you’re not sure what type of dress you want, go to a larger store to try on a variety. They have more dresses in stock than a smaller, specialty boutique. Once you narrow down the dresses you like, you can go to a smaller store to find “the” dress if you didn’t find it there.

Image from MadBrewLabs.com

Always remember to take the price of alterations into consideration for your budget. We can’t stress this enough! If your wedding dress budget is $2,500, don’t buy a dress at $2,500 expecting that to be it. You need to include alterations which can run from $30 for simple corrections, all the way up to $300 or more for complicated changes.

And if you don’t find your dream dress at the first few places, don’t worry! You’ll find it. Like everyone says, you just know when it’s your dress. If you can’t see yourself as a bride walking down the aisle in it, that dress is  not yours.

Happy Searching!
Southern Event Planners
Memphis, TN Wedding Planners

Photo by Creation Studios Photography

Our theme for December is the Dress! We’ll feature new designer collections, how to shop for a dress, how to accessorize, alteration tips, and more! Our first dress blog will be on Friday, but for now, we’ll start off with a little tip:

If you’re the type of bride that wants a little more attention while shopping for a dress, schedule an appointment with the bridal shop. The best time to go would be early in the day on a week day. There won’t be as many customers, the consultants will be more eager (it’s the start of a brand new day!), and you’ll just feel more productive. This leaves your day open to get some other wedding to-do’s crossed off your list!

If you don’t find the dress on your first appointment, don’t get discouraged! Take notes on what you liked about certain dresses, and what you didn’t like. This will help the consultant the next time you go in.

As always, Happy Planning!
Southern Event Planners
Memphis, TN Wedding Planners

After months of pouring through magazines and visiting every bridal store in a 300 mile radius (or more) you finally found the dress.

Your wedding day finally arrived: you had your hair and makeup professionally done,  pretended you were a supermodel in those great “non-posed” photos, got married, did your first dance all in the dress.

So here you are after the wedding, weeks, months, maybe years later and you still have the dress. Some of you may still put it on and dance around the house when hubby isn’t home (ahhhhh “the memories of the way we were”), while others had it cleaned and preserved when they returned from the honeymoon. Then there are those of you that have it in a bag in the hall closet with the two extra bread makers you got as a wedding present that you have been meaning to return… 

Well ladies, I have the perfect solution. Those of you who are going green will love this. Donate the dress for a good cause.

There is a great organization called the Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation. The foundation helps grant wishes to women and men with Metastatic Stage 4 terminal breast cancer. When you donate your wedding gown to Brides Against Breast Cancer, they resell the gown and the proceeds go to granting the wish of a breast cancer patient.

Can you think of anything that could serve a better purpose? You get a tax deduction, you recycled fashion, and helped another bride have a fabulous dress for a reasonable price – not to mention you are saving the overworked silkworms, all the while making  a wish come true for a special person.

As you may know, I live my life with eyes wide open: always looking for my next inspiration. Well little did I know I would find it in my own store. A laser cut candelabra:
 

Then I found this amazing laser cut wedding dress the other day and loved the way it looked like a jagged version of lace.

laser-cut-dress-Andreas Kock

 I started searching around and actually found quiet a bit of laser cut items that would be great for a wedding.

 Then this cake picture is incredible!

Laser Cut Icecake Tord Boontje

Let me know what you think about it. Could this be the new wedding trend for the modern bride who wants to keep it romantic with an edge???

Enjoy!

Angela

We love free stuff as much as the next girl, and this time is no exception. In-Style Weddings is giving away a Vera Wang Wedding Gown. VERA WANG. Look:

Can you say GOR-GEOUS?!

So if you haven’t found that “perfect” dress yet, or if you’ve found one and are having second thoughts, keep reading!

All you need to do is email your proposal story to weddings@instylemag.com. It needs to be 250 words or less, and you need to include your full name, wedding date, email address, and telephone number.

Hurry because the contest ends on January 23, 2009!

More information can be found here: http://www.instyleweddings.com/weddings/article/0,,20245269,00.html

Good luck!